Minor party leaders call for Britain to stay in the EU as they gang up on Ukip and moan about absent Theresa May in bizarre election debate
Paul Nuttall was slated by other party leaders at the surreal ITV debate which was boycotted by both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn
THE leaders of minor parties tonight repeatedly called for Britain to stay in the EU as they took part in the first debate of the General Election campaign - without Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn.
The ITV debate in Salford was guaranteed to be something of a farce before it had started given that the two main party leaders had refused to attend.
That left Tim Farron, Paul Nuttall, Caroline Lucas, Nicola Sturgeon and Leanne Wood in a head-to-head clash.
From the very first question, which focused on Brexit, the leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru immediately turned against Ukip boss Mr Nuttall.
Ms Sturgeon described him as a "spokesperson" for the Prime Minister, and Ms Lucas proposed all the minor parties working together - but explicitly excluded Ukip.
The four leaders kept agreeing with each other in the surreal debate, supporting each others' views on issues such as grammar schools, council housing, tuition fees and public-sector pay.
They blamed Mrs May for most of the country's ills and mocked her for being "too scared" to turn up for the debate, while bemoaning Britain's vote to leave the EU last year.
Caroline Lucas told the audience, "You should have the right to remain inside the EU."
And Ms Sturgeon added: "I still believe that for all its faults, we are better off in the European Union than outside of it."
After Mr Farron repeated his call for a second referendum on Brexit, Mr Nuttall tore into him saying: “Tim can cry about it all he wants. That’s just the fact. That’s democracy Tim."
And when several of the other leaders suggested Brits did not vote to leave the European Single Market, the Ukip leader hit back.
Mr Nuttall said a host of figures on both sides of the EU debate had said this would be the case - including the leaflet sent to every house in the run up to the referendum.
He added that "suggesting people didn’t know what they voted for was downright duplicitous".
But Leanne Wood shouted over him, saying "no it wasn’t" and telling him tariffs were not "on the ballot paper".
Mr Nuttall insisted Ukip still has a role to play despite its dismal poll figures and lack of MPs, adding: "I don't believe that [Mrs May] will get the best deal possible for Britain, I believe she will begin to backslide.
"I think she will backslide on fisheries, I think she will sell out fishermen once again like a former Tory prime minister did in Ted Heath.
"I think there will be some sort of dodgy deal over freedom of movement as well and I think she will capitulate and we will pay a divorce bill."
He raised the issue of immigration several times, blaming the large number of migrants for the NHS crisis and fall in average living standards.
Ms Lucas replied: "There isn’t a single question for Paul Nuttall to which the answer is not immigration."
She defended the "huge contribution" made by immigrants: "Those people in our country are our lovers, they are our families, they are our plumbers, our doctors."
But Mr Nuttall said there were "simply too many people coming to the country" with the equivalent of the population of Newcastle added to the population last year.
He blamed immigration for the housing shortage, saying 80,000 homes a year were "swallowed up by immigration alone".
"We are not building enough houses," he said - but Mr Farron replied, "You'll need migrant labour."
The audience repeatedly joined with the pro-EU leaders, applauding and laughing at their lines in favour of immigration while maintaining a stony silence whenever Mr Nuttall spoke.
The Ukip chief was mocked by others for suggesting there would a dividend from leaving the EU, with Mr Farron saying: "Where's your bus?" - referring to the Leave campaign's pledge to spend £350million per week on the NHS.
The four left-wing leaders ganged up on Mr Nuttall again when the debate turned to education.
The Ukip leader declared himself in favour of grammar schools and called for selective education to be extended to poorer areas so that children who are not from a middle-class background can benefit.
The Ukip leader said: "I believe in academic selection. I believe that we don't have enough grammar schools in this country - we have 164 at the moment - we need more.
"But the problem that you have is that the majority of these grammar schools are in middle class areas.
"We need to get them into working class areas which then allow working class kids to break out of their communities."
Mr Farron said the argument for grammar schools was "bogus", while Ms Lucas said there was "no educational evidence that suggests this is good for the vast bulk of our people".
Ms Sturgeon and Ms Wood insisted they would never introduce grammars to Scotland or Wales.
However, Ms Lucas twice admitted that she agreed with Mr Nuttall, saying she found it "a bit scary"; to be on the same side as Ukip on the issues of HS2 rail and social care.
When the second question - asked by retired nurse Shirley McCall - turned out to be about the health system, the leaders' fire turned on Mr Farron.
He was accused of supporting the privatisation of the NHS because of the Lib Dems' position in the Coalition.
He pointed out that he voted against the Tory-led NHS bill, and accused Labour of a more aggressive privatisation programme.
Without either of the two people most likely to become Prime Minister, no one on stage has any hope of being able to put their ideas into practice.
Explaining the two leaders' absence, presenter Julie Etchingham said: "We invited Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn - they declined to come."
In her opening statement, Green leader Caroline Lucas said: "Never in my lifetime has our future felt so uncertain."
But she appealed to the memory of the Second World War as she pleaded for an end to child poverty and clean energy reforms for clean energy.
Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood accused Mrs May of being "too scared" to debate her record.
She said: "I have a message for the Prime Minister, who I'm sure is watching tonight.
"You may be too scared to come here tonight, for your U-turns to be highlighted, for your cruel policies to be exposed. You want this election to only be about Brexit because that means you avoid talking about the real issues like the NHS, the economy and the cuts you have made to our public services.
"That's weak leadership - weak and unstable. I hope all of us here tonight will show you that real leadership means being willing to defend what you stand for, not hide from it."
And Ms Sturgeon pledged to "stand up to an extreme Brexit" and hold the Tories to account, saying: "The next few years will determine the kind of country we become.
"We need strong opposition holding a Tory government to account, keeping them in check and standing up for the values we hold dear: values of social justice, tolerance and community."
Mr Farron repeatedly drove the conversation back towards the EU as he relied on his party's pledge for a referendum on the final Brexit deal for applause lines.
He said: "Somebody will sign off that deal, it will either be the politicians or the people. I trust the people."
Paul Nuttall, meanwhile, presented Ukip as the defender of ordinary people, enacting immigration cuts and lowering the cost of foreign aid, adding: "Brexit would never have happened if it wasn't for Ukip."
He went on to describe his party as "back-up" for Mrs May and Brexit Secretary David Davis, holding their feet to the fire and stopping them "backsliding" from full Brexit.
Mr Nuttall embarrassed himself while being attacked by the other leaders as he accidentally called the Plaid Cymru leader "Natalie" - only for her to reply, "I'm not Natalie, I'm Leanne."
He later repeated the bizarre gaffe, calling Ms Wood "Natalie" again - he retorted: "Who are you calling Natalie?" to which he said, "Leanne, I'm sorry."
Ms Wood replied, "You've done it twice now," and Mr Nuttall replied: "Have I? I'm sorry about that."
Afterwards a Ukip source played down the row, saying it was merely "a slip of the tongue".
In one bizarre moment, Mr Farron appeared to criticise his own party for putting up tuition fees as he bragged about voting against the policy.
The Lib Dem leader said: "People assume that all politicians are scumbags and liars, so don't prove them right."
He used his closing remarks to condemn Mrs May's policies and package her together with Ukip.
"The vision of Theresa May and Paul Nuttall is not the only choice," Mr Farron said.
"The fact that Theresa May isn't here tonight tells you she is taking you for granted. She thinks she owns this election, owns our future and owns our children's future."
Mr Nuttall said the party leaders "who bothered to turn up" simply do not believe in Brexit.
"They don't believe we are big enough, we are strong enough and simply they don't believe we are good enough to be a free, democratic and independent state on the world stage," he said.
The Liberal Democrats were quick to declare victory after the debate - but were forced to defend Mr Farron's habit of using a personal anecdote about his Lancashire upbringing in response to nearly every question.
A party source said: "It explains who he is, that's why it's important - to show who he is, what he’s come from and delivering a key message. Those anecdotes show the values of the party - openness, tolerance."
The Greens turned their fire on Mrs May and Mr Corbyn - MEP Green MEP Molly Scott Cato said after the broadcast: “I think it’s disgraceful that neither of the people who might become Prime Minister of this country are prepared to turn up and face questioning.
“Running away and hiding is not an option if you’re pretending you’re going to be a leader, a strong and stable leader, or any other kind of leader.”
Mrs May has repeatedly refused to appear in any head-to-head debates, saying she prefers to communicate with voters directly on the campaign trail.
And Mr Corbyn says he will not attend a debate which does not feature the Prime Minister.
As tonight's debate got under way, the Labour leader tweeted: "Theresa May, why not debate me?
"The public deserve to see a debate between the only two people who could form the next government."
Pressed on why Mr Corbyn refused to take part and offer a rebuttal to Mrs May’s manifesto, Labour's election boss Andrew Gwynne said tonight: “That’s not offering a real choice, because what would have happened is Jeremy’s voice would have been one of a number of opposition parties on there.
“We’re not vying to be the largest opposition party, we want to be the alternative Government.
“And that means giving the people a real choice, let them hear the Labour policies side by side against the Conservative policies, the Labour leader side by side against Theresa May."
He added: "This tonight was a bit of a sideshow because none of the parties on the platform have any realistic chance of forming the next government.”
Mr Gwynne also denied he was scared of the “optics” of standing alongside the other parties after the Conservatives repeatedly branded the opposition groups a “coalition of chaos”.
After the event, Tory party chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: "Tonight gave a glimpse of the chaos you could get in just three weeks with all the other parties propping up Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.
“Getting Brexit right is central to everything – and it’s clear this coalition of chaos just want to return to division, and would undermine our Brexit negotiation and Britain’s long-term economic security."
A Plaid Cymru source played down the fact neither Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn were at the debate, saying it gave the public a chance to see some "alternative visions" for Britain.
A wave of panic went round the dressing rooms of the other leaders before the debate when it was rumoured that Mr Corbyn had actually turned up to the debate.
But it turned out to be a false alarm - and was in fact a Labour leader lookalike, who was filmed walking towards the venue at Salford Quays.
A video of him strolling with an entourage towards the ITV studios was posed to Twitter - but the man failed to make it inside.
But the bearded man was so believable that the other parties began changing their preparations in anticipation of him taking part.
A source at Ukip said the green rooms backstage were abuzz with the rumour, as aides began scrambling to recalibrate their plans for a six-way debate.
However it turns out it was simply a hoax, and one that nobody has yet owned up to.