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Nigel Farage ready for 'ding-dong' in Nick Clegg TV debate Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage slug it out over EU in BBC debate
(35 minutes later)
UKIP's Nigel Farage and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg are making last-minute preparations for their BBC TV debate on whether the UK should be in the EU. Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage are battling it out in a BBC TV debate on Britain's future in Europe.
Mr Farage has predicted Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg will attack his comments about admiring President Putin. Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg is expected to attack Mr Farage's comments about admiring President Putin, which he called "utterly grotesque".
Mr Farage said he was sure "there will be a ding-dong" - Mr Clegg has called his rival's views "utterly grotesque". But the main focus of the hour-long debate - with questions from the public - will be whether Britain is better-off in, or out of, the European Union.
The Lib Dem leader wants the UK to stay in the EU. Mr Farage wants the UK to leave. It is on BBC Two at 19:00 BST. Mr Clegg wants to remain in the EU - Mr Farage wants the UK to quit.
The BBC event, which follows another debate hosted by LBC Radio last week, comes ahead of May's European Parliament elections. The pair went head-to-head in an hour-long debate on LBC radio last week, which was won by Mr Farage, according to an instant You/Gov poll, although some pundits felt Mr Clegg had the edge.
The clash, hosted by David Dimbleby, has strict rules: David Dimbleby - who is moderating the BBC Two debate - has said he hopes one of the two will deliver a "knockout blow" after last week's initial sparring.
As he left home on Wednesday morning, Mr Farage told waiting reporters he was "looking forward" to the debate. Strict rules
He said: "This is great - UKIP, mocked and derided, our arguments written off as being mad and extreme - and here we are on national television having a debate. The veteran presenter hosted the last live BBC TV debate on Europe 40 years ago - between anti-EU MP Tony Benn and pro-EU MP Roy Jenkins.
"The last time this happened, a big BBC debate, was 40 years ago. The only thing that is the same is David Dimbleby - everything else has changed." The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said "Team Clegg" wanted to see more passion from their man this week, while the Farage camp wanted to see more detail.
As he prepared to travel into Westminster this morning Mr Clegg said he was "hugely looking forward" to the debate. Asked if there were any nerves ahead of tonight's debate, Mr Clegg replied: "I'm going to enjoy it, it's a big debate on an important issue. I'm looking forward to it."
He said: "I think last week I showed very clearly that Nigel Farage got his facts wrong. This week I intend to show that his recommendation that we should be isolated in the world is also wrong." Mr Farage also told reporters he was "looking forward" to the debate.
Mr Dimbleby told the BBC News Channel the debate would be "gladiatorial combat, or a prize fight", adding: "Last week they were just testing each other out. This week there has to be a knockout blow or people will say it was a damp squib." He said: "This is great - UKIP, mocked and derided, our arguments written off as being mad and extreme - and here we are on national television having a debate."
But he insisted the discussion would not involve "more heat than light", as "very important issues" were at stake. The BBC debate has strict rules:
A row between Mr Clegg and Mr Farage over the UKIP leader's comments on Vladimir Putin has escalated ahead of the debate. The UKIP leader has refused to back down in his battle with Mr Clegg over his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the first debate Mr Farage suggested the EU had "blood on its hands" for encouraging Ukrainians to rise up against their former pro-Russian government. He has stressed that he did not support Russian actions in Ukraine or admire the Russian president "as a human being" but he did believe Mr Putin was a skilled political "operator".
In a GQ magazine interview released this week Mr Farage named President Putin as the world leader he most admired, for his role in the Syria crisis last year, "as an operator, but not as a human being". Shortly before the debate got under way, he told BBC News: "We were about to go to war in Syria because poison gas, sarin gas had been used and everyone in London, Washington and Brussels assumed they had been used by Assad - and Putin said 'hang on a second, don't be so sure'.
Mr Clegg responded by telling a news conference he thought those views were "utterly grotesque", saying President Putin was the "chief sponsor and protector of one of the most brutal dictators on the face of the planet". "It turns out it's more than likely the rebels who used the gas. If Putin hadn't intervened we would now be at war with Syria."
Last week's debate saw Mr Farage and Mr Clegg clash over the issue of immigration and the possible effect on the UK economy of leaving the EU.
Mr Clegg said: "We are better off in Europe - richer, stronger, safer - and that's why I will fight to keep us in, for the sake of jobs, for the sake of our clout in the world, for the sake of Britain."
But Mr Farage replied: "This debate is between a tired status quo defending a crumbling EU that frankly isn't working any more, and a fresh approach that says let's be friendly with Europe, let's trade with Europe, but let's not be governed by their institutions."
Conservative leader David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband declined to take part in the debate.Conservative leader David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband declined to take part in the debate.
* You can watch the whole debate live on the BBC News website, with rolling video and text coverage of the key points, reaction and analysis. There is a BBC News Channel special programme from 18:30 BST to 21:00 BST.* You can watch the whole debate live on the BBC News website, with rolling video and text coverage of the key points, reaction and analysis. There is a BBC News Channel special programme from 18:30 BST to 21:00 BST.