“Ed Miliband’s hopes of using an historic seven-way TV debate to catapult him into Number 10 floundered last night, as he was overshadowed by David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon and Nigel Farage. The Labour leader fell flat during the marathon two-hour clash, and was left lost for words after being challenged on live TV by Nick Clegg to apologise for Labour crashing the economy. A raft of opinion polls produced mixed results on who had ‘won’ the contest, with some backing Miss Sturgeon and others putting Mr Miliband ahead. But a ComRes survey carried out moments after the debate finished showed that 40 per cent of voters think Mr Cameron is ‘most capable of leading the country’, with Mr Miliband trailling on 28 per cent.” – Daily Mail
Verdict: Some give the night to the Tories…
…others to the fringes…
…and a few to Miliband
>Today:
“The Prime Minister stuck rigidly to the Conservative Party election playbook. The message he wanted to get across last night was that his is the only party that can be trusted on the economy – and that Labour and Ed Miliband are a clear and present danger to Britain’s future prosperity. He did this effectively and was clear, confident and avoided getting riled by the attacks from the left, the right and a heckler in the audience.” – The Independent
“As the leaders fought to inject their soundbites into the frantic seven-way debate last night, they could at least console themselves that their colleagues did not have it much easier in the media-infested spin room. George Osborne was an early victim. No sooner had he entered the cold hall deployed to safely house a horde of journalists than he was ambushed by an interviewer and thrust live on to television.” – The Times (£)
“Ed Miliband bought not one but two pairs of new shoes before the debate last night. The Labour leader did little to dispel his critics’ claims of indecisiveness by sending an aide to collect a choice of black lace-ups from a Clarks store in central Manchester.” – The Times (£)
“Every important lesson from last night’s debate of the party seven was visible with the sound turned down. The format was ludicrous in strict proportion to the way British politics has become ludicrous. Seven leaders, most of them conscious that their number could soon be up, scrambling for air time, each one speaking for about 15 minutes of forgettable fame. It was hard for any one of them to develop a line. No sooner did pressure begin to mount on David Cameron than it was relieved as Nigel Farage interrupted with his views on hospital car park charging.” – The Times (£)
Comment:
Editorial:
Sketches:
“A ‘rainbow coalition’ made up of several different parties could cause chaos, Nick Clegg warned today. The Lib Dem leader, who hopes to hold the balance of power after May 7, said the idea of more than two parties forming a government is not ‘going to work’. He said it would be a ‘messy’ way to run the country, and risked instability with the future of the government put in peril with every late night vote.” – Daily Mail
“More than 50,000 people have signed up to a scheme which gives first-time buyers a 20 per cent discount on new homes, David Cameron has said. The Prime Minister said that providing young people with cheaper properties is the “ultimate symbol” of a country “where if you work hard, you can get on”. The Coalition last year said that 100,000 of the new homes would be offered to youngsters but the Conservative manifesto will contain a promise to double that number by the end of the next Parliament.” – Daily Telegraph
“Boris Johnson was accused of ‘breath-taking cheek’ after he set out his vision of ‘moral purpose’ in business and politics. The London Mayor praised the Coalition for having kept down unemployment and not returning to the dole queues of 1980s Britain. He said the fact that more jobs were being created was ‘one of the absolute moral triumphs’ of the government. The comments by Mr Johnson, who is standing to be a Tory MP in a west London constituency, will be seen as an attempt to position himself as a future party leader.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Politicians beware! Voters are now more clued-up about the public finances.
“Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has made an unprecedented intervention ahead of this weekend’s expected surge of travel, telling travellers to ‘think twice’ before taking the train. He has warned of “frustrations” as engineers battle to complete “big dig” projects at many of the nation’s major termini. “There will be alternatives and we’ve lifted almost all motorway roadworks to help,” Mr McLoughlin told the Evening Standard. “But if you are travelling between Friday and Monday night please check your journey first, it may be that you’ll think twice about how you travel.” – Daily Telegraph
“The Conservatives are planning to publish more backing from business leaders closer to the election as the boss of a leading drugs company asked for his name to be withdrawn from a letter of support. It comes as the Labour party faced accusations of hypocrisy because a signatory of its counter letter has advertised unpaid internships and also oversaw a project employing staff on zero-hours contracts.” – The Times (£)
“A business leader who signed a letter supporting Labour’s campaign against unfair employment contracts has been forced to defend his own company’s practices. Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway lost his temper during a BBC interview, when asked how he could back Labour and still use unpaid internships, which Ed Miliband has described as “exploitation”. “We have changed, so what? We realised it was wrong and we changed two years ago,” Mr Hemingway said. “Now we are paying for travel, food, we are paying for various things, and, in the future, we may even pay all our interns,” he added.” – Daily Telegraph
“Labour’s efforts to fight off accusations of hypocrisy on zero-hours contracts were in chaos last night. Party chiefs had scrambled to shore up support for Ed Miliband after it emerged that dozens of Labour councils and MPs employ staff on the controversial contracts, which he has pledged to ban. In a further blow, Parliament’s expenses watchdog rejected claims by Labour MPs that they employ staff on zero hours only because they are forced to by the Westminster system.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
“It was no surprise when Labour released a letter from 100 supporters on Wednesday, in response to the critical one from 103 business leaders this newspaper had already published. But the two lists don’t match: Labour’s contains a scattering of entrepreneurs and very few “business leaders” — alongside actors, media types and 50 people working on zero-hours contracts. It’s a contrast that makes a telling point about Ed Miliband’s bid for power: no party can be a serious contender for government unless it has the respect of the business community. Not the undying love or the unmixed admiration, but at least a working level of mutual understanding.” – Daily Telegraph
“Muslim parents across Britain have been urged to “lock up” their kids’ passports this weekend — to prevent an Easter exodus to Syria. A day after nine Brits were arrested by Turkish authorities trying to cross into the country, former minister Keith Vaz said dramatic steps were urgently needed to prevent teenagers flocking to join IS. He told the Sun: “The first thing parents should do this weekend, keep hold of the passports of the children. “This is absolutely vital. Put them somewhere different, and put them under lock and key.”” – The Sun (£)
“The HS2 rail project should not take priority over transport improvements in the north of England, the shadow chancellor has insisted. Ed Balls said he did not want to delay the second phase of the high-speed line from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, but had to be certain that the region was getting maximum benefit from public investment. George Osborne had challenged him to commit to the project in full after Mr Balls suggested it could be delayed or scaled back if he became chancellor.” – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: Matthew Plummer in Comment: Yearn for the days of British Rail? Think again. Nationalised railways are a nightmare.
“Confusion over Ukip’s immigration policy grew yesterday after Nigel Farage called for the number of arrivals into Britain to be limited at 50,000 a year. But at the same time he claimed that overall caps on net migration – as pledged by the Tories – would be ‘ludicrous’ because it was impossible to stop people leaving the country. Ukip’s manifesto chief later added to the confusion by saying the 50,000 limit ‘might change every year’.” – Daily Mail
“The UK Independence Party’s popularity has “dipped” since its extraordinary electoral success last year, Nigel Farage has admitted. The Ukip leader admitted in an interview that he would prefer people were worse off if it meant that immigration numbers were better controlled. Mr Farage said that the party’s popularity had slipped since its “remarkable” 2014 when it won the European Parliament elections and was left with its first two MPs. He told the BBC: “[The year] 2014 was remarkable. We won the European elections, we had two surprise defections, principled resignations and we won by-elections people didn’t think we could win. We have dipped a little bit since then.”” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: