David Cameron and Nick Clegg naturally had the toughest tasks today when they faced young voters for the Sky question-and-answer sessions because they are having to defend policies their government has pursued. Clegg, who is normally very good at Q&As, grew rather wound up when having to defend the tuition fees U-turn and seemed more on the defensive than he needed to. Cameron has just finished his session, where his demeanour that normally makes him appear commanding and Prime Ministerial gave him a slightly wooden quality as he answered questions. It underlined why Cameron wants to avoid the debates: he will have to defend what he has done while opposition leaders have more room to talk about what they would do, which is easier even when everyone likes using the phrase ‘difficult decisions’.
But the Prime Minister did tackle two of the most difficult issues (aside from a surprising question about VAT on tampons that he probably hadn’t prepped for that left Cameron wittering and blushing) very well.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in