Dimbleby brothers set to referee the great debates

The Dimbleby brothers, Jonathan and David, were set last night to chair the televised election debates between John Major and Tony Blair, as the Prime Minister sent off his MPs to the campaign with a rallying-call at the Commons.

The plans submitted by the BBC and ITN would prevent Paddy Ashdown, the Liberal Democrat leader, from debating with Mr Major and Mr Blair. As talks began last night, Tory sources appeared to favour the ITN bid and said the BBC plans were "too rigid".

The 54-minute BBC programme, to be chaired by David Dimbleby, would comprise a tightly timed series of six questions, giving the leaders two minutes each to give their answers plus two minutes for responses. Mr Ashdown would have a standalone interview.

"We are concerned that it gives Tony Blair too much of an opportunity to trot out his soundbites. The Prime Minister said he wanted a serious debate, not a debate of soundbites," said a Tory source.

The 90-minute ITV programme would be more flexible, with Jonathan Dimbleby chairing a debate between the two leaders, and Mr Ashdown given a 16-minute slot at the end. Sue Lawley and Michael Brunson would also ask questions, and there would be an audience.

Mr Major was given a desk-banging ovation by a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, including ministers, after giving his troops a morale-boosting talk to lift their spirits. "He's courageous," said one Tory MP with a Northern marginal seat. "A lot more courageous than I am."

Mr Major told the meeting, attended by 240 MPs, that they had a good record to fight on, and dismissed Labour's opening shots as "Playboy stunts". But in a plea for unity for the campaign he said the Tories had inflicted damage on themselves over the past three years by squabbling over Europe.

The party had spent too much time "airing its differences in public - a situation which is unappealing to the public," he said. Earlier, in a talk to Conservative staff, Mr Major said Labour support was "a mile wide but an inch deep".

Underlining the difficulty he faces in convincing his party that he can win against Labour's big lead in opinion polls, Mr Major sought to convince his troops that the support for Labour was shallow.

He also made his most bitter attack so far against Tony Blair's New Labour. "I loathe socialism," Mr Major declared. "I loathe Labour and I loathe what they have done to our country. I loathe what they are still doing in Sheffield and Camden and councils up and down the country."

Reviving memories of the Winter of Discontent, he said that in 1979 the "real question was whether Britain was governable." And he contrasted that with his view of the Tory record. "Today, nobody would dream of asking that question."

He said the Tories had transformed the country with its reforms of the NHS, trade unions and education. He repeated his message that "Britain is booming" but said Labour would put that all at risk. Its slogan that it was "time for a change" would mean a change that would "destroy everything that is right about Britain today. We won the battle of ideas and with your help we will win the battle for hearts and minds of Britain in this election."