David Cameron has clashed with Ed Miliband over the Prime Minister's refusal to take part in TV debates ahead of the General Election without the Green Party.
The heated exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions came after Nick Clegg, Mr Miliband and Nigel Farage wrote to No 10 to pressure the PM into taking part.
Downing Street has re-iterated that Mr Cameron will not take part in any leaders' debates unless the Greens are included.
Referring to The Liberal Democrat's miserable showing at the European elections in May, the PM told MPs: "I'm all for these debates taking place, but you can not have two minor parties without the third minor party."
The Labour leader said Mr Cameron was making a "pathetic excuse" and accused him of "running scared" of taking part in the leaders' debates.
But the PM hit back, asking his rival: "Why is he so chicken when he comes to the Greens?"
The letter addressed to Mr Cameron reads: "In 2010 the televised leaders' debates provided an unprecedented opportunity for voters to see the party leaders debate the critical issues facing our country.
"In recent days, you have announced that you are unwilling to take part in debates as proposed by the main broadcasters for the 2015 General Election.
"I believe it would be a major setback to our democratic processes if these debates were not repeated in 2015 because of one politician's unwillingness to participate.
"It would be unacceptable if the political self-interest of one party leader were to deny the public the opportunity to see their leaders debate in public.
"Therefore, if you are unwilling to reconsider, the three party leaders who have committed to participate will ask the broadcasters to press ahead with the debates and provide an empty podium should you have a last minute change of heart."
A Downing Street spokesman said: "As the PM has said, we think the Greens should be included. Not only have nearly 300,000 signed a petition demanding their inclusion but they're also polling ahead of the Lib Dems in many opinion polls."
Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown told Sky News that David Cameron should not be allowed to hold democracy to ransom.
"The point is how to create circumstances in which we can go ahead with a democratic innovation, which you guys more or less invented, and the best answer to that is not to leave the decision to the politicians but leave it to the broadcasters.
"You just can't let the Prime Minister or anybody else basically hold our democracy to ransom by saying 'no'.
"My view is that if you guys, the broadcasters, have independently come up with an objective and impartial solution to this, we go ahead.
"If he doesn't, he can't be allowed to get away with it and we should have an empty chair, and we will attend."
More than 20 million people watched the televised leaders' debates in 2010 - after which the Conservatives and Lib Dems formed the Coalition.
A ComRes survey found that 55% of voters, compared to 23%, felt Mr Cameron was "acting cowardly in trying to avoid TV debates with the other leaders".
All three leaders have criticised Mr Cameron over the decision, with Mr Farage tweeting the PM was a "chicken running scared".
The Conservatives' reasoning behind the stance is that the Green Party is polling better than the Lib Dems and has had an MP in the Commons since 2010.
Senior Conservatives have blamed the debates for Mr Cameron's failure to win an overall majority at the last election.
:: Click here for the In The Margins General Election console.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
PMQs Clash Over General Election TV Debates
Dengan url
http://terjunbebasopan.blogspot.com/2015/01/pmqs-clash-over-general-election-tv.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
PMQs Clash Over General Election TV Debates
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
PMQs Clash Over General Election TV Debates
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar