WATCH: Farage challenges Miliband to a Debate

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...ve-debate.html

David Cameron ready to take on Nigel Farage in live debate

The Prime Minister could take on Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader in a televised debate that will also include Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green party

David Cameron is ready to take on Nigel Farage in a live televised debate before the election.

David Cameron is ready to take on Nigel Farage in a live televised debate before the election.

The Prime Minister plans to take part in three leaders’ debates with his political rivals.

In a plan drawn up by his aides Mr Cameron would be willing to appear in television debates in a 2-3-5 format, The Sunday Times reported.

The Prime Minister is understood not to have ruled anything out before talks on the format for the debates begin in earnest in the autumn.

One head-to-head with Ed Miliband the Labour leader - as the other potential prime minister - a second, which would also include Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg and a third with Mr Farage and the Green party leader Natalie Bennett.

One of the debates would be held during the campaign, with the other beforehand, the newspaper reported.

A No 10 source said: "It is speculation on what might happen in talks that are not going to happen for several months.

"We have not ruled anything in or out, so that means people can speculate what might happen in the talks.

"But the reality is these talks are several months away."

Last month the Labour leader said the previous format of three debates between the three main party leaders over three weeks should be a "starting point" but that he was open to moves such as a less formal setting and greater voter participation in any repeat of the 2010 confrontations.

He used a Radio Times article to call for immediate negotiations, accusing his main rival of being the "single biggest obstacle" to them going ahead and suggesting the Tories were keen to deny his cash-strapped party vital publicity.

Britain's first such debates, between Mr Cameron, Gordon Brown and Mr Clegg, were staged on the BBC, ITV and Sky News in 2010 after prolonged negotiations between the parties and the TV companies, which resulted in very strict rules on the style of questioning and the division of time for leaders' answers.

Mr Cameron has since complained that they "took all the life out" of the campaign amid constant speculation over whether the practice would be revived, and if so in what form.

Mr Farage repeated his challenge to the Conservative leader in response to claims he was "chicken" for ruling out a run at Parliament in the Newark by-election.

The Ukip leader said: "Mr Cameron said ... that I was a chicken. Well, I'll tell you what Dave, why don't you come on telly and do a debate with me?"

Opinion polls suggested Mr Farage beat Mr Clegg in two debates ahead of this month's European elections.

The sudden switch by Cameron on this (so it's rumoured) appears to me to be an attempt on his behalf of trying to pre-emptively include Farage but not in the three leaders debate - something that would be very hard for him and the broadcasters to argue to Ofcom if Ukip top the polls this month in the European Elections.

Either way, some kind of mixed format would be good... and i'm quite glad the Greens are being considered tbh.

Thoughts?

[Mark]

I really have no idea why he wouldn't be included, according to the polls he's going to win more seats than the Lib Dems. Not sure why the Greens would be included considering they won their first seat in the last General Election (I'm sure it was in Brighton?) and have no real evidence to show they're going to progress much further. Although saying that some polls show them gaining the same percentage as the Lib Dems lol.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Here's a video from today of Farage challenging Miliband to a debate -

[Mark]

Here's a video from today of Farage challenging Miliband to a debate -

Miliband's face at the end is priceless haha, I watched it this morning.

[dbgtz]

"There are two people who could be Prime Minister after the next election"
Yes that is so true, I wonder if it will be Cameron or Farage.

But seriously the fact that he said that, is aware of it and it is completely true just makes me depressed.

[The Don]

It would be a massacre

[dbgtz]

After watching the video below, I can't wait to see this.

[Inseriousity.]

lol he looks stoned before you even click play.
I would like to see a 2-3-5 format, sounds like a good idea, although there is speculation that this sort of suggestion was a political move to weasel out of doing it. I can't remember how it'd work though lol

[dbgtz]

lol he looks stoned before you even click play.
I would like to see a 2-3-5 format, sounds like a good idea, although there is speculation that this sort of suggestion was a political move to weasel out of doing it. I can't remember how it'd work though lol

I think the 2-3-5 format is poor and just supports the crappy FPTP system.

I think there should be 4 debates with 3 or 4 parties + the biggest "national party". So SNP, Plaid Cyrmu and Sinn Fein. In my head it would be UKIP for England as they don't really seem to have ground outside of it, but I haven't thought it through that much.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Good Telegraph comment here, nail on head.

This is really a case of 'Farage management'. David Cameron knows that if he does debate with Nigel Farage he may lose (in the eyes of many of the public), but that it will be worse if he doesn't because people will say he didn't dare. So he is trying to work out how to minimize the UKIP threat.

There's a kind of 'I'm coming to get you' feeling building up around UKIP, and the poster showing the three party leaders with EU stars as gags has really hit the spot. David Cameron hasn't yet got an answer to it.

I think the 2-3-5 format is poor and just supports the crappy FPTP system.

I think there should be 4 debates with 3 or 4 parties + the biggest "national party". So SNP, Plaid Cyrmu and Sinn Fein. In my head it would be UKIP for England as they don't really seem to have ground outside of it, but I haven't thought it through that much.

The only problem with that is that you'd open it up to accusations from the DUP and others that it's giving their opponent a boost.