Cameron tops early polls as immigration issue sparks television debate

Research by YouGov, for The Sun, found the Tory leader had scored a decisive win, with 41 per cent saying he performed best compared to 32 per cent for Nick Clegg. Gordon Brown was trailing on 25 per cent.

But a ComRes poll for ITV News suggested the result had been much closer, putting Mr Cameron on 35 per cent to 33 per cent for Mr Clegg. Mr Brown was last again on 26 per cent.

Immigration took centre stage as issue was raised for the first time in the series of debates in the Birmingham studio tonight.

The first polls taken following the debate suggested that Tory David Cameron had come out best of the three leaders.

All three leaders were put through their paces, first on the economy then on issues from benefit scroungers to the affordability of housing to the future of education.

As they were put on the spot on the issue of immigration, Mr Cameron repeated his call for numbers of incomers to be reduced from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands.

He said that if Tory policies were implemented "we wouldn't hear on the doorsteps and the streets as we go about this election campaign people worried about immigration".

The Tory leader said: "Immigration in this country has been too high for too long and thats why we have a very clear approach to cut it and cut it quite substantially."

Labour's Gordon Brown focused on the need to limit economic migration in areas where sufficient home-grown workers are available to fill jobs.

"The reason I want to be in politics is to create jobs," the PM said.

"And when it comes to immigration I want to see a situation where we increase the number of jobs that people in Britain can take, as we lower the number of people coming into the country."

Nick Clegg again sought to draw a line between the Lib Dems and the other parties, saying: "The reason I think people have become so anxious is because the immigration system and the way it works has become utterly chaotic under a succession of Labour and Conservative governments who have talked tough."

The most heated exchanges of the evening came as both Mr Brown and Mr Cameron accused the Liberal Democrats of planning an amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Mr Clegg insisted that - unlike Conservative London mayor Boris Johnson - he was not in favour of an amnesty, saying: "It's very much the style of old politics, making misleading claims."

But he said there was a big problem with people who had been in the country for years and were settled and working but could not join mainstream life, which could be dealt with by a one-off normalisation programme.

"It's a problem I didnt create," said the Lib Dem leader.

"They created it - Conservative and Labour governments."

As Mr Cameron said the Lib Dem policy could allow 600,000 people to settle in the UK permanently, Mr Clegg responded: "Why dont we save time and assume that every time you talk about our policy, you are wrong?"

He pressed the Tory leader hard over his plans to impose an annual cap on inward migration, repeatedly demanding that he answer yes or no that it would not apply to the EU citizens who make up the bulk of migrants.

As the Lib Dem and Tory leaders clashed, Mr Brown said: "I hate to intrude into private grief, because both of them have got this wrong."

The three party leaders also clashed over their plans for National Insurance, with Mr Cameron repeating his claim that it was a tax on jobs.

Mr Brown insisted that Tory plans to spend £6bn, reversing the NI hike, would risk tipping the country into a double-dip recession.

Addressing the Tory leader directly, Mr Brown said: "David, you have just got it wrong economically and it is the same mistakes and the some old Conservative Party as in the 1980s and 1990s."

Mr Clegg repeatedly accused the two other leaders of indulging in political point-scoring.

He said both Mr Brown and Mr Cameron had no details on their economic plans and called for a cross-party council to set a framework for deficit reduction.

The Labour leader said that both Tories and Liberal Democrats wanted to cut back tax credits.

In a possible hint of Labour's approach in the case of a hung Parliament, the Prime Minister said: "I will never form an alliance with a Conservative Party that cuts tax credits."

When pressed by moderator David Dimbleby over whether the same would apply to the Lib Dems, Mr Brown made no such promise.

The Labour leader said he had to speak out on Conservative plans to raise inheritance tax thresholds, which he said was simply unfair and immoral at a time when tax credits could be cut.

Mr Cameron said that Mr Brown was misleading voters about his party's intentions.

"So often, the Prime Minister gets his facts wrong," said the Tory leader.

"On this issue of tax credits we are saying we like tax credits and will keep tax credits, but for families earning over £50,000 we think we can't afford tax credits."

It was simply not true for Mr Brown to claim Tory plans would hit lower-income families, said Mr Cameron, adding: "He is trying again to frighten people and actually, he should be ashamed."

Mr Clegg made a show of exasperation with the other two leaders, saying: "Here we go again."

In fierce clashes over the banking crisis, Mr Cameron accused the Government of failing to get banks lending to business, while Mr Brown warned that Tory plans for a unilateral tax on financial institutions would risk driving them away from the City of London.

Mr Clegg called for an end to banking bonuses of more than £2,500 and condemned the decision of taxpayer-funded RBS to support the US takeover of major Birmingham employer Cadbury.

Mr Brown promised that he would never allow bankers to act in an irresponsible way again.

But Mr Cameron accused Labour of hitching the whole of the British economy to the banking system.

In his perhaps final 90 minutes to undo the damage he did yesterday, Mr Brown fulfilled Labour election strategist Lord Mandelson's ambition that he should be seen as a workhorse rather than a show pony.

Mr Cameron gave his most assured performance yet, looking far more relaxed and comfortably addressing viewers straight down the camera lens.

He addressed Mr Brown frequently as Prime Minister - rather than Gordon or Gordon Brown, as he had done the previous two weeks.

It was a tactic presumably designed to highlight the fact that Mr Brown's party has been in power for the last 13 years, and pay due deference to his office, eschewing the rather showy "if I was your Prime Minister" formula the Conservative leader deployed last week.

Mr Clegg looked less at ease than during any of the previous contests, not just over immigration but on a range of issues where he tried to cut across the other two leaders and seemed sometimes at pains to agree with every questioner.

But if his performance tonight was somewhat lacklustre, he has undoubtedly been the big winner of the first series of televised showdowns which look set to become a fixture of British election campaigns.