Ukip muscle in on TV debate: Nigel Farage to join Cameron, Miliband and Clegg on screen ahead of general election

Nigel Farage has been invited to take part in a live television debate with David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg ahead of next May’s general election.

The BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 today announced joint plans to hold three debates in the six weeks before polling day. One would be a “choice of prime minister” head-to-head between Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband, while the other two would include the Liberal Democrat leader. The third debate would involve all three main party leaders and Mr Farage.

The broadcasters said the formats reflected "changes in the political landscape" since Britain’s first prime ministerial debates were held during the 2010 election campaign. There were three debates involving the three mainstream party leaders, with the first attracting 10m viewers.

Although Mr Cameron has floated similar proposals involving the Ukip leader ahead of next May, Labour and the Lib Dems fear the Tories will sabotage the debates during the negotiations because they do not want to give Mr Miliband an equal platform.

There is no guarantee the parties will back the broadcasters’ plan. Ukip will ask to be included in more than one debate. Mr Farage said: “The decision is better than it could have been. It does at least recognise the increasing popularity of Ukip. However if the political landscape continues to change, we would expect and ask for inclusion in a second debate."

The Lib Dems said today: “We do not accept the proposal that the Lib Dems, as a party of government, should be prevented from defending our record in one of the TV debates. That is the case we will make strongly in the negotiations that will now take place and we urge the other parties to join us around the negotiating table without excuse or delay.”

Today’s proposals are:

• One head-to-head debate between the two leaders who could become prime minister – Conservative and Labour. Co-produced by Sky News and Channel 4 and chaired by Jeremy Paxman. Kay Burley would introduce the programme and present the post-debate analysis. Would be carried live on Sky and Channel 4 and their digital platforms, and have a major presence across social media.

• One debate between the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders. Produced by the BBC and presented by David Dimbleby. Would be broadcast on BBC One with extensive live coverage on other BBC TV and Radio networks and online.

• One debate between the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Ukip leaders. Would be produced and broadcast by ITV, chaired by Julie Etchingham and would air on ITV's main channel and online.

There is no proposal to include the Green Party, even though like Ukip, they have one MP, and are running the Lib Dems close in the opinion polls.

The plan envisages three debates at fortnightly intervals on April 2, April 16 and April 30 at locations around the UK.

Each debate would be open to questions across all subject areas and would take place in front of audiences comprising members of the general public, who would put their questions to the party leaders.

Audiences would be asked to submit questions and the broadcasters plan to work with social media organisations, including Twitter and Facebook, to ensure the widest possible public engagement. Each broadcaster would make their debate available live to all other media outlets.