Britain's three-way fight

Britain's three-way fight

If last week's first ever leaders' debate was a game changer – the second one confirms that Britain's closest general election in a generation is now a three-way fight.

Nick Clegg, the leader of the perennially third placed Liberal Democrats, won that first debate and enjoyed a huge surge of support on the back of it. 

And so this second debate was about seeing if he could shore up his position – or even build on it.

This was a consolidating performance and at least two instant polls gave him victory. It may have been narrow, but it was still a win.

There were fewer 'I agree with Nick' moments from David Cameron and Gordon Brown. Instead we had attacks; a recognition the surge in support wasn't about to ebb away. 

The Liberal Democrats are no longer the "quirky little party" who talk about being in government but never really stood a chance. No. Now they are a genuine threat to the political ambitions of the "big two".

From the opening statements, it was clear Cameron and Brown were not going to give them an easy ride. "Not a TV popularity contest," said Brown. "The country wants change," said Cameron, aware that Clegg had stolen his strongest political argument. 

Clegg, for his part, played the card that worked so well last week, lumping Labour and Conservatives together. When he talks about government failure, he isn't looking back over the past 13 years, he's talking about the two-way carve up over the last 65 years.

The first real flashpoint was over Britain's nuclear armed Trident submarines. Labour wants to fund a replacement costing billions, the Lib Dems want any replacement scrapped. "Get real," Brown told Clegg. "Too risky not too," he said.  Cameron's "I agree with Gordon" brought a few chuckles from the crowd that isn't supposed to make any noises in the interests of impartiality.

After 40 minutes of international affairs, it was back to domestic issues.

Cameron, who struggled in the first section, seemed to find his feet and scored a few hits. He dragged Clegg off the moral high ground on the issue of expenses and expressed his anger over what he called "Labour lies" about Conservative plans for pensioner benefits.
 
He said parties shouldn't be scaring voters in an election – perhaps forgetting the Conservatives had done just that over the last 24 hours on the prospect of a hung parliament.

Much of the debate rehashed the ground of a week ago. There was little new said.

In the final statements, Brown attacked the other two. That was enough for Cameron to accuse of him of scaremongering again, while Clegg talked about real change and said so people would know he meant him.

The final verdict? One instant poll said Cameron won - but two others gave it to Clegg by a narrow margin, leaving Brown and Cameron were tied.

Brown did well, Cameron struck a few winners after a poor first section, Clegg was as good as last week, only this time it wasn't a surprise. I'd mark it down as a score draw.

These debates have ignited the election, changed perceptions, swung votes and perhaps will ultimately change the face of British politics forever.