The Great Debates

So, three debates with the three party leaders has been agreed, with ITV, BBC and Sky hosting one each. Will this benefit democracy? I would suggest that this depends on the format, and on a presenter who is able to press home a question, regardless of where the question or subject came from. If there is an element of cross examination that will delve below the soundbites dreamed up in advance by political staffers, we could really get some interesting debate around policy and values. If however we end up with a superficial bun fight with cheap point scoring the only aim then we will be missing a great opportunity to enliven our politics.