Ed Miliband has accused David Cameron of resorting to “pathetic, feeble excuses” after Downing Street announced that the prime minister would refuse to take part in a head-to-head televised debate with him during the general election campaign.
A rattled Cameron responded by changing the subject, launching his strongest attack yet on the Labour leader in which he accused Miliband of resorting to “weak and despicable” tactics by planning a post-electoral pact with the Scottish National party (SNP).
Miliband went on the offensive after mocking the prime minister for “losing his nerve” and chickening out after No 10 rejected the format and timetable for debates proposed by the broadcasters that would be held after the dissolution of parliament on 30 March.
The broadcasters have proposed holding two debates among the seven main party leaders in early and mid-April and one head-to-head debate between Miliband and Cameron on 30 April. The prime minister has agreed to take part in one debate with six other party leaders which must take place in the week beginning Monday 23 March – before the formal start of the “short” election campaign.
Miliband said: “These are pathetic, feeble excuses. Can we now take it that there are no circumstances that he will debate me head-to-head between now and the general election?”
The prime minister said: “He wants to talk about the future of a television programme. I want to talk about the future of a country … He can’t talk about jobs because we are growing jobs; he can’t talk about unemployment because unemployment is plummeting; he can’t talk about inflation because it is at a record low.”
Cameron then moved to change the subject as he accused Miliband of planning to enter No 10 after the election with the help of the SNP which could hold the balance of power after the general election. Polls have suggested the SNP could win as many of 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats, almost wiping out Labour, which won 41 seats north of the border in 2010. The prime minister said: “The truth is he is weak and despicable and wants to crawl to power in Alex Salmond’s pockets.”
The prime minister said Labour had given up on winning an overall majority in the general election as he produced a leaflet produced by Scottish Labour which calls on voters to support the party to “stop the Tories being the largest party”. Cameron said: “They are not trying to win. They are just trying to crawl through the gates of Downing Street on the coat tails of the SNP. So what he has got to do is prove that he is not a chicken and rule that out.”
Miliband replied: “There is only one person preparing for defeat and it is this prime minister.”
Cameron repeated his strong language about how Miliband is behaving in a “despicable” manner a few minutes later as he accused the Labour leader of seeking to form an alliance with the SNP which is committed to the destruction of the UK.
“I will tell him what goes to character: someone who is prepared to crawl into Downing Street in alliance with people who want to break up the future of our country,” Cameron said. “What a despicable and weak thing to do – risking our defences, risking our country, risking our UK. If he had an ounce of courage he would rule it out.”
A Labour source later said the party has no need and no plans to negotiate a deal with the SNP after the general election.
The heated exchanges took place after Downing Street welcomed an intervention by the former BBC chairman Lord Grade who accused the broadcasters of bullying the prime minister by threatening to place an empty chair in his place if he declines to take part in a head-to-head debate with Miliband.
Grade’s view was supported in part by Lord Mandelson who said broadcasters are not entitled to waive the threat of an empty chair. But Labour later challenged Grade by pointing out that he said in January no leader had a right to veto the debates.
A consortium of the Guardian, the Telegraph and YouTube offering to act as a platform for an online election debate between the party leaders has suggested moving forward the date of its event to accommodate Cameron’s wishes.
In a letter to party leaders, the media organisations say they are now offering to move forward the date of a proposed debate by a few days to 26 or 27 March – before the start of the short campaign – again inviting the leaders of the five main UK-wide parties – the Conservative party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Ukip and the Greens. The SNP and Plaid Cymru would be excluded, as well as the Democratic Unionists.
Downing Street said it would consider the proposal. The prime minister’s spokesman said: “I know that the media organisations you just referred to have made a revised version of their proposal this morning. I know that my political colleagues along with the prime minister are looking at that.”
Labour sources said they would look at the proposal by the media consortium. But a spokesman said the revised offer had come at an inconvenient time as the political parties continue to negotiate with the terrestrial broadcasters.
