Come on Mrs May, Mongolia holds TV election debates, British voters deserve them too www.telegraph.co.uk
Television debates have, over the last seven years, become an immovable feature of the British political landscape. A staging post on the way to the polling station, a focal point on the journey to government or opposition – and, most importantly of all, a chance to speak more-or-less directly to the people calling the shots: the voters. Yet Theresa May has decreed she won’t agree to one. Instead she might take part in some stage-managed Q&A, which won’t set her head-to-head with her political opponents.
It won’t do. It’s more than half a century since America invented the televised presidential debate. Iran, Mongolia and Afghanistan have followed suit. But Britain’s prime minister has now decided this particular aspect of a modern democracy is not for her.
Her allies say this is politically sensible. A woman renowned for her caution has just taken the biggest gamble of her life.
Published Date:2017-04-20