GEORGE Galloway last night threatened legal action to win a place in the TV election debates, as the leader of the Respect Party.

The Bradford West MP said it would be unfair to invite other minor parties – including the Greens and Welsh Nationalists – yet exclude Respect.

The legal threat came within hours of the announcement that the TV broadcasters had put forward fresh proposals in a so-called ‘7-7-2’ format.

It would mean two of the debates would include seven parties – the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

Mr Galloway said: “We don’t want the seven dwarfs, we want the real deal – so let’s make it eight parties.

“My lawyers are on this now and we will be writing to the broadcasters, the watchdog Ofcom and the Prime Minister, if necessary, so these debates don’t go ahead without me.

“I look forward to the other leaders on the platform, saying ‘I agree with George’.”

Mr Galloway said he expected Respect to stand about 25 candidates at the General Election in May, in London, Birmingham and Sheffield as well as Bradford.

And he added: “Plaid Cymru have only three MPs. If we are getting down to that level, then I think we have a shout – and we’re quite good at shouting.”

However, it is still far from clear whether the debates will go ahead, after David Cameron initially refused to take part if they included UKIP – but not the Greens.

The broadcasters' new proposals seemed designed to call the Prime Minister's bluff, but a No.10 source said only that he would “happily consider what’s on the table”.

Allowing in the Greens and the SNP offers the Conservatives the incentive of splitting voters on the left.

However, Mr Cameron is being advised to avoid a debate with Nigel Farage at all costs and is also known to fear that the popular TV showdowns dominate the election campaign.

Furthermore, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in Northern Ireland, also protested yesterday at its exclusion.

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