Campaign: I want my £145 back - round two

Here is the (stock~) email response I received from the BBC a regards my complaint over the PM Debacle. Needless to say (but I will anyway) we now move on to the courts;

BBC Complaints - Case number 85931‏

Dear Andrew

Reference 85931

Thanks for your e-mail regarding the Prime Ministerial Debates.

I understand that you were unhappy the SNP and Green parties didn’t take part in these debates.

Televised debates between those party leaders who aspire to be Prime Minister of the UK had never taken place before, despite some evidence that the electorate would welcome such a development. The BBC - along with ITV and Sky - put forward proposals aimed at establishing in principle that such debates would take place during the recent General Election campaign for the Westminster Parliament.

It was announced on December 21st that the three largest parties at Westminster had agreed, in principle, to the broadcasters’ proposal.

The broadcasters also made it clear that each - individually - would put forward additional proposals to ensure due impartiality across the UK. The BBC also held election debates between the largest parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

You can read more in the following blog by the BBC's Chief Adviser, Politics, Ric Bailey:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2010/03/prime_ministerial_debates.html

Further information on the Prime Ministerial debates and the leaders debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is also available on the BBC Press Office website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/02/debates.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/02/debates2.shtml

For all other parties, the BBC brought forward proposals to ensure that there were opportunities for their views to be given appropriate coverage in the context of the UK-wide debate.

The basis on which judgements are made about relative levels of coverage rests on past and current electoral support. For the election to the House of Commons in 2010, the starting point is the last General Election, in 2005.

The Green Party received around 1% of the vote at the last general election, winning no representation. It polled around 8% of the vote in the European election in 2009, securing two seats in the European Parliament, around the same level as the 2004 European election. There is no evidence that the party’s level of support in European elections is any more likely to carry over to a Westminster first-past-the-post election than was the case between 2004 and 2005. In all elections, the Green Party is significantly behind the three largest parties.

For the Westminster Parliament, that context is the aspiration to form a government and to become Prime Minister. The Scottish National Party, fielding candidates in only one part of the UK, do not aspire to win a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. The party leader does not aspire to be Prime Minister of the UK.

On the basis of the 2005 General Election, the number of seats held by the SNP is a fraction of those held by the Liberal Democrats.

It is entirely appropriate and consistent, therefore, for the BBC's Prime Ministerial debate to have included the three largest UK-wide parties. Other parties, including the SNP, were given the opportunity for their views to receive appropriate coverage, both in national debates in Scotland and Wales and additional coverage across the BBC in response to the UK-wide debate.

Nevertheless, I appreciate that you may continue to disagree and as we’re guided by the feedback that we receive, I'd like to assure you that I've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, programme makers, channel controllers and other senior managers.

The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

Craig Thompson