Cameron and Miliband debate is on - just not head-to-head

DAVID CAMERON and Ed Miliband agreed last night to appear together on television before the general election, but they will have no direct exchanges and will only take questions from an audience.

The Prime Minister and Mr Miliband will be interviewed and answer questions from a studio audience on a Sky News/Channel 4 programme next Thursday.

Mr Cameron was accused of “cowardice” by Labour for failing to debate with Mr Miliband directly.

Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, will also feature separately in a BBC Ques- tion Time special on April 30, just one week before the nation goes to the polls.

Another debate will take place on ITV on April 16, pitting Mr Miliband against Ukip’s Nigel Farage, Natalie Bennett of the Green Party, Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP, and Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru.

The final line-up follows years of wrangling between parties and broadcasters over whether and how to repeat the debates from the 2010 election campaign – which saw Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg square up three times.

Mr Cameron rejected previous proposals on the basis they did not include the Greens, and insisted that the sessions should not take place during the short election campaign that starts on March 30.

However, last week he appeared to surprise other parties and the broadcasters by declaring that he had accepted plans for the sevenway debate on April 2 and would participate in a variety of other programmes.

A Tory source insisted they had secured an even better deal than the one they were hoping for.

“The PM has always believed too many debates would suck the life out of the campaign,” they said.

“In all these formats, we are confident the choice between competence and chaos will be clear.”