Broadcasters announce plans to continue debates with party leaders who accept
British broadcasters have proposed new plans for TV debates ahead of the upcoming General Election, with the programmes set to continue even if any of the party leaders choose not to take part.
The planned schedule will see two programmes featuring seven party leaders, with one further debate between David Cameron and Ed Miliband alone.
Under the new plans, the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Green Party, SNP and Plaid Cymru would all be invited to debate twice, with ITV and BBC airing one each.
Meanwhile, a further proposed debate would take place between the Conservative and Labour leaders, hosted by Sky and Channel 4.
The proposed dates for the debates are 2, 16 and 30 April - the order of which will be discussed with the parties, a statement said.
The announcement follows long-running differences between various parties over who should be involved in the debates.
Prime Minister David Cameron said he would not take part in a debate which did not involve the Green Party, after they were not included in the original plans.
Several other parties also claimed that they should be included after Ukip leader Nigel Farage was invited to join Cameron, Miliband and Nick Clegg in the initial proposal.
Read more: David Cameron rules out TV debates in current format