Ukip Writes To BBC, ITV & Sky

Iain Dale reports an 'Exclusive' which contains a copy of the letter Lord Pearson has written to the three broadcasters mentioned above.

A few points arise from Iain Dale's post:

He states that Ukip do not have an MP and that he believes that is a prime requisite to take part in the proposed 'debates'. Iain, at the time the debates take place which presumably will be during the short election period, no party will have an MP, Parliament having been disolved.

He also states that a prime requisite for inclusion in the 'debates' is having a candidate standing in every, or virtually every, constituency. One wonders what his definition of 'virtually' would be and if he has a minimum number of candidates in mind - 500? In which case Ukip would qualify, come the election period.

He also raises the question whether, if Ukip are allowed to take part, the Greens, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the BNP should also be allowed 'air time'. Why not Iain? They are, when all is said and done, legally formed political parties standing for election.

He continues with the argument that any party taking part in the televised debates must have a chance of forming a government. Iain, did the Labour Party stand a chance of forming the next government the first time they put forward candidates?

The basic objection to Iain Dale's, dare one say 'sneering dismissal' of Lord Pearson's letter, is a belief which seems shared by the three main political parties. That belief is that only the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have the 'God-Given' right to take part in any televised debate. Those three parties, along with the self-appointed King Queen of the Blogosphere, seem to forget that at the last nation-wide election held those parties with a policy of withdrawal from the EU polled more votes than the party that polled the most individual votes, namely the Conservative Party. It also seems to have been forgotten that at the last election there were many 'one-off' candidates - in fact one who campaigned on one local issue, that of the closure of his local hospital and he got elected! Why should that candidate, for example, not have 'air time'? The three main parties, along with Iain Dale, are not the only ones to take this attitude that only the three main parties matter. The MSM is just as guilty in this respect!

Oh what a Pandora's Box has been opened by the three main TV broadcasters, who obviously did not think through this 'ground-breaking' election spectacle! 

Well boys, you opened the bloody box - now you sort it out and sort it out fairly!


Update/Afterthought: One of comments on Iain Dale's post (Cassandra), which is worth repeating in full:

"The big three trying to hog the MSM for themselves trying to carve up the electorate between themselves and freezing out the small parties?

Hmmmm! Now why would that be in the interests of the big three I wonder? Lets suppose that despite the obviously rigged and faked polls doing the rounds the electorate is turning in increasing numbers to the smaller parties in desperation because the big three are deaf dumb and blind to the plight of the ordinary voter.

The differences between the big three are now so slight and marginal on the big issues, they feel able to promise the earth and then fail to deliver, they all feel that the national interest lie within the new EU superstate whether the public like it or not, all of them are wedded to the idea of man made global warming doom and the insane witch hunt against a harmless trace gas called CO2 which is costing us dear and they have become so used to the trilateral monopoly on Westminster that if they became aware that the voter might just break that monopoly the big three could be very tempted to stage this media circus to encourage the proles to vote for any of the big three.

What we have is a detached political parasite elite so used to the trappings of power that they feel able to ignore the wishes of the electorate, after all if any of the three gets in things will pretty much stay the same, the status quo remains and the big three carry on as before.

People are fed up with being treated like serfs to be used and ordered around like drones, the political classes are finding out an uncomfortable truth, taking the electorate for granted is a mistake. The biggest terror for the big three would be to lose their stranglehold on Westminster."