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David Cameron refuses to debate Ed Miliband 1 on 1-what should happen now?

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If David Cameron refuses to a 1 to 1 debate with Miliband what should happen?

There were 3 debates planned for the election however David Cameron has now said he will only take part in 1 debate with 7 parties & flat out refuses to take part in the other 2 debates including a 1 to 1 debate with Ed Miliband-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31742155

So what should happen now? NIck Clegg has said he would take David Cameron's place in the 1 to 1 debate but with Libde,s & Labour being politically very similar on key issues like EU, immigration, the economy, NHS etc is that realistic?
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-03-05/clegg-ready-to-take-camerons-place-in-tv-debate/

What should happen to the 1-1 Miliband debate

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I thin it should be Miliband Bennett - the greens are the ones taking the largest chhunk of the labour vote these days. If not then it should be vs clegg.
You have to be exceptionally brave and courageous to debate a dominating, gifted orator like David Miliband.
Coward, Coward, Coward.
Empty chair him, Cameron won't be looking so smug when he realises that he's handed Miliband a 90 minutes of free advertising on the BBC.
Reply 5
Empty chair him.

Have Ed Miliband explain that the Prime Minister does not respect the electorate enough to grace them with his presence and debate him.
Original post by Quantex
You have to be exceptionally brave and courageous to debate a dominating, gifted orator like David Miliband.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9NSFYwdLEg
Clegg should have a role as big as miliband or Cameron seeing as he has been part of government.

Debate 1: nick, ed and dave
Debate 2: nick, ed, dave, farage and Bennett
Debate three: Regional.


Empty chair Cameron if he refuses. This is the only rational decision based on current numbers of MPs and voting area.
Only debate I want to see is Cameron vs. Miliband. Any line-up including Cameron and Farage would also be a bonus.
The Tories duplicity in trying to throw a spanner into the works of these debates has been absolutely extraordinary.

If they feared a debate between Cameron and Miliband, and refused to take part, they should have just said so from the beginning and taken the hit.

They will take a bigger hit now, with being seeing they're not just scared of a one-to-one debate, but duplicitous to boot

Polly Toynbee was right when she said

Come hell or high water, Cameron dare not debate head-to-head with Ed Miliband– which is very odd indeed. Since their entire campaign is predicated on painting the Labour leader as weak, weak, weak, too incompetent to occupy No 10, why is he too afraid to confront him in public?

Cameron’s red-faced bully-boy technique is a familiar spectacle as he refuses to answer any questions at PMQs but blusters and bludgeons back instead; Flashman on good days, an aggressive pub boor on bad days. But that style won’t work in answering questions from the public in a measured TV debate, which suits Miliband’s quieter style much better. Miliband’s personal ratings are so low that a moderately acceptable performance would be enough to dispel for many voters the idea that he would be unthinkable as PM. He would certainly emerge far better than expected to the many voters who have never heard more than a clip of him, nor seen more than the universally hideous photos in the rightwing papers.

The Lynton Crosby calculation is that chicken, frit and hiding behind the sofa insults will do less damage to Cameron than a straight one-to-one debate in front of the cameras. But they will find that whenever they try to run the β€œweak” Ed line, Labour will have a caustic comeback – if Ed’s so weak, why is Cameron so afraid?
(edited 9 years ago)
Replace him with Farage, will make it more interesting!

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Reply 11
I'd replace him with Clegg.

Personality politics aside, the election is going to determine whether it's Miliband or Cameron at the helm of the next Government. Cameron has made it clear he's not interested in turning up for that head-to-head, so the next person in command (Clegg) should be invited to defend the Government's record. Inviting anybody else just dilutes the whole point of the 1-to-1 debate, and having Miliband alone is nothing more than an extended Paxman interview that people won't care that much about.

Either way, I hope the broadcasters hold their nerve and proceed as planned. Politicians should never have the power to veto these types of events, and I hope the backlash Cameron faces causes a serious rethink in his stance. You can't act like an ardent support of press freedom, and then attempt to point a gun at their head when arranging election debates. The worst mistake the broadcasters made was trying to work with politicians to make everybody happy. Lay out the terms and invite them. If they don't co-operate, empty chair them and let them suffer the consequences and media spin. End of.
If you wait once every 5 years for a tv debate to decide who to vote for

you are too stupid to be allowed to vote.
Original post by democracyforum
If you wait once every 5 years for a tv debate to decide who to vote for

you are too stupid to be allowed to vote.

Why shouldn't the British public be allowed an opportunity to see the two potential Prime Minister's go head to head and be informed of their policies on a fair platform?

Cameron is running scared because he knows Milliband is the far better debater. His whole campaign is based on the right wing press's savage attacks on Milliband but when people see him in a debate they'll suddenly realise he isn't as incompetent as the media would have them believe.
Original post by democracyforum
If you wait once every 5 years for a tv debate to decide who to vote for

you are too stupid to be allowed to vote.



Depends if you're new to voting or politics for that matter. Never too late to learn.
Cameron will regret his decision - he is effectively allowing Miliband to release over an hour of his standard verbal diarrhoea to the public.
Original post by democracyforum
If you wait once every 5 years for a tv debate to decide who to vote for

you are too stupid to be allowed to vote.


Because:
1. In the debates the media has to be impartial, rather than reporting Central Office propaganda at face value while savaging Miliband/Balls/etc and painting them as bumbling incompetents as usual

2. In the debates you are not protected under parliamentary privilege, so Cameron will not be allowed to get away with not answering the question, lying or making spurious personal attacks as he does every week at PMQs. Not to mention he will be without his braying backbenchers.

3. In the debates you do not get an advantage depending on how much filthy money you've been given by your donors, the Tories would rather keep the campaign to billboards and slogans where they can throw endless money at it (I can't remember how many multiples of what Labour can marshal they are spending already but it's pretty profligate - to be expected from people as financially incompetent as the Tories)

The debates are in fact the only fair, equitable and unbiased element of the entire election campaign. No wonder the Tories can't stand them!
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 17
im finding David Cameron's attitude towards these debates as a very bad thing for all of us. This isn't going down well with the general public, increasing the chances of a horrific labour majority backed with the SNP. In other words ruining are economy.
'Don't care'

The only debate i cared about was Cameron vs Miliband, if that won't occur then the others are just entertainment.

As a member of the government you can probably justify Clegg vs Miliband.
It's an utter joke that he won't debate.
He was all for these debates in 2008 and is now running scared, making pathetic excuses.

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