Broadcasters' proposal disadvantages Liberal Democrats

Caron Lindsay explains why the scheme adopted by BBC, Sky, ITV and Channel 4 for televised party leader debates during the general election campaign favours the other parties.

Nick Clegg will have approximately 18 minutes (over two debates)  to defend a record of 5 years in government, while Cameron will have an hour more. That’s simply not fair to either the Liberal Democrats or the public.

Can you imagine how tortuous it is going to be to watch Cameron and Miliband debate on their own for 2 hours? For a clue, watch Prime Minister’s Questions. I can’t imagine either of them rising to the occasion. Cameron was very poor in 2010 and Miliband is really not suited to that kind of environment. Giving them the stage to themselves, though, allows them to set the agenda. Cameron will likely spend half the time passing off our policies as his own and the other half telling the country we’re an untamed bunch of hippies who are soft on Europe and terrorists. Miliband will be trying to equate us with the Tories and nobody will be there to make our case.