Ballot Box

The Scottish National Party have not ruled out court action in their bid to participate in next year’s pre-election TV debates.

The party leader, Alex Salmond (who is a Member of Parliament at both Westminster and Holyrood) has reportedly made a Freedom of Information request to discover how television broadcasters reached a deal on party leaders’ debates in the run up to the 2010 (UK) General Election.

The BBC, ITV and Sky have agreed on a format and number of debates prior to the election which will feature Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.  Alex Salmond (who will be standing down from his Westminster seat at the next election) will not be featured.  It is thought that there may be a Scottish party leaders debate, which would feature the SNP, as well as similar programming in Wales and Northern Ireland.

As covered previously on this blog, UK broadcasting laws require that in any political broadcast aired in Scotland, all “major parties” are treated on an equal basis.  OFCOM guidelines define the SNP as a “major party” in Scotland – along with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party.

Scottish courts have previously blocked broadcasts which breach the rules on impartiality during election campaigns, so the SNP leadership may fancy their chances.  However, while still threatening legal action to ensure a slice of the main debate, the SNP are to hold discussions with the broadcasters to discuss possible formats which would allow an appropriate input. One suggestion is that Mr Salmond could be included in a post-debate studio discussion (which would be broadcast only in Scotland).

Tags: courts