British leaders agree on televised debates

THE leaders of the three main British political parties have agreed to terms for a series of televised debates during the next general election campaign, it was announced last night.

The broadcasters BBC, ITV and Sky said that under the terms of the deals they would each be hosting one debate during the campaign.

The programmes, lasting between 85 and 90 minutes, will be filmed in front of a selected studio audience and will be broadcast in peak time.

It is the first time in British political history that the main party leaders have agreed to take part in a televised debate.

Previous attempts to arrange one have always foundered on the reluctance of one or other leaders to risk what they believe is a strong position by taking part.

Under the terms of the agreement Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg will appear in each of the debates which will all follow the same format, with around half of the discussion time being themed.

The first debate will be produced by ITV with presenter Alastair Stewart; Sky will produce the second presented by Adam Boulton; and David Dimbleby will present the third for the BBC.

The BBC and Sky will make their programmes available to other broadcasters simultaneously while ITV will make theirs available immediately after transmission.