Jo Swinson has accepted an invite from Sky News to a live televised election debate with the other two main UK-wide party leaders.

The head of the Liberal Democrats said "I'm in" and asked if the Conservatives' Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn for Labour would "show up".

A Labour spokesperson said they would "consider all opportunities to explain our plans to voters and we are talking to the broadcasters about how to achieve this".

Jo Swinson threatens legal action against ITV over debates

Sky News has proposed the event take place on Thursday 28 November - two weeks before voters head to the polls on Thursday 12 December.

Sky News originally suggested a debate between the leaders of the current government and the opposition.


But as there are now multiple proposals for double-headed debates, Sky News believes it is sensible to suggest an alternative approach that will allow the public to properly scrutinise a wider range of views.

Sky News has promised to continue to provide appropriate coverage to other parties in broadcasts throughout the election period.

A YouGov poll released on Monday found 53% of the public back Ms Swinson being invited to the main televised debate between Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn, versus 26% who feel she should not.

The majority of Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and Remain voters support the move, while a slim majority of Leave voters - 40% to 38% - are against it.

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Earlier, Ms Swinson threatened to take legal action against ITV if she was not included in its head-to-head debate between Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn.

Michael Jermey, ITV's director of news and current affairs, said in a letter to the Lib Dems the current plans were fair, meet obligations for due impartiality and serve viewers well.

"Politicians are obviously entitled to have a view on our decisions, but who is invited to take part in a programme is ultimately a matter for ITV," he added.

The Scottish National Party, which has the third-highest number of MPs elected to Westminster, said it was "disgraceful" it had been "locked out" of the proposed debate.

Pete Wishart commented: "Broadcasters are dangerously close to letting Scotland down at the upcoming election - Sky must urgently rethink this utterly ridiculous, half-baked proposal."

While Plaid Cymru said the debate proposal was "harping back to a politics that no longer exist" and showed a "lack of commitment to properly representing the parties which will decide the future of the UK".

"We backed Sky News's campaign for fair and representative TV debates, now we have the chance to have one, they look set to deliver the complete opposite," a spokesperson claimed.

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