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'Tough Enough' Miliband Battles With Cameron

David Cameron and Ed Miliband have attempted to convince voters they have what it takes to lead the country into 2020 in the first major showdown of the election campaign.

The two men faced tough questioning from Kay Burley and Jeremy Paxman during the 90-minute Sky News Channel 4 Battle for Number 10 programme.

Mr Miliband attempted to show his credentials by telling Paxman: "Hell yes, I'm tough enough" to run the country.

He said he had stood up to the "leader of the free world", US President Barack Obama, over military action in Syria.

Mr Miliband said he had been "underestimated" many times but he was not worried about the opinion of newspapers or a "bloke on the tube".

And he said he didn't care if people just thought he was a "north London geek".

Immigration was a key issue under discussion during the programme, which took place at Sky's studios in west London.

Mr Cameron admitted he has failed to honour a commitment to reduce the number of people coming to Britain, while Mr Miliband refused to set any limit on immigration.

The Prime Minister edged ahead in the early polls after the event came to an end.

An early ICM/Guardian poll gave victory to Mr Cameron with 54% of the 2,000 people asking saying he had performed best, but it was close and 46% gave the win to Mr Miliband.

Responding to questions about whether he was up to the country’s top job, Mr Miliband insisted that he was the right person to take on the fight.

He said he felt he had a better chance than his Blairite brother, David Miliband, of moving beyond New Labour.

He admitted the Labour leadership campaign had been "bruising" for both men, but told presenter Kay Burley that his mother was a "pretty hardy soul" after she commented "your poor mum".

During his interview with Paxman, Mr Cameron looked uncomfortable when faced with questions about rising food bank use and zero-hour contracts.

Mr Cameron revealed that he would not be able to live on an "exclusive zero hours contract".

He also admitted that he did not ask former HSBC chief, Lord Green, questions about tax avoidance before appointing him as a Government minister in 2010, despite information in the public domain.

On immigration, he appeared to admit for the first time that he had failed to meet his promise to reduce levels to the "tens of thousands".

But the issue was also tough for Mr Miliband who was pressed on what level was acceptable, answering "I'm not going to pluck a figure out of thin air".

One senior Tory adviser said Mr Miliband had faced a "torrid" time from the studio audience, while Labour spinners insisted that the Prime Minister's comments on zero-hour contracts would haunt him.

Despite the PM's slightly better performance in the polls, the Labour team - which is launching its election campaign today - were pleased with the outcome for their leader.

Some commentators argued that he would have seen his popularity boost among potential Labour supporters, while members of the studio audience told Sky News that they felt he was passionate and human in his responses.

But Conservative supporters in the audience were less impressed with one saying he failed to tackle difficult questions on the country's finances.

:: Highlights of the Battle For Number 10 can be seen on Sky News today at 9.30am and 9.30pm and all digital platforms.