Despite “empty-chairing” himself last night - or “chickening out”, if you prefer - David Cameron has entered the post-debate fray by attacking Ed Miliband for refusing to rule out a post-election deal with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.
“Ed Miliband won't rule out a vote-by-vote deal with the SNP so he can be PM,” Cameron tweeted this morning. “It would mean more borrowing and more taxes and you [the electorate] would pay.”
But the PM was skating on thin ice. In Wales to launch his party's Welsh manifesto, he was immediately hit by a flock of tweets featuring pictures of chickens.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile, a video of Tory MP Liz Truss defending Cameron's "no show" has gone viral this morning.
It features Bloomberg political editor Rob Hutton asking whether Cameron's absence from the BBC debate brought out his "true personality". As Truss tried to defend Cameron, Hutton asked: “Do you think we saw the real David Cameron tonight?”
- Challengers’ debate: The Week’s guide to the highlights
In a pretty desperate effort to fight the “chicken” charge – and to answer the second most searched question on Google during the event: “Why is David Cameron not at the debate?” - Team Cameron even tried to argue that the Prime Minister had “not been invited” to take part.
Cameron himself made this ludicrous claim earlier in the day, saying: “I’m a polite individual and if I’m not invited, I’m not going to try and gatecrash it.”
After the debate, William Hague picked up the baton, arguing that Cameron had been deliberately excluded. Quite how the Downing Street spin doctors hoped to get away with this - when it is public knowledge that he refused to take part in more than one debate - is a mystery.
Cameron is right on one thing, however – Miliband did not rule out a vote-by-vote deal with the SNP. During his exchange with Nicola Sturgeon, he ruled out only a formal coalition.
Sturgeon to Miliband: “Is it the case that you would rather see David Cameron go back into Downing Street than work with the SNP? Surely that cannot be your position.”
Miliband: “I have fought the Conservatives all my life. We have profound differences. That why I’m not going to have a coalition with the SNP. I’m not going to put at risk the unity of the United Kingdom. It’s a no, I’m afraid”.
But as the BBC’s political correspondent Norman Smith said on the Today programme this morning, there is an "iron logic" about some sort of voting pact between Labour and the SNP being sorted out in the event of a hung Parliament if Labour emerge the largest party.
And as Don Brind reports today, that’s still where the polls are currently pointing.
-
Nepal’s fake mountain rescue fraudUnder The Radar Arrests made in alleged $20 million insurance racket
-
History-making moments of Super Bowl halftime shows pastin depth From Prince to Gloria Estefan, the shows have been filled with memorable events
-
The Washington Post is reshaping its newsroom by laying off hundredsIn the Spotlight More than 300 journalists were reportedly let go
-
How long can Keir Starmer last as Labour leader?Today's Big Question Pathway to a coup ‘still unclear’ even as potential challengers begin manoeuvring into position
-
The high street: Britain’s next political battleground?In the Spotlight Mass closure of shops and influx of organised crime are fuelling voter anger, and offer an opening for Reform UK
-
Is a Reform-Tory pact becoming more likely?Today’s Big Question Nigel Farage’s party is ahead in the polls but still falls well short of a Commons majority, while Conservatives are still losing MPs to Reform
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Nicola Sturgeon's memoir: making the personal politicalTalking Point Former Scottish first minister attempts to set record straight in 'Frankly' but does she leave more questions than answers?
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Is the G7 still relevant?Talking Point Donald Trump's early departure cast a shadow over this week's meeting of the world's major democracies
-
Angela Rayner: Labour's next leader?Today's Big Question A leaked memo has sparked speculation that the deputy PM is positioning herself as the left-of-centre alternative to Keir Starmer
