Labour has welcomed the fact that Scottish viewers will be able to watch the prime ministerial debates after the SNP court action was comprehenively rejected by the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
A separate Ofcom ruling has today said that SNP complaints against ITV have also been rejected.
Labour’s Holyrood Leader Iain Gray said:
“This was a desperate attention-seeking stunt by a party who have nothing to say in this election.
“But it ended in humiliating failure for Alex Salmond.
“He must be the only person in Britain who thinks this election is about how many times he appears on television.
“It is about jobs and the economy.
“Last year Alex Salmond refused to a debate with me on St Andrew’s Day and so far he has run away from the chance to take part in a series of TV election debates as they didn’t suit his agenda.”
Labour candidate for Inverclyde David Cairns said:
“This is an absolutely right decision and the court has rejected the SNP bid to have the prime ministerial debate taken off Scottish screens.
“They have wasted tens of thousands of pounds of their supporters’ money and tens of thousands of pounds of license payers’ money.
“They must pay that money back immediately.
“The license payer should not foot the bill for SNP election stunts.
“This action was doomed to fail and I hope this decision finally makes the SNP see sense.
“If they were looking for official confirmation of how ridiculous their argument was on this then they’ve now got it.
“The fact is that these debates are about who will become Prime Minister.
“Alex Salmond has no chance of becoming Prime Minister and isn’t even standing for election.
“Labour is out campaigning meeting real people not hiring lawyers to desperately get on TV.”
