Although, to be fair, Clegg can count himself lucky to be included in a
Prime-Ministerial debate:
The BBC, ITV and Sky and the three main political parties have agreed on the rules for hosting live leaders' debates in the run-up to the general election.
The three 90-minute sessions will begin by focusing on domestic policies, international affairs and the economy.
The studio audiences will then be able to ask direct questions on any subject, with viewers doing the same via e-mail.
Labour's Gordon Brown, Tory David Cameron and Lib Dem Nick Clegg have welcomed the news.
Complex rules
The first debate, themed on domestic affairs, will be held in the north-west of England, with ITV newsreader Alastair Stewart moderating.
The second, focusing on global issues, will take place in south-west England, with Sky's political editor Adam Boulton in charge.
The third, broadcast by the BBC from the Midlands, will be moderated by Question Time host David Dimbleby and deal with the economy.
Craftily entitled "Prime-Minsterial" rather than "Leaders'" for the obvious (legal) reasons:
The BBC is to hold separate party leader election debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and other parties will be able to respond to the debates on the news.
But for the SNP, Angus Robertson said: "London-based parties are going to receive exponentially more exposure and coverage than other political parties, I think licence fee payers and voters in Scotland will be asking themselves why they are being treated as second class citizens."
It's only those "London-based" parties which are standing UK-wide and whose leaders have a chance of becoming the UK's Prime-Minister... based in London. Still, the option is always there of advising your fellow countrymen to boycott the programmes and if that is the case, it will be interesting to see comparative viewing figures in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
5 comments:
You can't go much better for metropolitan arrogance and the belief that England is Britain is England than the agreed principles and format of the debate.
The only acknowledgement that there are other parties apart from Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems in the UK is the last principle, number 17.
Each broadcaster will seek to make suitable arrangements for ensuring due impartiality across the UK.
In the format document it's as if devolution never happened. There is no acknowledgment at all that a lot of the issues to be debated are English only and don't apply to a General Election in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It's going to come down to the courts as I thought but the arrogance and sense of entitlement among the big two and a half to treat the UK as England is breathtaking.
So Clegg has a chance of becoming PM then? Come off it! This wont wash.
You really espouse democracy don't you oneill!
As clear cut a case of England being Britain as you will get.
Let's hope the SNP have the balls to stop this shite in court.
I think Plaid will lose votes because of beibg excluded from these debates - and that's not fair.
Ok, regarding the England = UK point; where the debate takes place is immaterial, it's the topics which are important.
Bearing in mind this is a Westminster, not a devolved election, then I think those topic areas ("domestic policies, international affairs and the economy") reflect well the issues in this election. If domestic policies veers towards "English" issues, then that will only be because devolution, having Balkanised the UK, has removed NI, Scottish and Welsh specific issues from the overall Westminster debate.
The legal question, I haven't checked the SNP or PC response today but yesterday it seemed muted. I suspect the tv cpies have been cute in labelling it "Prime-Ministerial" rather than "leader". Including Clegg does create the slightest of holes in that case, admitedly; I'd have limited it to Brown and Cameron.
The fairness question; PC, the SNP, DUP etc are not pulling votes in on a UK-wide basis. We won't have a DUP, SNP or PC Prime-Minister. My understanding of the arrangement is that they will be able to direct qns during the actual debates, also there will be NI, Scottish and Welsh specific debates where issues specific to where those parties are fighting can be discussed.
Finally, Dewi, do you think Brown-Cameron-Clegg Live will win or lose them votes? If I were an Labour-Cons-LD activist I'd be extremely dubious about the worth of these performances.
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