Britain gears up for second TV electoral debate

LONDON - Britain’s main political party leaders were Thursday gearing up for a second round of televised debate amid signs that the campaign for the May 6 general election could turn “dirty”.

Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, are set to outline their parties’ positions on issues ranging from nuclear proliferation to Afghanistan and the European Union.

The live TV debates, a novelty in British electoral history, have fired up the campaign after Nick Clegg, the youthful LibDem leader, was declared the “winner” of the first round.

Clegg, offering the electorate a “new, alternative” approach to politics that would be different from the “two old parties”, has electrified voters and significantly advanced his party’s popularity, according to opinion polls.

Both major parties, and sections of the media, have attempted to undermine what has become known as the “Clegg effect” with attacks on the Liberal leader, including allegations that payments from party donors were made directly to his private bank account.

Faced with an enhanced “Liberal competition”, both Brown and Cameron are expected to adopt a harsher tone towards Clegg Thursday.

In the first debate last week, all three party leaders addressed each other politely by their first names and shook hands after the event.