What the papers say: The third debate
By Sam Dale
Gordon Brown doesn’t appear to have got the boost he was hoping from last night’s debate on his pet subject, the economy, according to the press.
The Guardian claims that the prime minister did not turn the election, which it said he needed to.
“But Brown did not do enough to lessen the prospect of a Labour defeat. Through the long dead centre of the debate Brown reduced successive subjects – on homes, on welfare fraud, on immigration – to statistic-laden tirades,” it claimed.
They also praised the Conservative leader for raising classic Tory issues such as immigration and welfare dependency without being shrill.
It added: “Mr Cameron played skillfully to those whose first concern is looking after number one, albeit without ever quite resorting to the abject dog whistle meanness that would have stirred the ghost of Tory campaigns past.”
The Times was broadly supportive of David Cameron’s performance backing his economic policy of cutting spending now rather than waiting until next year.
“The subject was, ostensibly, another – the experiment in public spending that the Labour Government has conducted since the turn of the century. The price was too high; the cost will follow,” it said.
The Independent is balanced, praising Mr Brown’s rescue of the banks in October 2008 but Mr Cameron’s vision of the future.
“The other important consideration is future shocks. Overshadowing last night’s debate was the ominous financial storm in Greece,” it said.
“If this crisis is not resolved, another serious economic slump on the continent might well be in store. And Britain is not an economic island.”
The Daily Telegraph strongly backed the Tory leader and heavily criticised the prime minister. They also dismissed Nick Clegg as no longer the new kid on the block.
“This was David Cameron’s moment, and he took it. As he said during the third and final televised debate between the party leaders, Gordon Brown has had his chance: it is too late now to promise reforms he should have introduced years ago.”
