david crossman has been following david cameron around. how is david cameron today, david?>> the conservatives and david cameron had a big challenge today which is look like they're setting the the pace when after all it was all gordon brown's initiative today. it was he who goes to the palace can he who then announces the day for the general election. the solution that they came up with, a conservative strategist came up with, a lot of photo opportunity. so at 7 a.m. we had david cameron going out with tea or coffee for photographers who were camping outside his house. a bit later he went for a bit of a job, and then a bit later on in the morning about 10:30 a.m. he actually launched his campaign. this was still a little, we have actually officially confirm the day of the election. gordon brown was still back from the palace at that point. >> did we learn anything important at a? >> i don't think we learned anything important in terms of policy. we learned some of the things that conservatives are going to explore during this campaign. the one that a policy where today was

it all boils down to this -- david cameron's message was this -- it is a choice. you want five more years of gordon brown or do you want change? [applause] from the south bank, david camera has a river to cross to reach downing street. how wide that journey we will see over the next four weeks. the warm sunshine gave the conservative leader of bit of help in his efforts to said an optimistic tone. >> if you vote conservative, you are voting for hope. you are voting for optimism, for change, you are voting for a fresh start this country so badly needs. do not let anybody tell you that there is no real choice at this election. there is a real choice. >> while mrs. cameron has opted for labour again, another baby due in the autumn, her husband's future depends on the country turning away from the labour party. he said a serious case today. he shook every hand on the south bank -- a serious pace today. he then headed for birmingham. for the conservatives, it was david cameron on his own. later, it was part of or brown as part of a big, experienced team. and nick clegg

to convince the public. >> i think people saw in david cameron someone had to be prime minister. think there is a clear difference between clegg and cameron. with clegg there is a lot of-- and we haven't seen much of him speaking lately and will be kind of like what we see but it doesn't mean we see him as prime minister. we saw with cameron particularly on issues like immigration and europe and afghanistan someone who you could see in the job, who could do the job and have reinsurance. [inaudible] >> i think from nick clegg's point of view he has been absolutely desperate not to get into a discussion about who he would support or he would attempt what he calls a balanced parliament. i think it is absolutely right not to be drawn into that question. ps told the whole campaign debate--. >> gordon brown has been talking this week about cooperation. >> the fact is that everybody is leaving their options open and being as cautious as they feel they have to be because they have no idea-- and i think he is absolutely right, not just gordon brown to behave in that way because we have no

>> i still think they will take gordon brown over david cameron to run the economy. everybody was talking about the may issue of the campaign being the economy. that is where david wants to fight the campaign. a lot of other general change stuff. on the economy, i think the tories are a bit weak. >> your faith and his skill is touching. the labor party is behind the conservative party on the economy, as well. gordon brown is running on experience having managed to produce the largest fiscal deficit in britain's history. people do not believe him to get us out of that. >> let me ask you, how did you think this is going to turn out at the end of the day? >> personal prediction is it will be a small conservative majority but i think that will create problems itself for david cameron because of having that level of deficit without having made clear fiscal judgments and advanced means running that kind of parliament will be tough, indeed. i think it is very hard to predict because it is about whether they can pick up a lot of votes at labour's expense. if you are asking m

please welcome david cameron, nick glegg, gordon brown. [applause] >> this may have the feel of atv popularity contest, but, in truth, this is an election about britain's future, a fight for your future and for your jobs. if it is all about style and pr, count me out. it is a bad judgment and delivering a better future for this country. i am your man. ahead our future -- ahead are huge challenges. building alliances in europe against nuclear weapons, against climate change, against party, and dealing with their banks -- not everyone has the answers. i say, get the big decisions wrong and britain security is at risk. get the decisions arrived and we could have prosperous and greener britain could i can deliver that plan. the way to do it is with the majority labor government. >> next, david cameron. >> it is clear from last week's debates that the country was changed. but the question is what sort of change and who is best placed to make that change? if you vote conservative, you will get a new team running the country from may 7 and you wi

that is the right position. >> david cameron. >> no answer. and i have to ask you this -- [laughter] [shouting] >> order. government backbenchers must calm down. mr. david cameron. >> and why should anyone believe this prime minister when he was of the first in history to go in front of a public inquiry and not give accurate information about defense spending? let me ask about another decision for which this prime minister all to be accountable. in the last 13 years, he has robbed pension funds of 100 billion pounds. his own welfare minister said this, when labour came to office we had one of the strongest pension provisions in your. and now to prevent some of the week is. presumably he was deceived as well. were the prime minister finally admit that robbing the pension funds was the wrong decision for britain? [shouting] >> when he said there was no answer to the last question, it is him that is never given an answer on any single policy. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as far as -- as far as pension funds are concerned we debated in this house two

david cameron?ou are quite right. there have to be cuts and we need to be frank about this and we were the first to say the cuts would have to be made. but i really want to explain to people that if i am your prime minister i will do everything i can to protect the front line services. i want to see the police officers on the and the money go to the children's state schools and the money in the hospital. that is absolutely essentials. now we do have to say some of the difficult things we are going to do. and we have done that. we are not just relying on waste. we've set for instance there will have to be a public sector pay freeze for one year from 2011. that's not popular but it's the right thing to do. we've said people have to retire as your leader starting in 2016. these are difficult decisions but i believe also we've got to get our economy growing. we've got to get it moving and that is why we say start now with efficiencies savings to stop the jobs tax next year. let's get in point in people

precisely britain. >> imagine a meeting if david cameron was in charge two months from now. >> it is a hypocrisy people are fed up with. people saying i will stand up for europe and we should fight for british interests and go to brussels and do the opposite. i want to make sure we say the same thing about wanting to be in europe but not run by europe. wanting to trade with europe but not go to brussels and say something different. >> how does it help anyone to join together in the european union with a bunch of anti- semites could deny climate change exists? of course we need to change the european union. you changed clubs by getting stuck in and not standing on the sidelines complaining. >> nick is anti-american and both are out of touch with reality. >> it was a turn of david cameron and gordon brown to turn on nick clegg. >> i believe we are a safer having an independent nuclear deterrent in an uncertain world. we simply don't know what the world will look like in 40 years. >> you cannot take risks with this. if you don't believe me then delete the several generals who wrote sayi

david cameron? >> clearly, i think we should be in europe because we are a trading nation. we are part of europe. we want to cooperate and work with our allies in europe to get things done. but i do agree with you. we have let too many powers go from westminster to brussels. we passed too much power over and we need to take some back. i want us to be in europe, but not run by europe. you will hear big differences between he -- between me and the other two two parties. i don't want us to join the ear row. i want us to keep the pound as our currency. i want to make sure we get value for money. i want to cut some of the beurocracy, the rules and rec lagses that i think -- regulations that draws it so mad. that's what you get from a conservative government in europe. and for those who say this is isolation, i say nonence is. president sarkozy of france, he stands up for france. i would do exactly the same for britain in europe. >> thank you. nick, clegg. >> i worked for the man who sent margaret thatche

david cameron? >> well, i said very frankly, if it is a hung parliament, we will do our best to make it work. if we win the election outright, i'd do everything i can to take the country with us on some of these difficult decisions and also try and take other politicians with us because there will be some hard times before we get out of this, actually get the deficit sorted. but there is a problem in that you do need to have agreement. there is a fundamental disagreement between me and the other two parties about what we do this year. i think we badly need to roll up our sleeves and make some savings this year so we can stop the jobs tax, the national insurance tax rise, that is coming down the road. when you've got an economy that is trying to recover, the worst thing you can do is put tax on every single job in our country. that's why it's over 1,100 business leaders have said don't do this. they've said very clearly the threat to our recovery is not cutting waste, the threat is the jobs tax. the

that is the right position. >> david cameron. >> no answer. and i have to ask you this -- [laughter] [shouting] >> order. government backbenchers must calm down. mr. david cameron. >> and why should anyone believe this prime minister when he was of the first in history to go in front of a public inquiry and not give accurate information about defense spending? let me ask about another decision for which this prime minister all to be accountable. in the last 13 years, he has robbed pension funds of 100 billion pounds. his own welfare minister said this, when labour came to office we had one of the strongest pension provisions in your. and now to prevent some of the week is. presumably he was deceived as well. were the prime minister finally admit that robbing the pension funds was the wrong decision for britain? [shouting] >> when he said there was no answer to the last question, it is him that is never given an answer on any single policy. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as far as -- as far as pension funds are concerned we debated in this house two

david cameron released this election broadcast on tuesday. . >> alan helps out sometimes. if it is important -- it is important for me to help out because this is where my children are going to grow up. what do you do? i want my children to grow up in a society where people don't have a negative opinion of children misbehaving, to go back to way -- the way it used to be, and i spared society. >> voting for a nation of volunteers. >> i am danielle and i live in britain. i am not always at work during the week. i work with people who've been previously homeless. i help them get back into the mainstream of society. you have to have a lot of empathy and understanding, to be able to convey that to someone else. i'm helping the homeless people in this area, just being there, really. i think my personality helps. i don't see things as a problem with no solution. >> this is even voting to increase employment. >> i am ian, and i married with two children. we employ about 36 people. of course you take responsibility. there have been times when i have not been paid to make sure the g

. >> david cameron. >> thank you! let me take on directly this question of money and public spending. it will be a common feature through these debates about how do we fund the public services we need? i think it's really important that we start focusing on what we get out of the money that we put in, because if we think that the future is just spending more and more money, we're profoundly wrong. hold on -- >> the future is not spending more -- >> i'll get it going between the two of you, don't worry. >> the issue here is, will you continue to fund the police? >> yes, of course. let me give you an example -- >> will you match our funding on the police? the answer is no from your manifesto. this is not question time. >> let mr. cameron answer your point. >> it's answer time, david. >> what matters is what comes out. i went to a hull police station the other day. they had five different police cars, and they were just about to buy a 73,000 pound lexus. there's money that could be saved to get the police on the frontlin

these are big decisions we need to take. >> david cameron? >> i would like us for once to get politicians together -- >> yeah. i've got the agenda, mr. clegg. mr. cameron's response. >> i just want to make this -- i think people at home watching will find it extraordinary that gordon brown is really saying, you've got to go on wasting money to keep the economy going. why not cut the waste and stop the tax rise? it can't be in -- how is a 7% pay rise for nhs managers essential for economic growth? >> i'm going to have to park it there -- >> we made 35 billion of -- >> no, i'm going to stop you because we had some of this in the previous question and i've still got more questions that i really want to take. a lot of information there for people to reflect on. i do want to move it on. our next questioner comes from an army family and himself has served in the territorial army. nick brimson, your question. >> good evening, guys. british troops seem to be dying unnecessarily and far too frequently. in my opinion, they are under- equipped and massiv

in the end, david cameron finished the primary well ahead.e is the new tory leader. >> and david cameron. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. the first issue that the prime mystics -- the prime minister and i are going to have to work together on is getting his education reform through the house of commons and into law. the chief whip is shouting like a child. incidently, i should have and welcomed him to his new position and congratulated him on winning the conservative leadership election. but can i tell him where i feel we may have a disagreement? as i understand his position coming -- his position, all schools should be free to set their own admissions procedures. i believe the present system should stay in a paper -- stay in place. >> it is only the first day, and already the prime minister is asking me questions. i want to talk about the future. he was the future ones. [laughter] education is one of the public services in a desperate need of reform. >> we all knew it david cameron's first pmq. charles kennedy res

david cameron. bugs that sounded slightly desperate. it sandlike an effort to frighten people. -- that sounded slightly desperate. that sounded like an effort to frighten people. if you vote conservative, you can get fresh new people on the team, rather than being stuck with what we have now. the family comes first to me. we need to do more for those who actually do the right thing. a clean break from the 13 years of failure. we can achieve things bat we need to make our country a better place to live in. >> thank you comment david cameron. nivk. -- nick. >> we talked about a number of things, climate change, the pope, things closer to home, pensions. i believe on all of those things, we can act differently. but post or even making up your mind in the ballot box, you agree with me that something really exciting is beginning to happen. people are beginning to believe, beginning to hope that we can do something different this time. of course, there are people who will try to block a change. of course, there are people who are spreading fe

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,

now in government and led by prime minister gordon brown, and the conservatives, whose leader david cameron was-- until recently-- widely tipped to win next month's election with ease. but nick clegg has complicated all that. his liberal democrats are now leading the election in some polls. the debate, screened by cable network "sky news," focused on foreign policy, and that gave gordon brown and david cameron an opening. they argue his plan to abandon unilaterally britain's arsenal of trident nuclear missiles would leave the country vulnerable to nuclear threats and acts of terrorism. >> i think it's one of the biggest decisions any prime minister would have to take. and we've got to get this right. >> president obama said last week i think quite rightly that now greatest threat is not the cold war threats of old, it's terrorists getting hold of dirty bombs. trident isn't going to help you with that. >> i have to deal with these decisions everyday and i say to you, nick, get real. get real. because iran, you're saying might be able to have a nuclear weapon and you wouldn't take action agai

first, david cameron. >> good evening. our economy is stuck in a rut and we need change to get it moving. let me tell you what i would do. first, we've got to reward work and tackle welfare dependency. second, we've got to fix our banks, tax them to get our money back, regulate them properly and get them lending again. third, we've got to start making things again in this country. it is no follows borrow from the chinese and buy good made in china. fourth, we've actually got to get value for money in our public services. i want good public services for everyone and we can only do that if we save and stop the waste. let me tell you one thing i wouldn't do. with greece so much in the news i would guarantee i would never join the euro and i would keep the pound as our currency. that's the change we need. if you vote conservative on thursday, we can start to get to work on friday. >> mr. clegg? >> tonight's debate is about you. about your job and the taxes you pay and your family and the pros parity of our economy. we need to

david cameron says you can put a cap on immigration. is complete nonsense. 80% of people coming to this country come from the european union. you cannot cap those numbers. you should not pretend to people and give them false hope you can bring numbers down when you cannot control them in that way. it is want to raise false hopes on such a sensitive topic. it's clear the liberal democrats proposed an amnesty. one of the respected bodies have criticized them for that. we should try to encourage people and reward people for doing the right thing. if you have an amnesty for illegal immigration, you are saying to people who came here illegally that it is ok. to the people lining up to what to do the right thing, they are being punished. that is wrong in our country. we need a different set of values and this is not then. it does not make sense. >> i can't see how you send out other things on the worst possible message if you give amnesty to people come here illegally. i do not think nick has presented its policy problem because there is a su

meanwhile, david cameron responded. he outlines the themes of his conservative party's campaign during this 10-minute address. [applause] >> hi, george. good to see you. [applause] helen? there you are. thank you. thank you for coming together today. let me tell you what i think this election is all about. it is about the future of our economy, about the future of our society, but the future of our country. it is the most important general election for a generation. it comes down to this -- you do not have to put up with another five years of gordon brown. [cheers] [applause] there is today a modern, a conservative alternative that has got the leadership, the energy, the values to get this country moving. if you vote conservative, you are voting for hope, for optimism, for change. you are voting for the fresh start this country, our country so badly needs. do not let anybody tell you that there is no real choice at this election. there is a real choice. it is not just five more years of gordon brown. when it comes to ou

the conservatives want to become the biggest party, they need to win 71 seats and if david cameron wants to head up a parliamentary majority he needs 11716 seats. that gives him a majority of two. it is a struggle for either of the main parties but we will be here on the night delving into that detail and the trends of the seats. you will be seeing a lot more of us. >> congress has created a financial crisis inquiry commission to investigate and report on the causes of the 2008 economic crisis. they will be looking into some prime lending and citigroup. c-span2 will have live coverage of all of this week's hearings. the commission hears testimony from former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan. they will also hear from former city group risk managers. you can watch it live on c-span2 and at c-span.org. >> all this month, see the winners of the student can documentary competition. middle and high school students from 45 states submitted videos on one of the country's greatest strength or challenge the country is facing. watch the top winning videos every morning on c-span at 6:15 just

before the debate he was referred to as the other one it was prime minister gordon brown, david cameron but with this role reversal, now it's brown and cameron who have been sidelined what also helped clegg's cause is the fact he doesn't belong to either of the main stay parties in the country. labour or the conservatives, the party of margaret thatcher and david cameron. there is an exhaustion with the labour party, and an apprehe apprehension of david cameron, and here is nick clegg, clean, fresh, representing change. people whether in the uk, the u.s. or elsewhere are looking for a sensible center in politics. someone who will honestly diagnose the country's problems, no ideological purity, practical solutions. that's what people want. ideology is for the extremes, the vast majority in the middle want sensible solutions. so what happens if cleg keeps the momentum up until election day? thanks to the oddities of the british election system, even if clegg and his liberal democrats do slightly better, they will get many fewer seats in parlgment. so it's unlikely we'll be calling him pri

there is a deficit hawk element to david cameron.reign policy, he is not a- year -- bought a george bush. -- not a george bush. he is more like a liberal realist. he says you cannot drop democracy from the payload of a bomber. a less adventurous foreign policy. he would tell you that the most important policy relationship is with the u.s.. there would be no dissolving of u.s.-british relationships. >> can you describe a day and your life on the campaign trail? >> on a good day, i know where i am going the night before. it that today, i know it 7:00 a.m. i tried to go with whatever morning event or i go straight to a station that will get me to the same town where david cameron is. i follow him around until he stops moving. i did not know when that will be. i get home anytime between 7:00 p.m. and midnight. my wife would be a better indicator of these things. i have seen her awake a couple times in the past few weeks which is nice. >> it seems like the event here are much smaller than u.s. presidential campaign rallies that we are use

david cameron visited birmingham and then went to the leads. the conservatives' recovery in the north of england has lagged well behind its improvement elsewhere and mr. cameron must make headway in this campaign if he's to win a majority. >> holman: brown's labour party has been in power for 13 years. but labour lost seats in 2005, in part because of its support of the u.s. led invasion of iraq. a federal appeals court in washington dealt a blow to government regulation of the internet today. it said the federal communications commission cannot require broadband service providers to treat all internet traffic equally. the f.c.c. is working on "net neutrality" rules to prevent phone and cable companies from favoring some online content with better access. the ruling was a victory for comcast corporation, the nation's largest cable company. a man in washington state was charged today with threatening to kill democratic senator patty murray. charles alan wilson, who is 64, is accused of targeting murray over her support for health care reform. he

david cameron? >> i thought all that scanneded desperate. it sounded like a plan to frighten people. we need to take and make a clean break, to have new leadership and to solve the problems we have. i think the conservatives are best placed to offer that. if you vote conservative you can get fresh, new leadership from a new team on may 7th, rather than being stuck with what we have now. you heard in the debate some big differences set out between us, about how we believe. you have to give more priority to keeping our country stave and keeping our border secure and making sure we keep our defenses strong. but you heard differences on values. how the family comes first and how we need to do more and do the right thing and want the government behind them. we face difficult times in this country. but i still think we have incredible days ahead of us. a great country in so many ways with the right leadership , with the right values and with a clean break from these 13 years of failure we can achieve anything if we pull together and build a big so

. >> when you look at david cameron running against gordon brown.r government in power for 12 years, presiding over a great economic crisis with a lot of assorted scandals, the government still has not been able to establish a commanding lead. what's wrong? >> they are working off a very, very bad history, a very bad legacy. you know, the british story really makes an interesting parallel to the american one. you had thatcherism which was so triumphant in britain, that it changed the whole context of british politics. when tony blair came to power in 1997, he basically took the best ideases of thatcherism, kept them going and pushed them farth farther. that left the british conservatives far to the right, taking eccentric positions on issues. it left them without their big ideas. their big ideas were simply the ideas that tony blair was pursuing using different language and in some different ways. and they have been a marginal party. you know, in a two-party system you always have some votes. they haven't had much influence on british politics for t

let's hear a little of what david cameron had to say. >> we say that little government can solve all the problems on their own, but no individual can? we say that we are all in this together. come with us and we will build a better country together. we want everyone to get involved. we need everyone to get involved. that is why we call this manifesto an invitation to join the government of britain. >> so, we have heard from the major parties. are we clear about the dividing line between them? >> there is a dividing line emerging. the governing labor party believes that the deafening rules are interrupting the lives of the people. conservatives are more worried about the role from that was taken, for example, if they wanted to set up a school in their local neighborhoods, they will be able to do that under the conservative plan. >> what do you think the public will make of this? do we know what the polls are saying? >> they are showing an interesting story, but even if the british public is getting wary of the political rhetoric, you can see that the poles are actually fluctuating qui

for the conservatives to win it back, they would need just the kind of quick to put david cameron in power. >> is it time to except that we are no longer [unintelligible] >> can the next government guarantee that the two new super aircraft carriers will definitely, enter the service? >> skoglund, after all, has a minority government -- scotland, after all, has a minority government. the big concern is the cost of a university education and whether there will be any jobs when they leave school. >> what more can be done to encourage disadvantaged young people to apply to university? most people struggle to financially afford it. >> how does the panel came to restart the local economy? >> most of the audience also said they would be watching the next debate with interest. >> the bbc has -- the u.k. has opened its airspace after the islamic -- icelandic volcano eruption. reports of fraud are coming in quick and fast. most parties boycotted the election to our reporting irregularities. now footage has emerged showing evidence of tampering. >> a shaky secret video driving home a tough poin

that is the right position. >> david cameron. >> no answer. and i have to ask you this -- [laughter] [shouting] >> order. government backbenchers must calm down. mr. david cameron. >> and why should anyone believe this prime minister when he was of the first in history to go in front of a public inquiry and not give accurate information about defense spending? let me ask about another decision for which this prime minister all to be accountable. in the last 13 years, he has robbed pension funds of 100 billion pounds. his own welfare minister said this, when labour came to office we had one of the strongest pension provisions in your. and now to prevent some of the week is. presumably he was deceived as well. were the prime minister finally admit that robbing the pension funds was the wrong decision for britain? [shouting] >> when he said there was no answer to the last question, it is him that is never given an answer on any single policy. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as far as -- as far as pension funds are concerned we debated in this house two

david cameron. >> why should anyone believe the prime minister when he was the first in history to gon front of a public inquiry and not give accurate information? >> let me offer another decision for which this prime minister ought to be accountable. he has a rather pension funds of $100 billion. his own welfare minister said, "when labor u.k. -- when labour came into power, and we had plenty of funds into the pension funds. " >> it is him that has never given an answer on any single policy. >> [shouts and jeers] >> as far as the pension fund, the dividend tax credit did not affect the ability to have pension funds. i showed that as a result of my policies, the pension funds a double. you have not made your case. what we have done over these last 12 years was initially opposed by the conservative a body. what we are saying we will do is let pension earnings be taken away by a conservative government. we have given people dignity in retirement, again, opposed by the conservative government. what we have now is a scheme that gives pensioners and the chant to travel -- that gives pensio

he had a bit of a go at david cameron, a conservative leader. t have expected the other way around. if you ever watch prime minister question time, which i understand has a small cult a follow-up -- cult following in the united states, mr. cameron is very aggressive and attacking quite personally. i suspect he has been told it may work very well in the house of commons chamber, but if you do that and sort of the big national stage like this it may play against you. so i think he was a bit inhibited. host: how the david cameron do? guest: he did -- he did not do badly. he was stopped in the middle of the three of them and i suspect one of the things we will discover as the debates go on -- because we -- the one in the middle with two people on either side so suddenly you can find both going at you and you look like the piggy in the middle. so i think he suffered slightly from positioning. host: what were the two issues that were discussed -- the two main issues? guest: the east central central one between gordon brown, the labor leader -- labour l

david cameron criticizes the government's proposed increase in the tax. third candidate says another party is serious about reform. this is 30 minutes. operationally independent and its job is to protect the interest of the u.k. taxpayer. >> order. questions to the prime minister. sandra? >> mr. speaker, i'm sure the whole house will join me in paying tribute to the two british servicemen who've lost their lives in afghanistan and the last week. from first battalion guard, michael sweeney and from third battalion the rifles rifleman mark turner. we owe them an image of old debt of gratitude. they were both engaged to be married, and our thoughts are with their loved ones and their families. mr. speaker, it is because of all our brave men and women in iraq and because of them are country and families is safer and more secure. i think at this time it is right to remember all who have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan, and all those who serve in our armed forces. i spoke to president karzai and then president obama yesterday. our security forces will

for the first time, prime minister gordon brown, conservative party leader david cameron, and liberal leader nick clegg will face off in u.s.-style debates. watch them in their entirety for three consecutive weekends with the first election debate courtesy of itv tonight at 9:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. a thaw year's c-span student cam competition asks middle and high school students to create a five-meant video dealing with one of our country's greatest strengths or a challenge the country is facing. here's one of the second-place winners. >> there are plenty of challenges facing america today , the economy, high unemployment. but as energy continues to get more and more scarce, the amount of solid waste discarded in land fills every year becomes more and more costly. the figures from the e.p.a. are truly staggering. did you know that about 135 million tons of municipal solid waste was discarded in land fills in 2008? that's 54%. and you can't recycle everything. >> would it be good if we could reverse that process? >> today we'll be looking at green technology. >> incineratori

we had nicolas sarkozy come over, they sought david cameron. would your party not only like the treasury, but also, in light of less -- was just said with the relationship with the united states, and other priorities, moving on? would you like a job in foreign affairs? >> i am from the netherlands, with the other language that you speak. this is not from the west, the implicated choice for europe. this would also indicate, the euro. if you joined the euro with the u.k. -- >> can i take another question? we have heard the spanish voice, and this may be interesting. what's are you in favor of establishing -- >> are you in favor of establishing the border control? >> the bubbles sometimes burst. i am aware of this. we are in a fluid stage, and there is a long way to go. we have the ways that the liberal democrats offered the real change that we want. if we do something different, maybe we can deliver the kind of fairness. this is the for-looking and the self confidence of the place of great britain in the world. we do this in the privacy of the ba

gordon brown took on david cameron, the leader of the conservative party who is ahead in the polls.ig surprise in manchester tonight was the performance of nick cleg, the leader of the third party, the liberal democrat. awe the instant polls suggested that cleg, outsider in the race, no chance of becoming prime minister of the u.k. was the winner of the first debate. there are two more still to come. the questions range from the sleaze and scandal in parliament, immigration, but the biggest clash was on the economy. >> gordon brown is trying to make you believe he can protect health spending and education and police spending. he can't do any of these things, because he has given this country the biggest budget deficit of any developed country in the world. >> to be honest, you cannot afford to take money out of the economy now, because you will put jobs at risk, businesses at risk and the whole recovery at risk. >> i read your manifest manifes in neither are you coming clean with anything. you haven't got any figures in the manifesto. >> reporter: this is the first of three clashes

also, the british leader debate with gordon brown, david cameron, and liberal democrat nick clegg. . >> richard norton smith, a historian of rights in the april edition of the american historical association magazine, "the writing seems to be in crisis. historical -- start with that. >> i would say that the bad thing is there are not more gordon wouldn't'ods. they're interested in writing for more than their peers pretty to think about others in the past, if you look at the new york times best-seller list, you would have found distinguished academics who were interested in reaching what used to be called the generally educated reader. i think we live in a niche society between academics and i think it has become more specialized. the interesting thing is who are we reading course, we are reading david mcauliffe, doris kerns goodwin, the brinkley. there are some academics that are waiting for a general audience, but clearly the trend has been toward specialization. early in the 20th-century, he was a humanist and political scientist ben political scientist talked about politics. he sa

final british political debate between prime minister gordon brown, conservative party leader david cameronnick clegg, the leader of the liberal democrats. that election is next week. prime minister brown apologized earlier for calling a woman he met on a campaign stop a racist. the remark was caught with a wireless microphone that the prime minister was wearing. >> and the education system, i will congratulate it. >> it is very nice to see you, take care. >> thank you, gordon. >> thank you very much. >> good to see you all. thank you very much. [unintelligible] >> what did she said? she >> she was a bigoted woman. >> the microphone picked up the saying that was a bigoted woman. is that what you set? >> i apologize for saying anything like that. i think she was raising an issue about immigration and saying there were too many people from eastern europe in the country. i do apologize if i said anything that is hurtful and i will apologize to our personal. >> somebody just handed me the tape. let's see if we can hear it. >> [unintelligible] i'm not sure about that one. >> we will go back. she

gordon brown and david cameron and nick clegg are all vying to be prime minister. see that sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> the c-span, are a public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line. and you can also connect with those on twitter, facebook and youtube, and sign up for scheduled alert e-mails @ c- span.org. >> this year studentcam competition as a middle school and high-school students to make a five minute video dealing with what our country's strengths or a challenge the country is facing. here is one of our second place winners. ♪ >> this is margaret. she is your average american senior citizen. she along with millions of others are greatly concerned about health care today. we must understand how our health care affects her form -- to make for a better tomorrow. >> if we do nothing to slow the skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on medicare and medicaid then every other government program combined. >> during the presidential address to congress, president obama spoke about the increasing cost of medicare. it is a

conservative party led by david cameron close behind at 31%.rime minister brown's labor party in third with 26%. those numbers have shifted slightly in the aftermath of last thursday's historic televised u.k. leaders debate. here to tell us why from london pollster president of the worddoctors frank lutz. welcome, thank you for being with us. what is interesting, a lot of similarities in terms of the debate. there's a new development in light of this debate that took place the other night. share what is going on. >> well, britain, i went to school here in the 80s. i've watched british politics what americans don't realize it usually happens first in britain then comes to america. margaret thatcher was elected in 1979 the precursor to reagan in '80 he used some of her slogans in his campaign. they were created in britain in 1997 tony player elected new kind of democrat he was the precursor to the change in the american government. here's the surprise, sean six months ago the conservatives had a 15 point lead. cameron was coasting to an easy elec

labor prime minister gordon brown and david cameron, leader of the main opposition conservatives wouldve gripped nick clegg warmly by the throat. the liberal democratic leader, the third man in british politics is wrecking what has traditionally been a two-party game. >> will you continue to fund the police? >> yes, of course. >> will you match our funding on the police? the answer is no. >> if you're like me, the more they attack each other, the more they sound the same. >> clegg dominated the first tv debate, deriding the upper two as representing the old politics. and catapulting himself to public attention. one poll made him the most popular politician since winston churchill. why such a leap forward? after the last corrupt parliament, dominated by stories of lawmakers' in expensive, the public wants change. gordon brown's labor after 13 years in office to be seen as the agents of change. yet after two years, leading opinion polls, cameron somehow hasn't sealed the deal with the public either. clegg, normally shouted down by the big parties in parliament, used the tv debates to sei

hoping to scupper his plans, david cameron, leader of the opposition conservatives. and the youthful nick clegg of the centrist liberal democrats, trying to thrust the country's third-ranked party to the fore. the debate occurred in front of an invited, politically-balanced audience. and though it was modeled on us presidential debates, took place in a country governed by a parliamentary system. voters here choose which local candidates to represent them in the british parliament, they don't vote directly for national leaders. but tonight it was the national leaders who were projecting their parties view on domestic affairs. >> we say it's so important for our country that while we cut the deficit we will make thain our investment in education per pupil. now the conservatives can not say this and i think we need an answer this evening. again, it's the risk, the risk to our health service, the risk in crime if you have less police. now it's the risk to education. i say it's a risk too far if you cut teachers. >> what gordon brown isn't telling you is that he's putting

. >> sreenivasan: but conservative party leader david cameron attacked the ruling labor party attacked the ruling labour party for running up huge deficits. he said britain now faces a range of hard choices as a result. >> the whole reason we're having this debate about how difficult it's going to be to get taxes down, cut spending is because this prime minister and this government have left our economy in such a mess with a budget deficit that this year is forecast to be bigger than that of greece. >> sreenivasan: the third man in the race-- liberal democrat leader nick clegg-- blamed both labour and the conservatives for britain's troubles. and he urged voters to break with the past. >> the way they got us into this mess is not the way out. we need to be frank about the cuts that will be needed. we'll need to break up the banking system so that irresponsible bankers can never again put your savings and your businesses at risk. >> sreenivasan: the latest polls have the conservatives still leading, but not by enough to gain an outright majority in parliament. the election is may 6. two

it will include gordon brown, david cameron and nick like. all competing to become the next prime minister. >> but tv is live this weekend from the l.a. times festival of books with tammy bruce. these are just some of the featured authors taking your calls, females and tweets. follow the authors and panel discussions live all weekend from c-span2. it the whole schedule from booktv.org. >> the senate sought to regulate. the bill is expected to be merged with a larger financial overhaul measure proposed by finance committee chairman christopher dodd before coming to the senate floor. this is just over two hours. the senate committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry will now come to order. thank you senator chambliss and all the members of the committee for being here today. thank you to our special witnesses and to the public at large who understand how important the issue of financial reform is to our country. i also want to thank the staff at the commodity futures trading commission, the banking committee, our house counterparts and the

gordon brown, david cameron, and nick clegg are all seeking to be the next prime minister. beginning at 3:30 p.m. eastern time on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: senator mike johanns of nebraska. we will start from the local news reports that you spend a good time during the break doing, with town meetings, a visiting classrooms. you talk about financial reform, listing your priorities of what should change. what are they? guest: i think there are obvious things, and i did a dozen town hall meetings. this is one of the things i talked about. since derivatives legislation, i think there is consensus on doing something there. it makes a lot of sense. ending too-big-to-fail, ending the concept that if you are too big you cannot fail, that the government will come in and bail you out. with that, you have to have some kind of resolution process. if a company has placed itself in a position where it is literally financially nonviable, this should not be a situation where you turn to the taxpayers and say you have now got to protect me and bail me out of this sit