THE BBC’s flagship political shows massively snubbed the SNP in favour of the Brexit Party in the days prior to election regulation kicking in.
Ofcom’s rules ensuring fairness during the period up to the December 12 General Election entered into force on Wednesday last week.
However, the broadcaster was accused of having a “tedious obsession” as it packed in appearances from the Brexit Party from Friday last week up until Tuesday.
It came as the BBC once again got the SNP’s full name wrong in its coverage.
Research by The National revealed that over a three-day period on Politics Live and Newsnight – with neither airing on the weekend – there were a total of four Brexit Party appearances.
That included one appearance by party leader Nigel Farage on the same Politics Live episode as his MEP Belinda de Lucy.
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Their tally was taken to five when Farage also appeared on the Marr show on Sunday.
Not a single SNP politician was given a slot on these shows in the pre-regulated period in November.
The Tories, meanwhile, scored seven appearances, and the Labour Party 10. Despite having fewer MPs and party members than the SNP, the LibDems were given three slots.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price was the only representative of his party over the timeframe we measured.
Tommy Sheppard, the SNP’s candidate for Edinburgh East, said: “While the BBC sees fit to side-line the SNP, it has been issuing a slew of invites to the Brexit Party this month. The BBC has a tedious obsession with Nigel Farage.
“Only in the Brexit-centric, Westminster-centric world of the BBC does a party struggling to maintain support in double figures do so well.”
The National also caught the BBC again giving the wrong name for the SNP. A story on its website read: “The Scottish Nationalist Party has attacked the Conservative Party after a claim by the I newspaper it will drop its pledge to cut tuition fees.”
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The Scottish National Party, as they are actually titled, accused the BBC of “basic errors” earlier this week after presenter Clive Myrie made the same error in naming them during an evening news bulletin.
After this most recent mistake, an SNP source told us: “What an embarrassment – the BBC needs to get a grip.”
Ofcom regulations require parties to be given “due weight” during the election period, with heavier weighting given to past electoral performances than recent opinion polling.
The Brexit Party have yet to stand in a General Election, though finished with the highest share of the overall UK vote in the European Election this year.
The SNP’s share of the vote in Scotland was higher than the figure reached by Farage’s party overall, however, and they sent back the most MPs to Westminster of parties north of the Border in the last election.
The use of former Tory advisers to conceal the number of party representatives appearing on BBC shows sparked criticism from the SNP last month.
Ex-Tory adviser Salma Shah was one of 11 guests not formally representing a political party who appeared over the period covered.
Anne Milton, who will stand as an independent MP after losing the Tory whip over her opposition to a No-Deal Brexit, also featured.
The SNP have appeared on the BBC since the Ofcom regulations kicked into force, with SNP MSP Humza Yousaf on the most recent episode of Question Time, in Glasgow.
A BBC spokesman said: “Counting appearances over a limited period and lumping different programmes together indiscriminately is not a measure of impartiality. It creates a crude and distorted picture without taking into consideration the wider news agenda.
“Our coverage of the SNP has been appropriate and includes appearances across our main political programmes.”
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