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most-voters-want-farage-in-leaders-debate
gummy mummy
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A new poll suggests most of the public believe Nigel Farage should take part in any televised leaders' debates ahead of next year's general election.
A Comres poll has found 51% of people think UKIP should be represented alongside David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Lib Dem Nick Clegg.
Even more - 53% - say the Prime Minister would look like a coward if he refused to take on Mr Farage.
http://news.sky.com/story/1241246/most-voters-want-farage-in-leaders-debate
Personally I disagree.
I disagree that Farage should take part in the debates and I disagree that Cameron would look like a coward if he doesn't allow him to take part.
When/if Farage ever has enough seats to warrant taking part in the Leadership debates then Cameron or any future PM may look like a coward if they don't take him on, until then I'm not sure why Farage should take part but not other party leaders who do have seats.
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Hear hear!
If other party leaders are invited to take part then fair enough let him join in, but I don't see why he should join in and not the other leaders.
They don't want Farage in the debates as they know he would destroy Cameron as he did Clegg.
Well if the Lib Dems lose all their seats then the same should apply to them, and any other party that loses it's seats, they shouldn't take part in the 2019 (?) GE leader debates either.
Its the only chance he has of winning but even then I wouldn't put any money on it !
I'm no frit Tory, or any other sort of a Tory I just don't see how Farage has earned the right to join in leader debates, let him get a few MPs then maybe....!!!
We get Milibland and Call me dave every Wednesday - and every week it gets more childish. I would happily have the Green leader and Nigel - at least they have something to say and display some passion!
As for this prior record business - surely its where you are going that matters not where you came from. Isn't that what the old Etonians keep telling us. On your logic any new party would be excluded from the debates even if they were on 50% of the vote.
If you have been on 10%+ in the polls for at least a year and are standing in at least 90% of UK seats you should be in the debates - or at least one of them.
PS Yes - Cameron would be seen as a coward!
Ed Miliband has no record to defend either as he is not in government - presumably on your logic Cameron should debate himself as he is the only PM running in 2015?:o
We shall of course see what happens - but I have no doubt the tv companies will want Farage in as it would be good for ratings. Cameron vs Milibland would be a snooze fest.
He has plenty of MEPs and he'll have plenty more come May.
The BNP (564,321) attracted twice as many votes as the Greens (265,2430) in the last election and UKIP (919,471) attracted twice as many as the BNP , who do you think the voters want ?
I've been to local general election meetings at almost every general election for 50 years or more. At that time they were single party meetings where you could hammer them with questions and watch them swerve and squirm. Over the past 20 or so years, there have been multi-parti meetings which have been open to all candidates, including UKIP, Greens and Independents or any other candidate that wants to make representation; all the ones I've been to have seen them swerve and squirm, not least of all, UKIP.
UKIP were notorious for standing aside providing the likely winner was eurosceptic but I doubt that's going to happen this time, I think they will all stand their ground and cause havoc with the two main parties, the LibDems having already shot their bolt.
Yes but this isn't a debate for the leaders of the European Parliament it's a debate for leaders our Parliament here in the UK.
No doubt the mighty Miliband would triumph though eh? ;-)
If it were a leaders debate in the run-up to european elections then by all means because they have UKIP MEPs, but Farage should be at the back of he queue in relation to westminster elections
What a terrible reason to exclude any representative, it is the very sort of reason that we've hadd a closed shop since politics began.
Well the public seem to think he should be included - as this poll demonstrates.
Surely its how you are doing now - not what you did in 2010 that matters. On your logic a party with no seats in parliament now but on 40% in the polls would not be allowed to participate in the debate but a party with 300 seats but now on 5% would be.
In the end Cameron doesn't want to debate Farage - because he would be totally destroyed by him. All the excuses that will be given - won't wash with the public.
That doesn't make any sense or logic but you're welcome to try again.
His hands would be sore from friction with the air.
A UKIP win in a by-election between now and then should do very nicely in really setting the cat among the pigeons. It could be anywhere but Newark, next door to Margaret Thatcher's old seat in Grantham, is exactly the sort of place where it could have happened. Shame, then, that current disgraced MP Patrick Mercer - cash for questions? - is probably going to be suspended for six months rather than booted out of Parliament. Its residents won't have a functioning MP but their rights will count for nothing to an establishment worried UKIP will win.