David Cameron dodges Ed Miliband's TV debate challenge at Prime Minister's Questions

David Cameron has been performing all sorts of political acrobatics to avoid committing to the proposed TV debates ahead of the general election.

The prime minister had at first threatened to no-show the leader debates and called on the broadcasters to include the Greens, alongside himself, Ed Miliband, Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg.

The BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 repackaged their joint proposal and also included the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru in the debates.

The plan would see Cameron and Miliband go head-to-head on Sky and Channel 4 on 30 April, just days before the general election on 7 May.

But the prime minister has so far been extremely reluctant to commit to the event, prompting Labour MPs to label him a "chicken".

Miliband saw an opportunity to press the Tory leader on the issue during Prime Minister's Questions after Cameron accused Labour of lacking leadership.

"So it's all about leadership. There's a very good chance to discuss these issues. The broadcasters have proposed a live head-to-head debate between the prime minister and me on 30 April, a week before polling day. I will be at that debate, will he be at that debate?" Miliband queried.

Cameron turned to his government's economic record in order to offer a counter to the Labour leader's challenge.

"What's interesting, Mr Speaker, is that we're having a debate now and they can't talk about the economy, they can't talk about jobs because there are more jobs being created, they can't talk about growth because growth is going up, they can't even talk about living standards because of the breakthrough report out today that shows living standards are up to their pre-crisis levels," the prime minister blasted.

Cameron then reiterated his latest desire to hold the debates before the official election campaign, which will start at the end of March.

Miliband continued to push the prime minister over the issue and said he was "very happy" to agree to an "additional debate".

"But the broadcasters have set a date. He says the election is all about me and him, but the one thing that he wants to avoid is a TV debate between me and him," the Labour leader added.

"I'll give him another chance: I'll be there on 30 April, a debate between me and him. Will he be there? Yes or no?"

Cameron claimed that Miliband had abandoned the seven cornered TV debates and that he does not want to debate with Green leader Natalie Bennett, who recently suffered a "car crash" radio interview over her party's housing policies.

"He doesn't want to debate with the Greens any more. He watched the press conference. We all thought it was a car crash, he probably thought it was a masterclass," the prime minister quipped.

The exchange comes with 63 days to go before the general election, with the Tories two points ahead of Labour (36% vs 34%) in the latest YouGov poll.