Greens demand rethink over TV debate exclusion
OVER 150,000 people have signed a Change.org petition (1) in the last 36 hours alone calling for the broadcasters to include a Green representative in the TV Leaders' Debates ahead of the 2015 General Election.
At some points yesterday the petition, which spread like wildfire on social media, was receiving 7,200 signatures an hour, 120 a minute on average, and more than two a second.
The Scottish Green Party have today joined with the Green Party of England and Wales in writing to the four broadcasters organising the debates, requesting that the decision to exclude the Greens be reconsidered and that a meeting be held between the parties and the broadcasters to discuss the issue(2). Legal advice has been sought if the broadcasters are not forthcoming in this regard.
Patrick Harvie MSP, co-convenor of the Scottish Greens said:
"These proposed debates fail a public who are clearly eager to enter an era of multi-party politics across the UK. To wait until just four days after UKIP elects their first MP before inviting them in whilst ignoring the Greens who have had an MP for four years is scandalous.
With UKIP presenting a hyped-up version of the same Westminster politics it is only right that a party offering a genuine alternative and with demonstrable support is allowed for our voice to be heard. Whether it’s renationalising the railways or raising the minimum wage to a Living Wage, Green policies are popular across the UK.
This popularity can be demonstrated by recent polling putting us neck and neck with the Liberal Democrats at Westminster and comfortably ahead at Holyrood. Indeed in this May’s elections Greens beat the Liberal Democrats by over 150,000 votes across the UK.”
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For more information please contact ross.greer@scottishgreens.org.uk/07500 792 995
For more information about Change.Org please contact Nadia@change.org
2 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/15/green-party-ultimatum-tv-debates-exclusion
Full text of SGP letter - http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/news/letter-to-broadcasters-full-text/
Full text of GPEW letter - http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/10/15/leaders-debates-letter-from-the-green-party-to-the-broadcasters-(full-text)/