I predicted a few days ago that the broadcasters would be tempted, if they thought they could get away with it, to yet again drive a coach and horses through the democratic process by agreeing to Boris Johnson’s demand for TV leaders’ debates that exclude all of the major parties apart from his own and Labour. In my naivety, though, I assumed that once they’d reflected on it, they’d reluctantly accept it would be a dreadful look for them to do that, given the Liberal Democrats have been so close to level-pegging with Labour in recent months. (And if the Liberal Democrats were included, they wouldn’t dare exclude the SNP, who have far more MPs.) But it seems ITV actually have no shame – they’ve announced a debate that will exclude all but two parties, albeit with others charitably allowed to have their say as quasi-pundits commenting on the main event. This sends an unmistakeable message to viewers that two arbitrarily chosen parties should be regarded as the only credible contenders and that all the others are also-rans.
ITV betrays its viewers AGAIN by doing deal with the Tories and Labour to stitch-up the election – and BBC clearly plans to follow suit
There’s clearly a degree of coordination with the BBC in attempting to ‘normalise’ this outrageous decision. An article on the BBC website that reads like a free ITV advert announces the “first head-to-head debate” of the campaign – words that are cynically intended to condition readers into believing that two-way debates are somehow natural in a multi-party democracy, and that it’s also natural to expect more than one during the campaign. No prizes for guessing what the BBC will be doing themselves. Criticism of ITV’s decision is absent from the article – distinctly odd in what is supposedly a ‘news’ report.
No, guys, this ain’t normal, and no amount of spin and deception is ever going to make it look normal. It’s particularly unacceptable in Scotland, one of the constituent nations of the democracy ITV and the BBC nominally serve, and in which neither the Tories nor Labour are the largest party. Doubtless, though, both broadcasters will continue to innocently express bafflement at the ongoing loss of trust in them from Scottish viewers.
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