Cameron skips final pre-election TV debate in calculated gamble

The leaders of Britain's two main political parties are taking starkly different gambles on the final TV debate of a knife-edge election campaign on Thursday: Prime Minister David Cameron by not taking part and Labour leader Ed Miliband by turning up.
With most opinion polls showing Cameron's Conservatives neck-and-neck with opposition Labour ahead of the May 7 vote, set to be the closest British election since the 1970s, both are seeking a game-changing moment.
Yet the BBC debate will only feature Miliband alongside the leaders of the Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties, the Greens and the anti-EU UK Independence Party.
Cameron and Nick Clegg, the leader of his junior coalition partner the Liberal Democrats, won't take part, teeing up an oddly incomplete event.
Cameron, who came off badly from Britain's first televised election debates in 2010, only agreed to one debate, which has already happened. With his personal ratings higher than those of his rivals, his aides feared he had more to lose than Miliband.
After Cameron's refusal, Clegg wasn't invited to participate.
Miliband exceeded expectations in a 7-way leaders debate this month and a televised pre-election interview in March and stands to gain from an assured performance.
Conversely, by staying away, Cameron leaves himself open to the charge of political cowardice and risks other parties ganging up on him in his absence.
"If you are applying for the job of prime minister, the very least the British people expect is for you to turn up to the job interview," Miliband said on Thursday.
But the event is also a risk for him. As the only participant who could become prime minister, he hopes to showcase his leadership credentials and close the yawning gap between his and Cameron's personal ratings.
But Scottish nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose party threatens to virtually wipe out Labour in Scotland, is expected to unite with fellow left-wing anti-austerity parties - all of whom are vying to take votes from Labour - to criticise him.
Ironically, with no one party on track to win outright, Miliband may have to rely on one or more of these same parties to govern. Sturgeon has repeatedly said she'd be willing to prop up a Labour government in return for concessions.