Britain's Labor Party leader challenges Cameron to debate

Britain's Labor Party leader Ed Miliband urged Prime Minister David Cameron to join him in a one-to-one debate.

On Thursday night, Miliband and the leaders of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), the Green Party, Wales' Plaid Cymru party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) took part in a live debate, hosted by BBC, over the country's future, Xinhua reported.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who are leaders of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats respectively, were absent from the debate. Cameron refused to participate in a face-to-face televised debate with his major political rival Miliband.

"I believe my plan can give this country a better future than yours. Disagree? Prove it - debate me and let the people decide," Ed Miliband tweeted following the debate, urging Cameron to face him one-to-one.

Miliband also played down the prospect of working with the SNP in forming a coalition government.

He stressed that he had "fundamental disagreements" with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon over Scottish independence.

"It's a 'no', I'm afraid," he said in the debate, rejecting an offer of cooperation from Sturgeon.

Thursday's debate, which lasted an hour and a half, saw the five party leaders clash with each other over a range of priority issues, including the reform of the National Health Service (NHS), immigration, the nuclear weapons, economic agenda and Britain's membership in the European Union.

Britain is to hold its next general election on May 7. A party needs to win at least 326 of all 650 seats in the House of Commons, the parliament's lower house, to form a majority government.