Leaders prepare for second prime ministerial TV debate
Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010
 Nearly 10m people watched the first debate at its peak |
Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are once more set to go head-to-head in the second prime ministerial TV debate, focused on global affairs.
The Lib Dems enjoyed a poll boost after the first debate. Sky News hosts the second, from 2000 BST.
Mr Clegg has denied wrongdoing after political donations were paid into his private bank account in 2006, before he became leader.
The party says he is being "smeared" because of his debate success.
It follows a story in the Daily Telegraph that three donors paid up to £250 a month into Mr Clegg's account for a few months. The Lib Dems say that was done for administrative ease to pay a researcher and was all "properly given, accounted for and declared".
Poll boost
The Sun, Mail and Express also attack the Lib Dem leader on their front pages. A Lib Dem spokesman said: "We believe that a concerted effort at political smear is under way but we are confident the public will see it for what it is, a kickback by vested interests against the prospect of change."
A number of opinion polls placed the Liberal Democrats ahead of Labour and gaining on the Conservatives after last week's prime ministerial TV debate.
 | HOW DID FIRST DEBATE GO?   |
The second 90-minute debate is being held at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol later. Sky News is presenting the debate, hosted by its political editor Adam Boulton.
Unlike the first debate, which was shown only on ITV1, it is being screened simultaneously on a number of channels - Sky News, Sky 3 and the BBC News Channel. It will also be re-run on BBC Two from 2330 BST. The Lib Dems hope the debate's foreign affairs theme may work to their advantage due to their opposition on the Iraq war and their criticism of the conduct of military operations in Afghanistan.
'Great tribute'
But Labour and the Conservatives believe Mr Clegg will be vulnerable because of his party's hostility to renewing Trident and its policies over Europe.
Mr Clegg said he would prepare by going for a long walk in the countryside, which "seemed to help a little bit last time". He said he had done "next to nothing" since last Thursday to prepare for the second debate, blaming "the intensity of the campaign".
|  I think I will just be more like me  David Cameron |
"I will sit with my team and we will just go over some questions. We are not going to do any dress rehearsals or anything like that," Mr Clegg said.
An internal Lib Dem dossier left in a taxi and obtained by The Sun newspaper suggested party strategists had urged Mr Clegg to copy Mr Cameron's approach in the debates.
Mr Cameron said he took the advice as "a great tribute" to his own style, but added: "I think I will just be more like me."
'Best for jobs'
The Tory leader said he enjoyed trying to answer voters' questions as directly as he could, adding: "That is what elections should be about. That is what the debate should be all about. And that's why I am looking forward to it on Thursday."
Meanwhile, Mr Brown admitted he lost out to Mr Clegg in presentation terms last week but said his concentration on policy would win out in the end.
He said: "If it's a competition about substance and who's got the policies of the future, who's best for the NHS, who's best for jobs, who's best for the economy, then I believe that people will look at the policies for the future that we have ... and I believe that is the set of issues that people will finally make up their mind on."
The debate's audience will be made up of about 150 people from Bristol and the surrounding area - 50 fewer than last week because the venue is smaller.
This time the Lib Dem leader will be in the middle of the three leaders, with Mr Cameron on the left when looking at the screen, and Mr Brown on the right, which is where he stood last week.
The historic first debate on ITV1 was watched by 9.9m people at its peak, during which the three leaders clashed over issues including tax, immigration and expenses.
Meanwhile, Mr Clegg has indicated to the Independent newspaper that his party will demand a fully proportional voting system for Westminster elections as the price of their support if they hold the balance of power following the general election.
He said the Alternative Vote (AV) system proposed by the prime minister was "a baby step in the right direction", and said he would not settle for "a miserable little compromise thrashed out by the Labour Party".
The Lib Dem leader told the newspaper he wanted the AV-plus system recommended by Lord Jenkins' 1998 report for Tony Blair on voting reform, which would retain MPs' constituency link but deliver a result which was more proportional to the number of votes cast.
On Wednesday the three would-be chancellors clashed over whether a hung parliament could be harmful for the UK economy.
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