Prime ministerial debate liveblog

22:14 Let me know how you think it went. Who did you prefer and who do you think the public preferred? Thanks for reading. Goodnight!

22:12 It looks pretty calm now. Another poll came out that stated 32:30:30 (N:G:C) and I think that's much more accurate - as do most people there. We'll see what the future brings though! Hung parliament, probably.

22:09 Apologised to Hilary Benn for URY's interview with him (which won Best Interview at the student radio awards) and his response was that Josh Chambers was awful, ghastly and a few other words to that extent. "I couldn't get away from him, that was the problem." Oh dear! No proper interview with me, I suspect!

21:59 Mingling ensues.

21:58 Nick, Gordon, Dave... in that order, apparently. Also apparently Cameron is all the way down - and Nick's avoidance of patronisation helps him stand out. And these are LABOUR people. Many others think that Gordon won - but all are agreed (and I mean all) that Cameron lost and didn't win with 39%. I have to say that I think he'll be about 30-31% tomorrow and that there will be a poll in the next two days that declares each one of them leading. Boo to the media. Boo. Oh wait, I'm booing myse-

21:55 End of their suggestions - lots of mingling and drinking to come. Will go and ask the Labour voters what they think the polls read.....

21:54 Benn thought it was "livelier than last week" and Cameron apparently "just grimaces and ignores what the other person is saying". Remember that these guys are both very strong Labour supporters. "There's a reason that Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister and he should continue to be. Two weeks is a lifetime in politics and there's another one of these to go."

21:52 Eddie Izzard thought that the poll is "bullshit" (sorry for the language) and thinks they took a "random thousand tory voters" and it was rubbish. 19% up to 29% for Gordon Brown is good, apparently. Cameron was expected to do well last week and didn't.

Some guy shouts "Cameron is a tw--" Am I allowed to say it? Well, Izzard did afterwards and says it's "well thought out" for an analysis. He compares it to Palin's seeing-Russia thing.

All are agreed that one hour would be better than 90 minutes. Except Hilary Benn, who thinks that longer is better ;) ;) ;)

21:48 Also the chair, whoever that random sitting down bloke was, performed almost as badly as the guy from last week. The richest media organisations in the UK and they can't afford a good chair? Boo, media, boo. Good luck to the BBC!

Benn and Izzard to speak soon...

21:46 I don't care what those polls say - they're completely bollocks - Clegg and Brown fared better than Cameron but all three were fairly level. What I said the other day, however, is that it's Clegg's to lose and he hasn't lost it yet. Hung parliament on the way unless anything dramatic happens in the final debate!

21:36 Coming in five or ten minutes - I'm going to grab some food quickly! Stick around for some extremely experienced and probably quite biased analysis! Also, URY caused some problems for Benn last year so I'm off to apologise :P

21:35 They all shake hands. Very amusing - and it's quite heartbreaking that it is actually amusing, to be honest. The post-match analysis by the Sky Sport Politics Team falls apart to yelling by Miliband et al. Less cooperation.

Comments by Hilary Benn and Eddie Izzard!

21:34 Clegg mentions everyone and everything from that debate. At least we know he pays attention. We should stand firm for what we believe in. Lots of other general rhetoric and he attacks the other parties and says that we need not to repeat mistakes of the past.

21:32 Cameron again criticises the scaremongering and suggests that they would be real change. There ARE differences between the parties and he makes a general statement on national pride and how awesome everyone was.

21:29 "Nick, you would leave us weak. Cameron you would leave us isolated in Europe." Gordon Brown also attacks the unilateral nuclear disarmament possibility and claims that David Cameron would devastate the economy. As I said before, I'm in a strong Labour location (mostly because of the draw of Benn and Izzard) and lots of applause followed his closing statement.

21:27 They're all using Clegg's staring-at-the-camera trick, by the way. Research showed that it meant he appeared to be more relevant to the millions of viewers - and the others have apparently cottoned on to that!

21:26 "The country wants firm immigration control," claims Cameron. I still maintain that the real problem is *illegal* immigration but no answers coming. A cap - "what's the cap? 10,000? A million?" No answer - would surely make illegal immigration increase, anyway? Attacks from the other two on the lack of specific details in the Conservative policy.

This should be firm Conservative winning territory. They do seem to be leading the debate but Cameron is allowing the blows to rain down on him from the other parties and should be answering their questions but dodges all of them. Still comes out on top from that though. Closing statements to follow!

21:23 A round of applause to Richard and Ben for helping me get this blog working!

21:22 "[Clegg is] still playing to last week's type" says another comment. True, but have you noticed that all three have been jotting down the audience members' names and stealing Clegg's idea from last week. Ooh, an attack on Boris Johnson from Clegg. Poor blonde-haired fool - you know our olympics chances are in his "extremely capable" [sic] hands...? Double-decker bus for opening ceremo-

Oh yeah, the debate. Immigration policy? "Biometric visas" says Brown. Immigrants need to have the skills that we need? Apparently Clegg doesn't stop any immigrants from wandering around - so they're like Labour have been then? Oh and obviously the Tories win this debate because they don't get on with immigrants. But is that going to help the UK? Remember that the UK has a very small percentage of immigrants compared to most of Europe - are we treated that badly?

I'm not going to give an answer - you have to decide. It'll probably be a relatively important part of your decision. Especially since someone the other day said that Labour "ruined Britain" and gave the reason as "immigrants". I was shocked but it shows how big the issue is!

21:17 "I wish DC would stop accusing the others of scare-mongering" says another comment below. I completely agree; though Cameron's right, the Conservatives scare-monger as much as the other parties. They're all evil! We have no choice! Down with democracy!

21:15 Another attack against Cameron's 6 billion pound budget gap. Luckily, the Lib Dems have said "Trident" enough times to avoid any future budget gap questions ever. Clegg is on top of this debate. He's virtually yelling "BANKS" at the screen - and probably getting support of many swing voters in the process.

21:13 Labourite Henry James Foy chips in on twitter... "Good job DC on actually answering that question." Seems like the parties off-screen are getting along alright. It's become quite a good debate though - not completely dead but unfortunately no "that's what she said" which would have brightened up the evening. Brown says the others haven't thought through their policies; Clegg says that we need radical banking changes and Cameron says that British businesses disagree with Labour.

21:11 Ok this is getting a bit boring now. Any drinking games that are going well? It seems "point scoring" would have cleaned out the cabinet but there don't seem to be many other things that have been repeated all night. If anyone bet money on Brown coming in a red tie tonight, you're in luck.... Erm....

21:09 "[Cameron] blatantly refused to guarantee future of free prescriptions and free eye etsts." That's much better - David Miliband attacking the Conservative leader on twitter. Phew, balance restored!

Not much happening in the leadership debate itself. "Armageddon" is the only word that interested me in that very long comment. Business is being discussed, I think? Not entirely sure I can follow this. "The key thing is that we have got to have an agreed plan to reduce the deficit" - a hung parliament could well see an agreement on the economy. How likely is it to be? Well, Cameron is saying it's an option every few half an hour, so I would say 80% in favour of hung parliament. Especially as Clegg appears to be holding his own about as well as the other two; I can't see any great pro-Lib-Dem polling tomorrow but it'd be interesting to see how they fluctuate...

21:05 It seems that the invitations to the facebook event for this blog went out very late. Apologies for that. In other facebook news, Alastair Campbell says "well done Cameron for taking Clegg down a peg from his sanctimonious high horse on expenses" - well done Cameron? Alastair Campbell? I thought I wasn't going to be surprised tonight but that's got to be close...

21:03 Finally heating up a bit now (unlike cold pensioner houses). Point scoring between Brown and Cameron - Clegg says that "point scoring" is bad for the country. Cameron says that people who play the system properly get screwed over by the system itself. Good point, "Dave".

21:01 Conservatives will keep the free TV licence, free bus passes and keep pensions intact. Lib Dems want to help the two and a half million pensioners below the poverty line by making changes quickly to save money to help the winter fuel allowance. I can't help but feel that a nationalised British Gas would have helped.

Back and forth from Brown and Cameron.

20:58 There isn't that much that's new from these parties. All three seem to be agreeing on issues that you'd expect them to and disagreeing on other issues. All three want to stop hypocrisy and injustice. Will they all agree in two months? Maybe, maybe not: power corrupts.

Apparently people in Clegg's constituency say it's cheaper to sit on a bus going around and around than to stay at home on a cold winter day. STUDENT TIPS FROM NICK CLEGG

20:54 Adam Shergold, via Nouse's bloggers, says that Blair is on safari. Much Amusement Ensues. On a more related issue, Clegg tries to bring the issue back to Mary's question. People do seem to have wandered off a bit, to be honest!

20:52 "You can't run the NHS on a 'do it yourself' system." Gordon Brown attacking Cameron. Clegg tells us that safe seats cause people to abuse the system. Brown says abuses should cause suspension. Cameron says that "one of the problems in our country today is that if you take responsibility, you get punished."

He meets couples in his constituency who feel hard done by. Brown says that the 3,000 richest people would benefit most from Cameron's manifesto and that's really "unfair".

20:49 Cameron wants open primaries? Also wants to have proper MP removal system but not at the expense of a 'party-removal system' in which we have a "permanent hung-parliament". Clegg says that many young people are turned off by politics and suggests turning on people like the young lady in the audience. Brown complains about the system. Some say politics doesn't make a difference but when you ask about NHS, police and schools, politics can make a difference.

20:46 How to change politics?

We have a weird electoral system that needs to change, says Clegg. Brown wants a referendum on House of Commons and House of Lords. But the vote matters as well and we need public services. Lots of attacking of both Conservatives and Lib Dems by Brown. Cameron wants a cleaned up parliament as well - strangely, they all support proper MPs.

20:43 Cameron attacks the Pope more than the others. He disagrees with contraception, abortion and science beliefs (of the Pope) but thinks that faith is important and needs an "open and frank discussion".

"We all agree on this matter," says Cameron. "I think, on this issue, we all do," says Clegg. "I think we're a tolerant and understanding nation," says Brown. "If you're gay or straight, you have a place in our society." Again, agreement with the others and disagreement with the Pope. But where's the CHRISTIAN vote going to go? [1]

20:40 PAEDOPHILES. That's the next question: what's the deal with the pope? All three say that they think that the Pope is important and that lots of people are Catholic but that paedophilia is wrong and the church needs to address it. All three welcome his visit, even though they're not Catholics.

20:38 Brown says that we need to work with everyone. Cameron says that you don't need treaties but political will.

Woah, woah... Is that lots of text all over the Sky News screen? That's NOT ALLOWED according to the original rules! Naughty Sky!

Summary of Hilary Benn and Eddie Izzard's introduction: "We've got to make sure that people vote Labour," says Hilary Benn. Eddie says, "I thought that last week all three did very well. Gordon did well to ask Camerona bout the 6 billion but the latter just ignored him and continued. Clegg did very well [but] we've got 2 weeks which is an eternity in politics and anything can happen."

20:37 Brown says that we need to work with everyone. Cameron says that you don't need treaties but political will.

Woah, woah... Is that lots of text all over the Sky News screen? That's NOT ALLOWED according to the original rules! Naughty Sky!

Summary of Hilary Benn and Eddie Izzard's introduction: "We've got to make sure that people vote Labour," says Hilary Benn. Eddie says, "I thought that last week all three did very well. Gordon did well to ask Camerona bout the 6 billion but the latter just ignored him and continued. Clegg did very well [but] we've got 2 weeks which is an eternity in politics and anything can happen."

20:33 Brown asks Clegg about nuclear power and Cameron about renewable power. Cameron responds and Clegg responds - both sensibly. Nuclear take a decade for new plants to be built, apparently. Brown says that the situation is harsh but Cameron says it's worse than Brown says.

To summarise: we're all doomed.

20:30 What do YOU do with environmentalism?

"I get trains a lot," says Gordon. Also, domestic flights should be used less.

"Insulation," says Cameron. He then attacks the third runway and supports a high-speed railway instead. Every time you can get a train instead of a plane, you should do that.

"When I go to Sheffield and back again, each week, I go on the train unless I have too much to carry," Clegg says. He attacks plane flights too. The tax system attacks passengers and that's stupid. Needs a tax on planes and not people.

Brown says that oil dependency is the problem and talks about energy system; nuclear and renewables (as well as oil and gas). Leading off-shore wind farms...

20:27 Cameron attacks Trident. And attacks Clegg. Clegg rebuts with the fact that many Generals agree with him. Gordon Brown launches into a tirade against Clegg.

Clegg responds. "What's certain is that spending money we may not have on a weapon that may not be helpful for the sake of attacks that may not change [is a poor situation]"

"I have never said this before, but I agree with Gordon," Cameron quips.

20:25 Does the strategy depend on the people? Solely? Brown thinks it does - but he seems to be forgetting the need for troops and the like. Got a point though; Al Qaeda isn't just a series of physical attacks but is a psychological terror.

20:22 Our first comment - 'Clegg's demolishing them' - but I disagree. Clegg's doing well for those people who don't like Trident and do like Europe. Brown hasn't been attacked too hard and Cameron will have probably secured the Euroskeptic vote. Cameron has to be said to be the weakest of the three at the moment but questions may change focus in his favour.

20:21 Clegg: "I supported Afghanistan, as opposed to the illegal war in Iraq, because I thought it was right. But we need to make sure we have the right weapons and the right equipment."

Brown: "Al Qaeda is in Somalia and Al Qaeda is in Yemen... Almost every day I get reports that say there are terrorist plots, mostly in Afghanistan."

The debate seems to be stacked. Cameron attacked on European issues, as was expected. Gordon Brown attacked for Iraq/Afghanistan - but nowhere near as harshly as I would have expected. GO ON CLEGG AND CAMERON, HAVE A BASH AT HIM.

"How are we going to get out of [Afghanistan]?" Apparently Cameron supports staying in Afghanistan too. Clegg agrees, if we have the right resources. He suggests a resource review and he says that spending money on the Eurofighter Typhoon (which, I agree, is overly expensive for what it is) and the Trident system (which would save over 2 billion per year)... What would happen in a hung parliament? Probably a review, probably no cuts.

20:15 "It doesn't help Britain to be stuck with nutters and right-wing haters," says Clegg. David Cameron stares blankly into the distance and Gordon Brown is tempted to say 'I agree with Nick' but instead claims that he's an America-hater.

"UK can't give security council position," says Brown. Clegg apparently disagrees!

20:12 Europe broke open many paedophile rings - "we're safer together than apart", says Clegg.

Cameron will damage the economic reform with his anti-European policies, says Brown. Past Conservative governments did it, apparently.

"Don't ask the people; just give into everything that comes out of Brussels," says Cameron, sarcastically. A referendum is a con, allegedly.

Clegg continues to say that any referendum on one issue is a con as it doesn't address the other issues. Lots of heated debate here! Mostly facing against Cameron, who is facing a barrage of pro-European attacks.

20:08 What are you going to do about Europe? "We need to work with them," says Cameron, before sympathising with Euroskeptics. "We are a part of Europe," says Clegg with very pro-Europe comments following. "3 million reasons to be part of Europe - 3 million jobs," says Gordon Brown.

Lots of applause for Brown here in this very pro-Labour room!

20:06 Nick Clegg starts by an attack on the Iraq War - and therefore an attack on the other two parties. Gordon Brown and David Cameron talk about things tenuously related to the main issues but imply that things will be different and fairer under them.

20:04 Sorry about all that! Lots of technical problems. I'm Jason Rose and I'm live from Leeds where our evening is being hosted by Hilary Benn and Eddie Izzard. I'll catch you up over the next few minutes!

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