Chancellor debate: how the three men shaped up

By Ross Hawkins Political correspondent, BBC News

The three men who want to be chancellor after the election spent a lot of time talking about consensus.

But no politician goes into a live TV debate planning to announce how much he agrees with his rivals.

So Chancellor Alistair Darling, shadow chancellor George Osborne and the Liberal Democrat Vince Cable all accepted spending cuts on the way would be deeper than anything under Margaret Thatcher's government.

But each tried to persuade the audience he was the man to make them.

There was no memorable flash of temper, or striking error certain to stick in voters' minds for weeks to come.

And anyone hoping to learn something new about where spending cuts will come would have been left disappointed.

Alistair Darling did reveal the government would rule out funding social care with a tax on estates after death during the next parliament.

Some form of levy on estates after death will be an option for a cross-party commission to consider - but Labour will not enter the election promising to put one in place in the short term.

Campaign message

The campaigning messages on the economy from the three parties involved were clear.

I'm afraid I resist this cult of Vince the wizened seer Quentin Letts, Daily Mail More commentators' verdicts

Alistair Darling said the government had made the right calls on the economy. George Osborne said Labour had turned one of the strongest economies in Europe into one of the weakest.

For his part, Vince Cable accused the Tories of wanting to get "their noses in the trough and reward their rich backers".

It was Mr Cable who won the most laughs, and garnered occasional applause. The question of who looked most like the ideal occupant of Number 11 Downing Street will be decided by the voters.

With three 90-minute prime ministerial debates on the way we will see more of this.

If nothing else the chancellors debate will remind the party leaders appearing there - Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg - that standing on a podium beside your rivals on live television can be a daunting and exposing experience.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version