Dimbleby: TV debates could go on without PM

Row erupts as Tories rule out taking part in live broadcasts

‘She would be insane to agree to a debate’

VETERAN BBC presenter David Dimbleby last night warned Theresa May she was taking a ‘perilous’ risk after she ruled out taking part in televised election debates.

Senior Conservative sources said the Prime Minister had no intention of agreeing to the kind of set-piece debates that dominated the 2010 and 2015 elections. A Tory spokesman said there was no need to participate because ‘the choice at this election is already clear’.

Mrs May will instead focus on touring the country to talk directly to voters.

The decision came under fire from opposition parties, who urged the broadcasters to ‘empty chair’ the Prime Minister by pressing ahead with the debates without her. And in an extraordinary intervention, Mr Dimbleby suggested the BBC was ready to carry out the threat in a bid to force Mrs May to change her mind. ‘I don’t think other parties will refuse to take part,’ he said. ‘I wonder whether No10 will stick with that position. It may look a bit odd if other parties are facing audiences and making their case and they are sending no-one at all. Really? I wonder.

‘It is a dangerous policy, staying above the fray when you are saying the country’s coming together and we are united on this Brexit issue, and when she knows a lot of Remainers still have a lot to say and are not going to shut up and may not vote the way she wants. I think it would be rather perilous not to come out there.’

Televised election debates are a recent innovation, with the first taking part between David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg in 2010. Some senior Tories believe the debates cost the party the election by handing Mr Clegg a platform he would not normally have got.

Election strategist Sir Lynton Crosby is thought to have advised Mrs May against making the same mistake, arguing she had little to gain from debating with Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘If the PM doesn’t have the confidence to debate her plans on TV with other leaders, broadcasters should empty chair her and go ahead anyway.’

Lib Dems leader Mr Farron accused the PM of ‘bottling’ the debate and also called on broadcasters to ‘empty chair’ her. ‘The Prime Minister’s attempt to dodge scrutiny shows how she holds the public in contempt,’ he said.

Mr Farron said the broadcasters had a ‘moral duty’ to stage the debates, adding: ‘If the Prime Minister won’t attend, empty chair her.’

But Sean Kemp, a former Downing Street aide to Mr Clegg, said Mrs May was wise to refuse to debate the Lib Dem leader. ‘Theresa May would have been insane to agree to a debate,’ he said. ‘It would have helped Farron massively and done nothing for her.’

Labour leader Mr Corbyn also called on Mrs May to change her mind, saying: ‘Elections and democracy are about public debate. So it’s rather strange that only a couple of hours after calling for a General Election, the Prime Minister is saying she’s not going to take part in TV debates. I say to Theresa May, who said this election was about leadership: “Come on and show some”.’

Tory MPs also encouraged Mrs May to take part, suggesting she would wipe the floor with Mr Corbyn. Nigel Evans asked Commons Leader David Lidington: ‘Could you encourage the Prime Minister to go head-to-head in as many TV debates with the Leader of the Opposition as possible?’ Mr Lidington said: ‘I suspect the electorate would be fascinated to see the outcome of such a debate.’