THE SNP have lodged an official complaint with Ofcom over the car-crash Jeremy Vine show discussion on Scottish independence.

It comes after Channel 5 ignored and failed to reply to emails from the party raising concerns.

The June 25 broadcast of Jeremy Vine On 5 saw host Vine, co-host Storm Huntley and guests Paul Burrell, Nicola McLean and Carole Malone respond to a newspaper report on Gordon Brown saying Boris Johnson being prime minister would boost Scottish independence.

Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, suggested Scotland would not be able to survive on its own, having only “oil and a monster in a lake”.

Malone also incorrectly claimed that polling suggested support for the Union is higher now than at the time of the referendum.

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In their complaint, the SNP say the broadcast was in breach of sections 5.7 and 5.9 Ofcom’s broadcasting code, citing the lack of impartiality and Vine’s insistence in continuing the discussion despite a lack of a pro-independence voice.

Explaining the SNP’s decision to lodge an official complaint, Hannah Bardell MP, the SNP’s media spokesperson at Westminster, said: “This was one of the most inaccurate discussions about Scotland and independence ever broadcast on network television.

“That’s saying something given the level of nonsense Scottish audiences witnessed in the run up to 2014.

“We’ll continue to work with journalists, editors and, where necessary as in this case, broadcasting regulators to make sure Scotland’s voice is heard – they are duty bound to ensure their programmes have due accuracy and due impartiality, not serve up guff like this.

“Ultimately the broadcasters are only harming themselves with embarrassing low-level output like this from Channel 5 – which will only make Scottish audiences switch over.”

Asked for comment on the referral to Ofcom, a spokesperson for Channel 5 said: “We regularly cover questions around Scottish independence on our daily current affairs programme, reflecting a broad range of opinions and voices.

READ: Transcript of what was said in THAT Jeremy Vine episode about Scotland

“The comments expressed by the contributors in the programme reflect their personal viewpoints, not those of the channel.”

The June 25 episode of Vine’s show sparked a fierce backlash from Scots on social media over the lack of balance and inaccuracies.

Starting the discussion on the Vine show, Burrell said, incorrectly, that Nicola Sturgeon would “love” to read a report saying Scotland will have devolution – not realising this is already the case.

After the panellists suggest “oil, a monster in a lake” and “Irn-Bru” are all Scotland has, Scottish co-host Huntley tries to mention exports from the country – but Vine cuts her off, saying: “I’m not going to bring you in on this as I know you’re impartial.”

He asks an audience member if Scotland could survive on its own, with a reply of “no”.

Huntley warns that the show is entering a “danger zone”, but Vine says: “It’s not a danger zone, it needs to be discussed.”

A discussion on whether Johnson was a threat to the Union was held on the show yesterday. It featured Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood but no SNP politicians.

Vine read extracts from a list of Scottish assets which had been provided to him by SNP MP Drew Hendry as a counter to comments in the previous week’s show.