TV election debates to exclude angry SNP

Published on Friday 2 October 2009 22:05

THE BBC, ITV and Sky have come together to mount a historic joint bid to stage three live TV debates with the main UK party leaders ahead of next year's general election.

But the plans were heading for a legal quagmire last night as it emerged they planned to screen the debates across the UK but without offering a platform for the national parties of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The three broadcasters have written to the leaders of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, with a new proposal under which each would stage a debate during the next election campaign.

The proposal for a TV debate was made initially only by Sky, but the satellite channel has now agreed to involve its two terrestrial rivals to try to strengthen the case for a debate.

While both Conservative leader David Cameron and the Lib Dems' Nick Clegg have both said they will agree to a debate, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has so far refused to say whether or not he will take part.

If he does, it would transform UK election campaigns, with the three debates likely to become the key dates in the run-up to polling day, as they are in the United States.

The broadcasters plans to show the debates live at peak time, guaranteeing an audience in the millions.

However, there were growing question marks last night as to whether they would meet strict rules on broadcasting impartiality, as the SNP warned it would be "totally unacceptable" to screen a broadcast in Scotland that would not include their party.

The SNP points out that if the debates were shown in Scotland, with only their opponents' views on offer, the broadcasters would almost certainly be breaking strict rules on impartiality that govern their coverage in the run-up to elections.