Labour renew TV leaders debate challenge

Labour has renewed its challenge to David Cameron to face Ed Miliband in a head-to-head TV debate, after polls suggested that neither leader managed to secure a decisive lead in their first televised clash of the general election campaign.

An ICM poll for The Guardian found that the Prime Minister outperformed the Labour leader by a margin of 54%-46% in the Sky News/ Channel 4 Battle for Number 10 show, but a second survey by YouGov for The Times had a much closer result, with Cameron ahead by just 51%-49%.

The two men faced an aggressive grilling over their personalities and policies from veteran TV inquisitor Jeremy Paxman, as well as questions from a studio audience. But they did not debate one another directly, after Mr Cameron refused to take part in a head-to-head showdown with the man vying to replace him in 10 Downing Street.

Labour campaign chief Douglas Alexander urged the PM to reconsider his decision, telling the BBC: “We want as many of these debates as we can get. What we saw last night wasn’t a debate. They were on the same stage, in front of the same audience, in the same building, but alas David Cameron wasn’t willing to debate head-to-head with the alternative prime minister.

“Even at this late hour, with just six weeks to go, I challenge David Cameron again today – if you are half as confident as you pretend to be about your record in government, about your leadership, then let’s put you in front of the British public next to the alternative prime minister for a job interview. With a week to go, let’s have that head-to-head debate.

“I think this morning, it’s a little clearer why David Cameron is so unwilling to have that debate.”

But Conservative chairman Grant Shapps told the BBC: “Surely by now we should be on to discussing the issues at stake, rather than the format of these debates.”

Mr Shapps said that the Conservative leader had shown he was “the man with the plan” in the Sky/Channel 4 broadcast, by spelling out how employment had risen under the coalition government and how Tories plan to eliminate the deficit without raising taxes.

“I know the broadcasters just want to carry on debating the five-year long debate from beforehand about the format of the debates,” he said. “Let’s actually talk about the serious issues here, let’s talk about the detail of what was proposed.

“I thought on those grounds, David Cameron showed he had a competent programme for government. Ed Miliband showed that he would lead a chaotic government propped up by Alex Salmond and the SNP.”