Brown agrees to televised debate

London: Downing Street Monday night bowed to demands for Gordon Brown to take part in televised election debates with David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

A deal has been struck between news broadcasters and the main parties that will mean three prime-time clashes in the run-up to the general election.

It is the first time that party leaders have gone head to head in live debates similar to those that have long helped determine the outcome of American presidential races.

The move has infuriated smaller parties — including Plaid Cymru, the SNP and UKIP — who have been excluded. A legal challenge which could yet scupper the debates is expected.

Cameron and Clegg have long been calling on Brown to take part in a live TV clash, but it had been seen as unlikely that the three main parties would agree on the timing and format.

In 1996, Tony Blair, who was well ahead in the opinion polls, refused John Major's offer of a head-to-head debate.

The clashes are high risk for both Brown and Cameron. Though not as far ahead as Blair was, the Tories enjoy a clear poll lead that could be put at risk if Cameron, normally a confident and fluent media performer, slipped up on camera.

Exposure

But Tory strategists believe that the more voters see of their leader, the more they like him, while the opposite is true of Brown. However, they concede that the exposure the debates will afford to Clegg could boost the appeal of his LibDems.

Though his television performances have often been described as faltering and wooden, Brown's advisers appear to have calculated that he has little to lose by agreeing to take part.

Downing Street sources said the Prime Minister would aim to highlight his command of key areas of policy and what they see as Cameron's inexperience.

The three programmes will be broadcast in prime time on the BBC, ITV and Sky and will be between 85 and 90 minutes long in front of an audience picked as representative of the whole country.

Monday night a poll suggested Britain is on course for a hung Parliament, with the Tory lead down to nine points.

The ComRes survey for the Independent put them on 38 per cent and Labour on 29 per cent. Some 49 per cent said the Tories were not ‘appealing'.