Party leaders will debate before the election
With the 38 Degrees’ general election consultation in its final phase, one of the ideas that has emerged has already become a campaign. Several people suggested that the TV leadership debates in the run-up to the general election would be a good way for us to get involved: it’s a chance to make sure that ordinary voters get heard, rather than just the usual suspects.
So, we were concerned when we saw the news that politicians and their spin doctors are already squabbling about how to make the debates work. There’s a danger that it will become another opportunity for polished political performances, without putting our would-be leaders on the spot about the issues that we care about.
At first, these debates seemed like a step in the right direction. But there can’t be open debate if the people that count – the voters – are left out. The party leaders and their teams want to control everything about the debates, so that nothing will be able to spoil their image. That means no questions from the audience and no real debate.
Now, we’re taking action to call on the party leaders to let voters choose and ask the majority of questions during the TV debates. We want to quiz the party leaders directly on the issues that matter to us, like climate change, public services and bankers’ bonuses.
Click here to join the campaign for real debates between the party leaders at election time, so we can get the answers we need to decide who to vote for on polling day: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/open-up-election-debates
When Gordon Brown announced that there was going to be an inquiry into the Iraq war, a private inquiry, an inquiry behind closed doors, an inquiry where we were only going to hear part of the truth, we knew we had to do something. I not only felt that this was an injustice to all those who marched against the Iraq war, but also an injustice to those who supported it at the time but then felt tricked by exaggerated claims about “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, and all those service personnel who went to war and died on the basis of made up claims. Thousands and thousands of Iraqis have died, as well as 179 British service men and women.
