SNP blasts Westminster carve-up as party excluded from TV debates The SNP has branded proposals for TV debates ahead of the next general election as a cosy Westminster carve-up after the party was not included. The party hit out at broadcasters after it emerged that Ukip leader Nigel Farage would be invited to appear in one of three televised clashes. The UKs major network broadcasters - the BBC, Sky, Channel 4, and ITV - said their proposed debates would be vital in engaging voters with the political process. Their proposals, which have yet to be agreed by the parties, outline a trio of debates. The first would be a head-to-head showdown between Prime Minister David Cameron for the Conservatives and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband for Labour to be chaired by Jeremy Paxman and co-produced by Sky News and Channel 4. The second would be a BBC broadcast moderated by David Dimbleby and featuring Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg representing the Liberal Democrats. The third programme would see the three main party leaders joined by Nigel Farage, leader of Ukip, to face questions from ITVs Julie Etchingham. However, the exclusion of the SNP, which is the party of government in Scotland, has six MPs in the House of Commons, and is currently ahead in the polls for 2015, prompted an angry response. Westminster SNP leader Angus Robertson said: These proposals will be utterly unacceptable to any democrat. What the London-based broadcasters are proposing fails in their duty to their viewers in Scotland, and simply doesnt reflect the reality of politics across the UK today. The broadcasters have the cheek to say that their proposed format factors in changes in the political landscape to justify including Ukip - entirely ignoring the fact that the SNP are now by far the third largest political party in the UK. Current Westminster voting intentions put the SNP in the lead in Scotland, and it is clearly wrong that the leader of the third biggest political party in the UK should be shut out of these network debates. Yet they are proposing to include UKIP, despite the fact the SNP won six seats at the last general election to UKIPs none - and with the SNP at 40% in Scotland for the general election, to UKIPs four per cent. Mr Robertson said broadcasters were repeating perceived mistakes of the referendum campaign and told the BBC to hang their heads in shame. He continued: Despite the experience of the referendum campaign, the network broadcasters have once again forgotten their responsibility to Scotland. The BBC in particular as Scotlands public service broadcaster should hang their heads in shame - under their proposals, the Tories and Labour would be included in four debates, the Lib Dems three, and the SNP just one. That is simply unfair to Scotlands electorate. This looks like yet another cosy Westminster carve-up, and we need to know what discussions the broadcasters have had with the other parties, and why there has been absolutely no discussion with the SNP. These proposals are clearly inappropriate for Scotland, and cannot stand. STV said it was committed to offering a debate for party leaders relevant to Scotland. A spokeswoman said: With confirmation of the availability of this debate for STVs schedule, we confirm that it is our intention to deliver an additional debate for viewers in Scotland featuring the relevant party leaders. Ukip, a populist party which advocates withdrawal from the European Union and greater controls on immigration, came top in European elections in May, and secured its first elected Commons seat last week. The party holds 24 of the UKs 73 European Parliament seats, including one in Scotland, and 370 council seats. Mr Farage said the proposals recognised growing support for his party. He said: The decision is better than it could have been. It does at least recognise the increasing popularity of Ukip. However if the political landscape continues to change we would expect and ask for inclusion in a second debate. The Liberal Democrats rejected the suggestion that they should be excluded from one debate. The party is currently languishing the polls and is expected to lose a significant number of seats in the general election. A spokesman said: The Liberal Democrats have long argued that the debates last time round were of huge benefit to our democratic process and engaged millions of voters. The Liberal Democrats therefore welcome the fact that the broadcasters are seeking to make progress to ensure that the debates happen again in 2015. The Liberal Democrats, like the Labour Party, have publicly said that we would be prepared to sign up to the same 3-3-3 system we had in 2010. We do not accept the proposal that the Liberal Democrats, as a party of government, should be prevented from defending our record in one of the TV debates. That is the case we will make strongly in the negotiations that will now take place and we urge the other parties to join us around the negotiating table without excuse or delay. The announcement has drawn objections from other nationalist and minority parties. Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales, said broadcasters were out of touch for not including other parties in the proceedings. Leader Leanne Wood said: The age of two-party politics is over and these debates should be a true reflection of the choice facing people in all corners of the UK at the General Election. Broadcasters have shown themselves to be out of touch by clinging on to the notion that there is no alternative to the tired Westminster elite. Plaid Cymru will be going into the general election with ambitious policies to improve public services and strengthen the Welsh economy. The people of Wales deserve nothing less than to hear what all parties have to offer them and we will be taking immediate steps to ensure that this happens. Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, added to the condemnation, saying: With these proposals the broadcasters are demonstrating just how out of touch they are with the public mood, and how ridiculously they cling to the idea that the future of politics looks like the past. It is clear from votes and polls that the public are fed up with the three business-as-usual parties and are looking around for alternatives. That is also demonstrated by the soaring membership of the Green parties of England and Wales and Scotland, now exceeding 27,000. Those members, the fast-growing numbers of likely Green voters (matching Lib Dems numbers), and the majority who back Green policies like bringing the railways back into public hands and the living wage for all workers would be seriously short-changed by debates from which we were excluded. Last week Mr Clegg accused Mr Cameron of foot-dragging over encounters during the general election campaign. The Tories should come clean - if they want to run scared, they should say they dont want to do them, but not this endless ducking and weaving. I think people want the TV debates. The more people can see how the leaders measure up against each other, the better. Responding to Mondays announcement, a Conservative Party spokesman said: We note the request and will respond accordingly. All parties have said they support more debates in principle, after the 2010 events dominated the campaign and drew significant audiences. But there have been disagreements about who should participate and how they will be staged. Mr Camerons official spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing: The Prime Minister has set out his views with regard to TV debates a number of times. His views havent changed. Mr Cameron suggested in May he would like to see three debates, one pitting him against Mr Miliband as the two potential prime ministers, one involving the leaders of Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, and one also including Ukip and the Greens. The Prime Minister also suggested then that the debates could begin before the formal election campaign. news.stv.tv/politics/295603-nigel-farage-from-ukip-invited-to-tv-debates-but-snp-and-greens-excluded/ June, Annette, Wallace, Amy, Chic, John, Yes Giffnock
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:15:34 +0000
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