“As well as the Prime Minister, the leaders of the Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, SNP and UKIP should invited. The leader of the DUP should be allowed to make his case for why he should be involved. If the broadcasters cannot agree amongst themselves who hosts the debate, lots should be drawn, though the debate should be freely available to whoever wants to broadcast it.
“This is our final offer, and to be clear, given the fact this has been a deeply unsatisfactory process and we are within a month of the short campaign, the Prime Minister will not be participating in more than one debate.”
So why isn’ this a proper offer? As Cameron knows, whoever is excluded from the seven-way will kick off with legal action that threatens to scupper the whole thing. Already Sinn Fein has also complained about being excluded from the current proposals. Cameron can just drop his letter in the post and watch the other parties tear it to bits, before gliding on to the election campaign.
And as for Ed Miliband’s offer of a one-to-one debate? No10 has rejected that as well. An unnamed Tory source has this to say:-
‘The idea of a two-party debate sounds like the 1960s and 1970s and won’t work in an era when the broadcasters themselves have designated four parties as ‘major parties’.
And yes, this is the same Tory party that is so fond of telling us that this election comes down to a choice between two people. Ah the games, the games. But the Prime Minister is indeed running chicken from televised debates because he does not believe he will benefit from them. From a campaigning point of view, that is perhaps fair enough, but it is not a fair enough reason for scuppering debates that you once insisted were important for engaging voters and were here to stay. Tonight the Prime Minister may be cancelling any preparation sessions he had booked in for the TV debates, but he also appears rather dismissive of the electorate – and quite arrogant to boot. The only people to come out worse from this are the broadcasters, who have allowed the Prime Minister to wrap them around his little finger.
Here is the letter in full:
Dear Sue,
I am writing to you in your capacity as Chair of the broadcasters’ “Leaders’ Debates” committee.
As you know, I have had serious concerns about the way in which this has been handled from the start.
Despite the Prime Minister having been clear about his concern around holding debates in the short campaign, you did not consult us before issuing a press release last October outlining your plans for three debates during that period.
Had you consulted us, we could have also told you that we also did not think it was appropriate to exclude the Green Party from the process.
Despite all of this, we then entered into negotiations in good faith, during which I made the case for a more representative debates structure, including the Greens. It is fair to say that the desire to exclude the Greens was clear from all other parties present.
Three months later – and again without consultation – you surprised us again by proposing a new seven-party structure, this time not only inviting the Greens, but Plaid Cymru and the SNP as well. Again, this was a flawed proposal – that has resulted in the DUP initiating what appears to be legitimate legal action.
Since this proposal has been suggested, there has been chaos. In recent weeks, you have avoided letting the parties sit in a room to hammer out proposals, making progress impossible.
In order to cut through this chaotic situation I am willing to make the following proposal:
There should be one 90 minute debate between seven party leaders before the short campaign. As well as the Prime Minister, the leaders of the Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, SNP and UKIP should invited. The leader of the DUP should be allowed to make his case for why he should be involved. If the broadcasters cannot agree amongst themselves who hosts the debate, lots should be drawn, though the debate should be freely available to whoever wants to broadcast it. In order for it to be organised in time, the debate should take place during the week beginning the 23rd March. I will make myself available to negotiate the details. Having been the editor of numerous broadcast news and current affairs programmes, I know this is ample time to organise a programme.
This is our final offer, and to be clear, given the fact this has been a deeply unsatisfactory process and we are within a month of the short campaign, the Prime Minister will not be participating in more than one debate.
Yours sincerely,
CRAIG OLIVER
Prime Minister’s Director of Communications
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