A promise that the BBC Trust will next week launch a public consultation on the proposed guidelines for the TV debates has been described as a welcome step today. With two opinion polls this week showing substantially increased support for the SNP ahead of the coming Westminster election and membership of the SNP surging to make the party the third biggest in the UK, pressure has been mounting on broadcasters to alter their proposals to include the SNP in TV debates.
In response to continued criticism of the proposal to exclude the SNP from televised leaders’ debates, a spokesperson for the BBC is reported to have said "opinion polls are part of that evidence whereby we take account of consistent and robust trends across different polls over time, rather than reacting to individual polls. We have also said that we will continue to look at any further evidence of changes in electoral support as we get closer to the election campaign. The BBC Trust will be launching a public consultation on the relevant guidelines next week."
Commenting, SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell said: "With the SNP now the third largest party in the UK by some considerable distance and two opinion polls this week showing a surge in support, it would be utterly unacceptable for the broadcasters to exclude the SNP from coming TV debates. The announcement that the BBC Trust is to launch a public consultation on this issue is a welcome one. It will give people the opportunity to make their views known to the BBC and I have no doubt that there will be extensive backing for including the SNP in these debates. Broadcasters have a duty to be impartial in their election coverage and it would be a gross failure in those democratic duties if the SNP were excluded."
