justine and carrie...are you going to have NC and DC on before the election too given that gordon is on tonight?

[Heathcliffscathy]

I do hope that they have been invited in just as enthusiastic a way as gordon was.

I am worried about all three of them - they are looking terribly tired. Cleggy's eyes were very bloodshot and DC had big bags under his.
I kind of feel guilty about pressure being put on them to come on here

Clegg could come and do it from my front room - I'm slap bang in his constituency!

OOh Clegg'd be good; well DC wopuld too in the name of fairness but my vote ain't going there!

I was convinced that poor NC had scarlet fever at the last debate. His voice was hoarse and he was looking very red and sweaty. (though the lighting was rather odd)

Sadly doesn't look like Cleggy coming.
Mail from his man:

"I'm really sorry but it looks like it won't be possible after all to get Nick on after all before Thursday.

I'm really very sorry about this. It would have been great but the schedule is just so packed it is nigh on impossible to add anything significant in at the last moment. Five minute interviews with broadcasters are one thing but that isn't nearly adequate enough time for demanding mumsnetters (!) so I'm afraid we'll have to do something after the election instead."

No word from Dave's lot yet (but guess they a bit tired after their all-nighter).

Go on then Justine show us your piccie, always up for a bit of politician porn

Ooooh, fancy, showing off with your pictures and all.

And very cute he is too.

I like the 'Still no word from Dave' as a caption for that pic.

Have trains shrunk or does he look extraordinarily tall there

Lionstar - he's grown in stature over this campaign .

(TomTech helped with the pic)

TomTech is obviously a GOD

That's an honest response - indeed dare I say, a fair response isn't it?

He doesn't have the time to do it well, so best not to do it in a half-baked way

Yes, it's a fair and honest response, but to be frank, for MN to allow one on this week without getting firm confirmation the other two would also be able (even if they later said "sorry") seems remiss.

Although I don't have a journalistic background, it is surely a legal requirement to give equal access, and thus (despite it being like turning down a "gift horse") GB should have been turned away, or at least delayed until affirmative responses were obtained from the other two.

Sounds like it was an easy attempt from GB's advisors to do some last minute 'face saving' (I have not looked at what went on) and if all three have each had equal time in previous months, since election date was confirmed, then this is not exactly showing proper "balance").

We've given equal access though Networkguy - as soon as GB asked to come on we offered to the others - so far they've not chosen to use it but we hope they will.

It's not the access that is unequal but the take up!

Is it a legal requirement? Why would it be? This is MN not the BBC

agree with Justine.
turning down GB would have been daft!
and if it worked like that you could be prevented from having any of them by one of them refusing to come on, so you would get the ones who would know they would play badly in a live webchat vetoing it for the others.

Why would it be "surely" a legal requirement? This isn't the BBC if MNHQ wanted to put up banners on every page proclaiming their undying love for one leader then they would be entirely within their rights to do so. In spite of that they have remained very even-handed and the parties do have "equal access" up to them whether they want to take it up or not.

Given MN's prominence (having its own polls, being invited onto 'Election 2010' programmes) then for it to be considered impartial (compared with rubbishy newspapers) it would be better to ensure all or none.

Sounded as if GB's people offered, which is different to sending out invites a week or more before the first slot would be available.

Anyway, I suppose MN could try one last time to get DC on early in the evening (he's going to Bristol, apparently, so there is surely a Conservative party office which could talk to MNHQ tech staff to test a link) and late evening, NC will be back in Sheffield after visiting Durham. So he'd either be at home or perhaps able to drop into the Lib Dem office in the city (and again, they could do a test with MNHQ earlier in the day).

As things stand, given the comment that it was GB's end asking, it does not look quite so impartial (if only to me). I'll shut up now, while agreeing to disagree with the consensus position.

Nooooooo! Nick, you need to rethink...you need MN!

can we bump or stickie his original webchat? that would serve the purpose of reminding people why we like him so much.