The BBC Trust decision dismissing the appeal by SNP and Plaid Cymru against the refusal by the BBC to allow them to take part in the Leaders’ Debates, is laid out in full on the web and you may access that decision here.
The SNP and Plaid Cymru had appealed the decision of the BBC not to include them on five separate grounds:-
That the Executive were in breach of their duty of impartiality.
That the Executive had unfairly excluded the two national parties from any negotiations about the debates.
That the Executive had breached its editorial independence by allowing the three main parties to tell them how the debates would be conducted.
That the Executive is not providing sufficient coverage for the two national parties in lieu of allowing them to be part of the debate.
That the Executive is misleading the Scottish and Welsh audiences by not including representatives from the two national parties.
The BBC Trust was set up in 2007 to govern the BBC, to set the strategy for the public service broadcasting corporation and to appoint the Director-General. Part of their remit is to guard the political independence of the BBC, and to ensure that the licence payers across the UK get what they pay for. The BBC Trust replaced the old board of governors.
