getting british families and businesses back on their fate, with only labour getting us through this. >> we can make britain the country wanted to be, to build a future there for all of us. .

>> my name is julie. i am married. i have two children. eyelids in north wales -- i live in north wales. i work three days a week in a department story, and it is nice to have that balance. i help disabled children, and i help sometimes in charity shops. it is very important for me to be involved in a local community, because this is where my children are going to grow up. >> what did you do? >> i want my children to grow up in a society where people do not have a negative opinion of children, where did st. -- where they do not just think of them as misbehaving and want the country to go back to the way it used to be where family is important.

>> this is daniel, voting for a nation of volunteers. >> i am 27. i work for all homeless charity, and i live in brighton. i am always at work during the week, so today is my day off. i work at a hostel for the previously homeless, and it is about getting back on track. i think you have to be a people person, and you have to have a lot of understanding, and take a liking to yourself to convey that to others. >> we have a system that donates to the homeless people in the area, help them with dinner and chanting really. >> i think my personality is getting stuck in. i do not see things as a problem with no solution. for me, there is always a man

who can or a woman who can. >> she is voting to increase -- ian is voting to increase employment . >> i am from gesture. i have no children, and a career in the run of hydraulic business. -- i currently run a hydraulic business. you take responsibility for the guys. we're one big happy family. there have been ties i -- times i have not been paid. it is all about providing for your family, doing your best for them, hopefully doing what is required and making the best future for them really. >> i want to help business people like you and grow their companies and create more jobs.

i want to help mothers like to the supporting strong families that are the bedrock of -- like julie's supporting strong families that are the bedrock of society. i want to build a nation of volunteers, because in the end, all the policy initiatives -- they are all just words without the involvement of you -- the people. real change comes not just from what politicians do, but from what people do, from what you do. together, we can get the economy moving. we can protect the in a chess -- project the nhs. together, we can even make politics and politicians work better. today we published our manifesto, and that is an invitation to join us, to join me, julie, danielle, ian, and the millions of people out there who want to work together, so

let's form a new kind of government for britain. if they are elected on may 6, you will be in power on may 7. our vision and is to play our part in making our country better, to create the big society. the challenge for all of us is to make that happen. yes, this is optimistic, and this is ambitious, but what else's life for? >> you are watching the british political party broadcast. in the u.k., a paid political ads are not prevented -- permitted on tv. instead, the law requires that broadcasters agree on an allocation of air time that is free. on wednesday, liberal democrats released this broadcast.

>> broken policies. there have been to many in the last few years. to many in the last 30 years. in fact, our nation has been littered with them, a trail of broken promises. you remember them. fairer taxes, a promise broken. better schools for everyone, a promise broken. clean up politics, a promise broken. i believe it is time to do things differently. i believe it is time for a fairness in britain. i believe it is time for promises to be kept. britain is a strong country. despite everything we have got going for it, life is still too unfair for too many people. people like you, who have made us a nation we are today, and you deserve fairness more than anything. putting fairness back into our

society to uphold it for our children is in my view the single biggest challenge we face, but we can do it if we do it together, and here is how. fair taxes. under liberal democrats, no one will pay any taxes for the first 10,000 pounds they earn. imagine what that means. it means putting the money back in the pocket of almost everyone. it means tax freedom for millions of people on low pay and pension. everybody knows money is tight. you have got to sort out the mess in government finance, but we can pay for fairer taxes, by closing the huge loopholes the only benefit the very wealthy and making sure the polluters pay for the damage they have caused. that is fairness. a fair start for all our children, cutting car sizes -- cutting class sizes in primary school to just 20. investing in catch up glasses and secondary schools so no one is left behind.

-- catch up classes in secondary school so no one is left behind. imagine a fair and sustainable economy. let's break of the banks and make sure they pay for the damage they have caused as well, and let's invest billions in new green infrastructure, affordable housing, green renewable energy, high-speed rail to build a new economy beyond the city of london with jobs that last for everyone in every part of the country. that is fairness. finally, fair politics. if your mp is corrupt, you will be able to change that. we will fix the system so your vote will count no matter where you live. that is the way to put fairness back into politics. this election is different from every other election. the trail of broken promises can come to an end, and a new road can begin -- a road into the future.

opportunity and fairness for everyone. we can say goodbye to broken promises and welcome back to hope. we can make britain the fair country we all want it to be. fairness. shoes real change that works for you. -- shoes real change that works for you. choose the liberal democrats. -- choose real change that works for you. >> you can view these three political election broadcasts began on our web site, c- span.org. just look for the 2010 british election under the featured part of the home page. the election is may 6. now the first ever u.s.-style debate among leaders of the british political parties. we will show you the first debate, courtesy of the main

commercial network. taking part are gordon brown, conservative leader david cameron, and liberal democrat leader nick clegg. this took place thursday in manchester, england. >> manchester, in the heart of northwestern england, is home to a british political first. for the first time ever on british television, live in front of a representative studio audience, who will be hearing from three men, each hoping to be the leader of the u.k. government in the first election debate. the evening, and welcome to the first election debate. over the past 50 years, there have been numerous the tenths -- numerous attempts to get the leaders to debate. tonight, history in the making as we are joined by the leader of the liberal democrats --

nick clegg, the conservative party leader, david cameron, and the leader of the labor party, gordon brown. [applause] this debate will mainly focus on domestic affairs, important issues that affect our everyday lives. if you want to make your own comments or follow the debate on line, you can do so by going to itv.com. we will be taking questions from our studio audience, but first, let's hear a brief opening statement from each leader, and we're going to start with nick clegg. >> i believe the way things are is not the way things have to be. you're going to be told tonight that only choice you can make is between two old parties who have been running things for years. i am here to suede -- to persuade you that there is an

alternative. i think we have a fantastic opportunity to do things differently for once, and if we do things differently, we can create a fair society, the fair country we all want, a fair tax system, better schools, an economy no longer held hostage by greedy bankers, decent open politics. those are the changes i believe in. i really would not be standing here tonight if i did not think they were all possible, so do not let anyone tell you the only choice is old politics. we can do something new. of we can do something different this time. that is what i am about. that is what the liberal democrats offer. but these are no ordinary times, and this is no ordinary election -- >> these are no ordinary times, and this is no ordinary election triggered we have just gone through the biggest financial crisis of our lives, and we are moving to recovery, and i think we're moving on the road to prosperity

for all. every question -- every promise you hear from each of us this evening depends on one thing -- a strong economy, and this is the defining year. get the decisions right now, and we can have secure jobs, we can have standards of living rising, and we can have everybody better off. if the decision is wrong now, and we could have a double dip recession, and because we believe in fairness, as we cut the deficit over the next few years, we will protect your national -- national health service and your schools. i know what this job involves. i look forward to putting my plans to you this evening. >> i think it is great we are having these debates, and i hope they go somewhere to restore some of the trust into our politics, because we badly need that once again in this country. the expensive saba brought great shame on the government --

the onsaga brought great shame on the government. your government let you down. there is a big question. we can go as we are, or britain can do much better. we can deal with our debt. we can get the economy growing and avoid the jobs tax, and we can build a bigger since this -- a better society, but we can only do this if we recognize we need to join together, we need to come together, we need to recognize we are all in this together. not everything labour has done has been wrong. they have done some good things, but we need change, and it is that change i want to help lead. >> thank you for a much in the. our first question is from gerard oliver, a retired toxicologist from cheshire. >> good evening. what key elements for a fair, workable immigration policy need to be put in place to actually

make it work effectively? >> i have heard concerns around the country. i have been listening to people. i know people still there are pressures because of immigration. that is what we want to control and manage immigration. when i became prime minister, i did a number of things. i introduced a point system, so no unskilled workers from outside the european union can come to britain now. i also said jobs had to be emphasized in job centers where there were skills which shortages that we need in this country. i then said we are going to look at the range of occupations where people come from abroad, so i talked to shaft the other day and said, in future, when we do it, there will be no chef allowed in -- i talked to a chef the other day and said in future when we do it there will be no chef allowed in from outside the european union. we are a tolerant country, but the control immigration i am proposing are the rights control

for britain. >> david cameron? >> i would say immigration is simply too high at the moment. it has been these last 10 years, and it does need to come down. i think the pressures we have put on housing and health and education have been too great. if you look at what is happening for immigration, the different people going to live overseas and those coming here, it has been often as high as 200,000. that is equivalent to 2 million across the ticket. it is too much. i want us to bring immigration down so it is in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. how will we do that? i think we need to have not just a " system that limits on migration -- a quota system but limits on immigration. i also think when you countries joined the european union that we should have transitional controls so they can all come here at once. it has been too high these last few years, and i would love to get it down to a level it was of the past so it is no longer an

issue in politics. >> you talk about a fair, workable immigration system. that is exactly what i want. what has happened over the last several years is almost exactly the reverse. we have had lots of tough talking on immigration from conservative and labour governments and complete chaos on the actual administration of the system. the conservative government would remove the controls so we know who is leaving and coming in, which the labor government followed up on as well, so what i think we need to do is make sure we restore those extra controls. we have orders so we know who is coming in, but also, who is supposed to leave, and the second thing i would do is this -- at the moment if you want to come and work in this country, you have to show two things. first, you have a sponsor spot for your arrival, and second, there is a job for you to do. i want to add a third element.

you go to a region where you are needed so we all listen emigrations to those regions . >> you have heard what was said. it is not time to contest the arguments. >> let's be honest with each other. net inward migration is falling. it was falling two years ago, and it is falling this year. it is falling as a result of action we're taking and continue to take. to stop illegal migration, border controls have been brought in, and we are counting people out and in from the end of this year. it was a policy the conservative scrapped before 1997. we have got i.d. cards for foreign nationals so an employer can see whether they are illegal or legal, so we have taken specific action, but what i would not have is an arbitrary cap. an arbitrary cap means an employer -- i have visited a lot of lawyers in the region -- who wants to bring some of broad and

needs a skilled employee cannot do that. we have less students this year because of the tightening of these controls. these are the things we can do. we are a tolerant country, but we want proper control. >> i think the cap is necessary, because we're not going to control immigration unless we take positive and concrete steps, and i think we let down everyone if we do not do this properly. i was in plymouth recently, and a 14-year-old black man made the point to meet -- -- made the point to me. i came here when i was 6 years old. i am so ashamed we have this out of control system. if we do not address immigration properly, we are letting down immigration -- immigrant communities as well as everyone else. we do need a cap as well as border control. i think we need to go one step forward and actually have a proper border police force, so

we combine customs, immigration, security, and police, to make the most of the fact that we do have to leasable borders to stop illegal immigration as well. -- we do have orders to stop illegal immigration as well. >> there is good immigration and that immigration. i was in the hospital treating women -- premature babies. i was shown around, and i went into a war that was empty. it had the latest equipment but was empty, and i said to the ward, what is going on? why are there no babies being treated? she said, new rules mean we cannot employ any doctors outside of the european union with the skills needed. that is an example where the rules are stopping good immigration to help our public services work properly. that is why i want not an arbitrary cap, but what happens if you reach the capital of summer and someone wants to come

play football for manchester united, the say, you cannot come? no, let's have the original approach where they can go to the regions where they can be supported. on the next point, of course we have benefited across decades. people have come here to make a contribution to bring their special skills, and we have seen that in health services and in our schools all the time, but i do think it got out of control, and it does need to be brought under control. >> i do not like these words, because net in it -- net immigration is falling and will continue to fall as a result of the measures we have taken. we have brought together the customs officials in one agency. we are doing so already. if the illegal immigrants are deferred because we have i.d. cards for foreign nationals now, so an employer cannot say to someone, i have this job. they have to us for the immigration card, and there are

big fines for those who break the law. we have to tighten the number of skills we need in this country. that is why we are moving right through other occupations where we could have british people with the skills. >> we have had 13 years of a government that has only started to talk about addressing this issue. if you looked at the numbers, immigration levels were never > 77,000 a year. under the old government, they have never been less than 40,000 a year. they're starting just before the election to take the steps that need to be taken. >> partly what has been going wrong for so long is we have had both major parties talking tough about immigration and delivering complete chaos in the way in which it is run. i am like everyone else. i just want a fair, workable

immigration system that counts people in and out, only makes sure people come here because there are jobs for them to do in parts of the country where they do not place unreasonable strain. i think a reasonable approach we are putting forward, which would be a major innovation -- they do it in canada and australia -- which i think would restore public confidence in the immigration system will not work, and i think conservatives are not -- >> i believe an arbitrary system will not work. add to the point system, richard more occupations where we can train people to have the skills -- train more occupations where we contributed to have the skills. we will needless to commend to meet the skill shortage of the past. -- need less people to come in to make the steel shortage of the past. >> we have too many people who could work who are offered work but who do not work, and that

has drawn a lot of people into our country, so we need to reform welfare, but 13 years have gone by one welfare has not been properly reformed. i do not understand how you can expectable to go to one region and stay there. >> if you are an employer, and you are employing someone with a work permit, you will need to make sure they are only able to work in the region where you are offering the work, and if you offer the more they do not have a permit that says they are entitled to be in that region -- offer them work they do not have a permit that says they are entitled to be in that region -- we have lots of different needs and the country. that has not been reflected in immigration system. >> i am going to leave it there,

because we have a lot of questions to get to. let's go to the audience and take another. our next question is on law and order, and it is a question where power is devolved to the government in scotland. this question comes from jacqueline. your question? >> i was born and still work in lancashire. the town house the highest burglary rate per head of population of the country. what confidence can you get me the towns such as this can be made safer places to live and work? >> the system is not working properly now. we are not seeing enough police on the street. we're not catching and of burglars. we're not convicting enough, and we do in -- when we do convict them, we are not getting long enough sentences. i was talking to a woman who had been brokered -- burglarize by

someone. as he left, he set fire to the sofa, and the sun died from the fumes. that murderer could be out of prison in just four and a half years. the system does not work. it is that kind of sentence that is completely unacceptable in terms of what the public expects to reagan's -- the public expects. we have to get the police out on the streets. we have to give clear signals if you cross someone threshold and robbed their home, you go to prison and for a long time. >> you asked what can you do to stop burglary from happening over and over again? two things. first, more police on our streets. this government wants to waste your money on an i.d. card.

pretty much the amount of money the government is pouring in to that, we could put 3000 more police officers on the streets. the second thing is there are too many young offenders to start getting into trouble with anti-social behavior, to become hardened criminals of tomorrow. what we have to do is stop them from becoming the hardened criminals of tomorrow. we have done some great things. that is the way to get burglary and crime down. >> as long as anyone feels unsafe, even though crime is falling, official figures show it is falling, i feel we have got to do far more fun -- for more, and that is why there are three things i am suggesting. we have got to have effective

policing. police have got to spend 80% of their time on the streets. we have record police numbers, and we want to maintain that level of resource over the next few years. the second thing is parent of up to accept responsibility for their children. if an order is pressed against the teenager, the parent has to also accept responsibility. the third thing i would say is if you are dissatisfied with the way the priests are dealing with your case -- the police are dealing with your case and you are denied the rights, we will give you the right to take an injunction against the police to you can be sure your rights against anti-social behavior and crime are upheld. >> i think one additional point i would make is if you look at where ifs region where some much of the burglary is coming from, it is coming from people who are violent, -- who are drug addicts, and i think we have to be much faster about getting them off the street and into treatment. all too often, that does not

happen, and they just get put on a substitute drug. we are not really dealing with the problem, which is to get people to confront these problems and lead drug-free lives. i went to a drug rehab center and mcmann who told me he committed a certain amount of crimes so he could get in front of -- i met a man who told me he committed a certain amount of crime so he could get in front of a rehab center. we must be mad to not get done to clean up their lives so we cut crime. >> it is how do we make sure the hon people today do not become hardened criminals of tomorrow -- the young people today do not become hardened criminals of tomorrow. it is that conveyor belt. yobs on the street corner then become the hardened criminals of tomorrow. there's so much tough talk for so long, and actually it turned our prisons into overcrowded prisons.