Stonewall Cameron: how they're taking PM's TV refusal

It is hard to find a political commentator backing David Cameron’s refusal to face Ed Miliband in a pre-election TV debate – and his agreement to take part in only one debate with all the other party leaders. Some believe the broadcasters must take responsibility for the “mess”, but almost all agree the Prime Minister is cynically avoiding giving Miliband a chance to shine.

Cameron’s enthusiastic support for the debates at the last election has not been forgotten. “I think it is great we are having these debates,” he said in April 2010, “and I hope they go some way to restore some of the faith and some of the trust into our politics, because we badly need that once again in this country.

Many commentators quote yesterday’s remark by Nick Clegg: “I am bemused by the lofty pomposity of the Conservatives that they say they will deign to participate in one debate," said the Lib Dem leader. "They’re behaving as if they’re ordering a drink in the drawing room of Downton Abbey.”

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Here, in brief, is what a selection of commentators are saying today:

Janet Daley in the Daily Telegraph: “What are [the voters] to make of a leader who constantly derides the leader of the Opposition as a joke – a dead man walking electorally – and then backs away from a live debate with him? Surely he should be panting for the opportunity to tear him limb-from-limb on live television? The 2010 debates… created an instant tradition. Mr Cameron has done a very unwise thing in trying to turn the clock back. It will not be forgotten.”

John Harris in The Guardian: “Somewhere in their souls, the Prime Minister and his advisers must know that their protracted wriggling speaks to a contrast between Cameron of 2010 and the politician he has since turned into. Once he styled himself as a leader who was open and up for a challenge; now he looks more than ever like a cold power politician with a tinge of aristocratic contempt for rules and rituals that need only apply to others.”

Editorial in The Times: “To insiders, debates may seem too risky to be worth it, but ducking them is a straightforward electoral own goal that even Mr Miliband can’t miss. ‘Why are you running scared of TV debates?’ he asked yesterday. It’s a good question. Mr Cameron has a much better record in government than Mr Miliband did and he should be eager to defend it.”

Paddy Ashdown in the Daily Mirror: “By wriggling, ducking and slipping out of every proposal put forward by the broadcasters, the Prime Minister has shown his true colours. In the words of his great idol Margaret Thatcher, he is too ‘frit’ to defend his own record… These debates do not belong to the Prime Minister or the Tories, they belong to the British people.”

Stephen Bush for the New Statesman: “Downing Street calculates that the row over the debates will blow over and is unlikely to leave a mark, but a defeat to the unfancied Miliband could do them real damage. It means that the central focus of the short campaign will not be on the debates, as last time, but will instead hinge on set-piece interviews… That’s probably to the Prime Minister’s advantage; he’s a polished performer on these programmes, where Miliband tends to struggle.”

Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome.com: “Whatever happens next, we in the media will ramp the story up… and Downing Steet will cross its fingers and hope that it fades away. In the meantime, the voters will stifle a yawn, if they can be bothered to do even that. They are not marching in the streets to demand more politicians on their TV screens. The reverse, if anything.”