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| Miliband launches election campaign as poll gives TV victory to Cameron | Miliband launches election campaign as poll gives TV victory to Cameron |
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| Ed Miliband is due to launch his party’s election campaign as Labour hailed his performance during the first of four leaders’ TV election programmes. | Ed Miliband is due to launch his party’s election campaign as Labour hailed his performance during the first of four leaders’ TV election programmes. |
| On Friday, Miliband will promise to fight a campaign suffused with optimism and say he is determined to show that Britain can do better. | On Friday, Miliband will promise to fight a campaign suffused with optimism and say he is determined to show that Britain can do better. |
| In a snap poll after Thursday night’s televised leaders programme, in which Miliband and David Cameron were interviewed separately by Jeremy Paxman, Miliband polled eight points below the prime minister. | In a snap poll after Thursday night’s televised leaders programme, in which Miliband and David Cameron were interviewed separately by Jeremy Paxman, Miliband polled eight points below the prime minister. |
| While Cameron looked clearly unsettled by Paxman’s questioning, an instant Guardian/ICM poll showed the public believed he had the better of the back-to-back questioning by 54% to 46%. The poll was conducted among 1,123 people watching the 90-minute show. | While Cameron looked clearly unsettled by Paxman’s questioning, an instant Guardian/ICM poll showed the public believed he had the better of the back-to-back questioning by 54% to 46%. The poll was conducted among 1,123 people watching the 90-minute show. |
| But there was better news for Miliband when it came to the crucial question of whether people would shift their votes: 56% of the respondents who said they might change their mind plumped for Labour, as against just 30% for the Conservatives. | But there was better news for Miliband when it came to the crucial question of whether people would shift their votes: 56% of the respondents who said they might change their mind plumped for Labour, as against just 30% for the Conservatives. |
| Cameron was repeatedly pressed to spell out how he could identify £12bn of welfare cuts, saying he was simply trying to cut an extra £1 in every £100 spent by government, but he refused to say more than he had already set out in plans to freeze in-work benefits. | Cameron was repeatedly pressed to spell out how he could identify £12bn of welfare cuts, saying he was simply trying to cut an extra £1 in every £100 spent by government, but he refused to say more than he had already set out in plans to freeze in-work benefits. |
| The prime minister said: “We’ve identified, for instance, freezing in-work benefits … for two years to raise some of that money, but the £12bn, that compares with £20bn that was saved in this current parliament on welfare, so this is well within the range of what we can do.” | The prime minister said: “We’ve identified, for instance, freezing in-work benefits … for two years to raise some of that money, but the £12bn, that compares with £20bn that was saved in this current parliament on welfare, so this is well within the range of what we can do.” |
| Miliband, appearing second, was repeatedly asked about the strength of his character. He denied he was a “north London geek” and insisted: “Am I tough enough? Hell yes, I am tough enough to be prime minister.” He pointed out he stood up to the US president, Barack Obama, over whether to bomb Syria. | Miliband, appearing second, was repeatedly asked about the strength of his character. He denied he was a “north London geek” and insisted: “Am I tough enough? Hell yes, I am tough enough to be prime minister.” He pointed out he stood up to the US president, Barack Obama, over whether to bomb Syria. |
| At the party’s campaign launch, Miliband will claim Labour represents the optimists while the Tories are the pessimists and that the spirit of optimism will be at the heart of a campaign intended to get his party back into Downing Street after five years in opposition. | At the party’s campaign launch, Miliband will claim Labour represents the optimists while the Tories are the pessimists and that the spirit of optimism will be at the heart of a campaign intended to get his party back into Downing Street after five years in opposition. |
| Referring to the Tories, he will claim: “They say, ‘This is as good as it gets.’ We say, ‘Britain can do better than this.’ Five million people paid less than the living wage.” | Referring to the Tories, he will claim: “They say, ‘This is as good as it gets.’ We say, ‘Britain can do better than this.’ Five million people paid less than the living wage.” |
| He will also claim that Britain has seen “an explosion of zero-hours contracts the like of which we’ve never seen before”. | He will also claim that Britain has seen “an explosion of zero-hours contracts the like of which we’ve never seen before”. |
| Miliband will accuse Cameron’s government of “giving tax breaks to the rich and leaving tax evaders and avoiders untouched”. | Miliband will accuse Cameron’s government of “giving tax breaks to the rich and leaving tax evaders and avoiders untouched”. |
| The government, he will assert, “has raised taxes 24 times on everyone else in just five years – the equivalent of 8p on the basic rate of income tax”. | The government, he will assert, “has raised taxes 24 times on everyone else in just five years – the equivalent of 8p on the basic rate of income tax”. |
| Snap polling after the first TV election programme had 56% of the respondents who said they might change their mind opting for Labour, as against 30% for the Conservatives, a result cited by Labour’s election campaign vice-chair, Lucy Powell. | Snap polling after the first TV election programme had 56% of the respondents who said they might change their mind opting for Labour, as against 30% for the Conservatives, a result cited by Labour’s election campaign vice-chair, Lucy Powell. |
| Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Powell said the programme had given the public a chance to see the “real Ed Miliband” unmediated by “sections of the press who are out to get him and want to portray him as something that he isn’t”. | Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Powell said the programme had given the public a chance to see the “real Ed Miliband” unmediated by “sections of the press who are out to get him and want to portray him as something that he isn’t”. |
| “Last night was an opportunity for the public to see the real Ed Miliband and they liked that Ed Miliband and he came across much more strongly than David Cameron and I think he proved a lot of people wrong last night,” she said. | “Last night was an opportunity for the public to see the real Ed Miliband and they liked that Ed Miliband and he came across much more strongly than David Cameron and I think he proved a lot of people wrong last night,” she said. |
| Miliband, who appeared second during the leaders’ programme, faced several questions about his strength of character. But the Labour leader insisted: “I am a pretty resilient guy, but I have been underestimated at every turn. People said I would not become leader and I did. People said four years ago I could not become prime minister, I think I can. You were saying I cannot win a majority, I think I can. So let people underestimate me, but what I care about is what is happening to the British people in their lives.” | Miliband, who appeared second during the leaders’ programme, faced several questions about his strength of character. But the Labour leader insisted: “I am a pretty resilient guy, but I have been underestimated at every turn. People said I would not become leader and I did. People said four years ago I could not become prime minister, I think I can. You were saying I cannot win a majority, I think I can. So let people underestimate me, but what I care about is what is happening to the British people in their lives.” |
| Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, told Sky News that Miliband had given a better performance, giving him 7/10 against Cameron’s 4/10. “It was not what I expected at all,” he said. “In terms of personalities, he fought back more, was more human and got the audience clapping. Cameron was nowhere near that. Cameron looked discomfited.” | Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, told Sky News that Miliband had given a better performance, giving him 7/10 against Cameron’s 4/10. “It was not what I expected at all,” he said. “In terms of personalities, he fought back more, was more human and got the audience clapping. Cameron was nowhere near that. Cameron looked discomfited.” |
| Miliband will tell a crowd at the Olympic Park on Friday that, “like so many races here during the Olympics, it will go to the wire. Neck and neck”. | |
| But, in an effort to draw back SNP and Green voters, he will say there are only two possible outcomes and that the ballot “is not simply a choice between two different parties and two different leaders, but two different visions of our country”. | But, in an effort to draw back SNP and Green voters, he will say there are only two possible outcomes and that the ballot “is not simply a choice between two different parties and two different leaders, but two different visions of our country”. |
| He will argue that the Tory vision believes “Britain succeeds when only a few at the top do well, with tax cuts for the very wealthiest and public services cut back to the very bone”. | He will argue that the Tory vision believes “Britain succeeds when only a few at the top do well, with tax cuts for the very wealthiest and public services cut back to the very bone”. |
| The Conservative party chairman, Grant Shapps, told Sky News that he thought Cameron had come across as “the man with the plan”. | The Conservative party chairman, Grant Shapps, told Sky News that he thought Cameron had come across as “the man with the plan”. |
| “Ed Miliband, of course you can always throw a few lines in when you don’t have to defend your track record, but he didn’t have a plan. Ed Miliband was all over the place when he was asked about anything in any serious detail.” | “Ed Miliband, of course you can always throw a few lines in when you don’t have to defend your track record, but he didn’t have a plan. Ed Miliband was all over the place when he was asked about anything in any serious detail.” |