Tonight Ed Miliband takes one of the big risks of the campaign. He debates with Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett. All of these leaders will be aiming to score points off Miliband. Those close to the Labour leader give several reasons for why he is taking part tonight. They argue that he does well whenever he’s given the chance to speak to voters directly.
But the main reason for Miliband’s doing this debate is the Scottish situation. Labour feared that without Miliband present, this debate would have turned into a clash between Sturgeon and Farage — which would have benefitted the SNP north of the border. Labour sources also argue that without Cameron and Clegg to take on, Miliband will be able to devote more time to unpicking Sturgeon’s record and policy agenda. But this is a risky strategy. Sturgeon, for obvious reasons, knows the details of the Scottish situation better than Miliband and she’ll be quick to attack him for talking down Scotland. She’ll also have on stage two allies, in Bennett and Wood, who’ll be quick to join in her attacks on the Labour leader for supposedly endorsing austerity, a charge that has been given more potency by Labour’s manifesto launch.
For his part, Nigel Farage will be trying to drive a wedge between the Labour leader and his working class base. Expect to hear him talk a lot about how immigration has depressed working class wages.
After the debate, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats have a half an hour show to respond to what was said on stage. Given that they are both busy warning about the prospect of a Labour government propped up by the SNP, it isn’t hard to work out what they’ll both want to talk about.
There’ll be full coverage of the debate on Coffee House and The Spectator’s election hub this evening.
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