David Cameron called for the format of televised pre-election debates to be changed, arguing that those held before the 2010 vote “took all the life out of the campaign”.
“I think we could learn from last time,” he told a meeting of journalists.
“I think TV debates are good. I enjoyed them last time — particularly the last one.
“I haven’t made my mind up exactly what we should do, but I am in favour of these debates. My reflection on last time was that they did take all the life out of the campaign.
“The press and all of us were interested in the run-up to the debate, the debate and the post-debate analysis, not the rest of the campaign, which I really enjoy,” he added.
Labour claimed the prime minister was trying to ditch the debates “because he is too scared to defend his record”.
“At the next election, David Cameron should have to defend his decisions and his record — from a disastrous economic record to the fact that we now have fewer nurses in our NHS and fewer police officers fighting crime,” said Labour vice-chairman Michael Dugher.
“The public will rightly want to see him and Ed Miliband questioned properly about what changes we need for the future of the country, including during the general election campaign itself.”
Cameron urges change in debate format
