2nd Leaders' Debate - How was it for you?

In many ways it is a shame that the second debate was on Sky as it will have been watched by considerably less people than the last one but it was considerably better. There was no killer blow, no clear winner but I personally thought Brown and Clegg shone and Cameron wasted another opportunity to seal the deal.

The big talking point will probably be Cameron stating unequivocally that he will keep winter fuel allowance for the elderly, free tv allowance, free bus travel (and more) and challenging Brown to denounce the Labour leaflets saying otherwise. Brown made a strong retort that he did not authorise such an approach and that if that's what the Tories believed then it should have been in their manifesto but that has unravelled now as it transpires, thanks to Alex Salmond having a hard copy, that Gordon Brown has a leaflet making such claims against the SNP in Gordon's own Fife constituency.

The next biggest issue for me was when Brown attacked Clegg over Trident, aggressively urging him to "Get real" and stating that Britain needed a nuclear deterrent with so much uncertainty in the world. A bomb that will never, ever be fired is not a deterrent and does not deserve £100bn being spent on it in my view. Cameron tried to gang up on Clegg with Brown and I daresay the honours were even. Clegg certainly didn't get an easy beat on suggesting tens of billions of savings as he did last week.

There was of course no repeat of Cameron's insistence that we need to keep nuclear weapons because "we don't know what's happening with China". It later transpired that Clegg has negotiated Trade with China while Cameron wants to point nuclear weapons at them. That's a big difference in my book.

On Afghanistan, Dave made a bit of a clanger with his opening remark: "I've been to Afghanistan four times and each time I am just blown away". I wouldn't say it was insensitive but it was certainly clumsy. On the detail there was little to separate each of the parties.

Immigration on the other hand was a hot topic and Clegg offered up a clear dividing line by stating that the Lib Dems would offer an amnesty to the near 1million illegal immigrants in the country right now. Why not bring these people into the system, have them pay tax, bring them out of any shadowy goings on they may be involved in? A bit Daily Mail perhaps but I agreed with Clegg's general thrust.

Brown didn't and nor did Cameron saying that having an amnesty for illegal immigrants would just be an advert for more to come over here. For one, that doesn't sound like Brown is backing himself to get a hold of immigration with the points system he is proposing and two, I don't think refugees in far flung countries are following the news cycle too closely here in the UK.

Clegg perhaps edged this segment with his closing line: "You can't deport 900,000 people if you don't know where they live".

On Europe, Cameron struggled awkwardly through the difficult issue although it was Clegg that made a potential gaffe by calling the Polish political party whose leader has just died "a party of nutters". Will an apology be required?

Brown provided an excellent line during the Europe segment, perhaps the best of the night, 'the Big Society at home but Little Britain abroad'. Sums up the Tories on Europe very well.

Gordon landed one of the best blows and got one of his messages in the clearest. "Clegg is a risk on defence due to Trident and Cameron is a risk to the economy". That's the last two weeks of Labour's election right there.

Overall it was a good, substantive debate. Clegg and Brown shone for me, yes Brown performed well. Cameron just doesn't have it and I fear this campaign is fading away from him.

One debate left and the Tories have it all to do.