General Election 2010: BBC poised to hear TV debate appeal, says SNP

Published on Saturday 17 April 2010 20:58

THE BBC is preparing to hear the SNP's appeal against the decision to exclude the Nationalist party from the General Election leaders' debate, it was claimed yesterday.

Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive, said there were strong indications that there will be a hearing with the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, at the end of the month.

The SNP and Welsh Nationalists Plaid Cymru had wanted to be involved in the UK-wide leaders' debates. They claimed their absence from the debates involving Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg meant that Scottish and Welsh viewers were being short-changed when the leaders dealt with issues such as health and education, which are devolved to Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Murrell said the trust had written to SNP leader Alex Salmond and Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, asking for their parties to prepare for a possible hearing between 22 and 27 April.

Murrell added: "The exclusion of the SNP, the party of government in Scotland, from the election leaders' debates is fundamentally undemocratic. We also believe it is a clear breach of the BBC's obligation of impartiality. We also believe that the BBC executive has failed in its duties by excluding the SNP and Plaid Cymru from the negotiations which were held with the other parties over what was clearly a prolonged period."

Before round two of the Prime Ministerial debate on Thursday, the SNP will take part in a televised debate north of the Border.

On Tuesday, STV will host a debate between the parties' "Scottish leaders" at Westminster: Jim Murphy for Labour, Alistair Carmichael for the Lib Dems and David Mundell, the only Tory MP from Scotland. The SNP's leader at Westminster Angus Robertson is expected to represent the Nationalists.