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What's in a name?

Michael Crick | 12:38 UK time, Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Oh boy, how about this folks? Sky and the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ are at odds over what to call the TV debate tomorrow night.

You'll recall a few weeks ago how I revealed that the TV negotiators dreamt up the ruse of calling them Prime Ministerial debates, rather than leaders' debates, as a clever way of resolving what to do about the SNP and Plaid Cymru leaders, Alex Salmond and Ieuan Wyn Jones.

After all, they aren't trying to be PM, the broadcasters said.

Gotcha.

The SNP and Plaid were understandably furious with this brilliant stitch-up.

ITV rather fudged the issue last week by calling it "The Election Debate", but Sky have now bust things wide open. The needlework's coming badly unstitched.

Sky are calling their programme tomorrow night "The Leaders' Debate".

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, reliable as ever, are determined to stick to the original agreement, and we will call it a "Prime Ministerial Debate" in our coverage.

However, in the on-screen captions the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ will be using for its TV coverage, the Corporation has had to succumb to Sky's programme title "The Leaders' Debate".

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    a leaders debate would have to include all leaders including green, bnp, monster raving looney etc?

  • Comment number 2.

    Why didn't they just call it the "Liars' Debate"?

    ...then it would be appropriate from any perspective!

  • Comment number 3.

    It should be called, "How to disenfranchise 10 million people of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales"

    These National/UK/English debates have no relevance outside the Little Englander mentality of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, ITV and SKY.

  • Comment number 4.

    Who cares!

    This has been great for politics, even fate has taken a hand providing a bit of timely embarresment via an imaginary ash cloud. I wonder how many weary travellers will be voting labour?

    Most likely end game at this point in time is a hung parliament with Liddems having more % tage of vote but labour more seats. Nick clegg should make it clear that in that situation he would be PM and Vc would be chancellor and Proportional representation for any coalition.

    That would be the only fair result for the public and he should insist on it. I would hope labour would be concerned enough about the nation than their own power base to accept the publics wishes rather than cling onto the warped number of seats they will have disproportionate to the will of the people.

    If they refused there would probably have to be another election, under such circumstance I imagine labour would be obliterated anyway by popular opinion.

    Cameron can not win now.

    Its going to be interesting.

  • Comment number 5.

    "Gotcha"? How many more times does it have to be pointed out that it's simply not necessary to stand in - let alone win - a majority of parliamentary seats in order to become PM? These ace negotiators, whoever they are, ought to have consulted a constitutional expert or two before they convinced themselves they'd come up with such a "brilliant" wheeze. Yes, we all know that in practice neither the SNP or Plaid are going to supply the PM - but equally we know, even at this stage (thanks to the inequities of our electoral system) that exactly the same applies to the Lib Dems.

    However, I agree that this charade has been exposed even more now that Sky and ITV aren't even bothering to persevere with it.

  • Comment number 6.

    How about 'What's Our Agenda?' (who 'we' are being key).

    Just watched SKY News, and now wondering why the travails of the Bristol transport system would have any bearing on what is meant to be a national debate.

    Further, it seems to have turned into yet another narrow topic-specific, editorially pre-selected, rehearsable farce, tonight 'focussed' on foreign affairs. I thought I was submitting questions across a raft of national topics, not what one channel is going to 'specialise' in.

    In light of revelations recently on certain broadcast entities' senior management and internal structures, with in one case a comments moderator also being an aspiring candidate, one can only imagine what might make it through, or be edited out before even getting asked on air.

  • Comment number 7.

    You want to guarantee me that any of THOSE three are going to be PM? Suppose the Lib/Lab make a deal in a hung parliament that the Libs support the Labs IF Brown goes. So Miliband ends up PM.

    Perfectly legal and where does that put the little "only someone who can be PM" argument? Aye. In the bin where it belongs.

    Ah, but that was always because they didn't want people to hear Salmond argue against Tridents, ID cards, the House of Lords, etc.

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