IT
itsrobert
Founding member
I agree that Channel 4 really ought to host a debate over and above Sky News. But I would question the very existence of the debates in the British political system. Unlike the US we are not a presidential system and contrary to popular opinion, we the electorate ought not to be voting for the personalities who lead the parties. In principle we should vote for our MP based on the party whose policies are the closest to our own political viewpoint. This was a case in point in 2007 - if people 'voted' for Tony Blair in 2005 because of personality they were duped in 2007 when Gordon Brown was elected Labour leader and thus Prime Minister. That was perfectly permissible under our system because we elected the party to office, not the person. Yet many went ballistic about how he was 'unelected', which was utter nonsense. He was no less elected than any other British prime minister. So, I find the debates totally surplus to requirements. We survived perfectly well without them for centuries and it's just another step to the Americanisation of Britain.