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A row has erupted between the main political parties over TV coverage of the general election campaign.Labour say broadcasters have focused on the prime ministerial debates at the expense of wider policy issues.
They said the Tories and Lib Dems pulled out of sending a joint letter to broadcasters to express their concerns.
But the Tories said the complaint was a "desperate whinge", and the Lib Dems said it was "not appropriate" to try to "dictate" to broadcasters.
The draft of the suggested letter said the televised debates were a welcome development which had given a "real sense of energy and excitement" to the election campaign.
However, it added, the coverage around them had "dramatically reduced the amount of airtime dedicated to the scrutiny of the policies of the parties".
"We feel that whilst our manifestos were fully, fairly and properly covered, since then the usual specialist examination of specific policy areas has not been done," it read.
The letter was aimed principally at broadcasters with a public service remit - the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 - although it would also have been copied to Sky News.
It reminded public service broadcasters of their traditional duty of explaining and probing the plans of all the main parties.
A Labour spokesperson said: "Yesterday both of the other main parties said this idea had merit, today they don't - that tells you all you need to know about their enthusiasm for a policy discussion."
'Wheels come off'
But the Conservatives said: "Gordon Brown's desperate whinge to broadcasters to limit their coverage of the TV debates is yet another sign that the wheels have come off his campaign.
"Thanks to the debates, record numbers of viewers have heard more policy discussion than in any previous election."
The Lib Dems said: "We do not think that it is appropriate for political parties to seek to dictate the nature of political coverage to broadcasters.
"We are pleased that because we have set out our policy priorities clearly in our manifesto and included detailed costings, broadcasters and others have been able to analyse our policy and subject it to proper scrutiny and discussion."
Three prime ministerial debates are being held, between Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.
The first was on ITV1 and the second was broadcast on Thursday on Sky. The third will be this Thursday on BBC One.
In the first debate, Mr Clegg's performance was praised and he was hailed the winner.
However, on Thursday no leader was singled out, and instant polls gave conflicting verdicts on who came out on top.
The Scottish National Party is hoping to launch legal action to get the BBC to include it in Thursday's debate, to ensure that Scotland's political make-up is "fairly reflected".
Last week, the BBC Trust did not uphold a complaint from the SNP and Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru over their exclusion from the debate.
The BBC has long maintained that only the Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative leaders are being included in the main televised debates, as they are the only three people who could go on to become the next prime minister.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.