Letter To Broadcasters - Full Text
We are extremely disappointed at the joint proposal that broadcasters unveiled on Monday of this week. We believe that there is a strong case for a Green representative to be included in the line-up and would ask you to reconsider your proposals.
Since the announcement on Monday morning we have been overwhelmed by the thousands of messages of support we have received, going far beyond Green supporters. You will have noticed the petitions which have also been started and within days have attracted tends of thousands of signatures. Dozens of political commentators and even the Prime Minister have called for the Greens to be included, particularly if if the same opportunity is afforded to UKIP as is currently proposed.
Just four days after the election of a UKIP MP they have been brought in to the fold for the TV debates and yet, four years after the election of Caroline Lucas, the UK’s first Green MP an invitation has not been forthcoming. It is clear that any reasonable criteria for inclusion which would be met by UKIP would also be met by the Greens.
In England, Wales and Scotland the Greens received 150,000 more votes than the Liberal Democrats in the 2014 European Elections and won three times as many seats as them.[1] In General Election opinion polls the Greens are neck-and-neck with the junior Coalition partners.[2]
Despite our comparative lack of airtime our policies are consistently popular with the public. We have a 5% lead over second-placed Labour when people Vote for Policies[3]; 64% of the public back our plan to turn the minimum wage into a living wage[4] and 66% support building more social housing.[5]
There is clear public support for including the Green Party in the Leaders’ Debates – from people who would never vote Green.[6] Regardless of their politics most people have a strong sense of what is right and fair. Excluding the Green Party is both wrong and unjust.
We request an urgent meeting with you to make our case for inclusion. We have already sought legal advice should we be unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion though we are hopeful that it will not be necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Patrick Harvie MSP & Cllr Maggie Chapman
Co-convenors, Scottish Green Party
Media Enquiries: 07500 792 995
[1] BBC, Vote 2014: UK European election results: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/vote2014/eu-uk-results
[2] The Independent, 28 July 2014: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/poll-labour-set-to-win-the-election--but-people-still-dont-like-ed-miliband-9634140.html; The Ashcroft National Poll, 24 June 2014: http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ANP-140623-Full-tables.pdf; UK polling report, 16 June 2014: http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/8897
[3] Vote for Policies website: http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/
[4] YouGov, 23 October 2013: http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/10/23/londoners-living-wage-legally-required/
[5] YouGov, 10 April 2014: http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/04/10/londoners-blame-rich-foreigners-housing-boom/
[6] Change.org: Include the Green Party in the TV Leaders' Debates ahead of the 2015 General Election: http://www.change.org/p/bbc-itv-channel-4-sky-include-the-green-party-in-the-tv-leaders-debates-ahead-of-the-2015-general-election