Prime Minister Gordon Brown is now ready to engage Conservative Party’s leader, David Cameron, in a debate on live television – not only during the general election campaign, but before it.
Brown thinks debates will highlight the choices which the voters face. However, BBC political correspondent, Ben Wright, understands a television debate will not feature in the keynote speech of the prime minister on Tuesday to the Labour Conference.
It is expected that Brown will discuss a new crackdown on anti-social behaviour in his speech.
Several months ago, Cameron requested a television election debate which would also involve Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats’ leader. If such debates would happen, they would be regarded as the first televised prime ministerial debates in Britain.
Based on a Downing Street source, the matter is under consideration still and the announcement will be made at the appropriate time.
Brown, in his keynote conference speech, will mention the difference between the Conservatives and Labour. He will also announce some measures to fight problem families which cause misery in the communities as part of a broader package of crime measures.
The prime minister will pledge also to urge the courts to issue more Drinking Banning orders.
It appears that Brown is pressured to deliver the speech of his life come Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a new opinion poll shows the party is facing a crushing general election. The survey places the Labour Party in third place behind the Liberal Democrats.
On a separate survey for BBC’s program, Newsnight, about two-thirds of the respondents expressed that their view of the Labour worsened when Brown became the leader.
