The SNP reached its target of raising £50,000 by Monday afternoon in order to fund the court action regarding the BBC election leaders’ debate scheduled for this Thursday evening.
The party has lodged the necessary papers instigating the action at the Court of Session and the legal arguments have been heard by Lady Smith over the course of Tuesday afternoon.
Welcoming the successful fundraising appeal, SNP Depute Leader and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, said:
“This has been an absolutely fantastic response to our appeal, and on behalf of the party I want to thank all of those who have contributed to the fighting fund, however large or small their donation.
“The fact that we have been able to raise this money in a day and a half simply underlines the strength of feeling people across Scotland have on this issue and the BBC’s refusal – despite its clear duties as a national broadcaster – to properly and fairly reflect the political make-up of this country.
“Donations have come in from ordinary Scots who simply share our anger at the way Scotland has been treated by the BBC.
“We will now take our case to the Court of Session where we will argue that basic fairness and democracy should prevail.”
SNP election campaign coordinator Stewart Hosie added:
“This is a truly remarkable achievement in around 31 hours. We have embraced the social media and reached the £50,000 target by securing small donations online from over 1,600 donors.
“This was achieved through a targeted new media insurgency designed to engage, enthuse and mobilise both members and supporters across the web.
“This campaign has demonstrated the agility of the SNP to rapidly adapt and respond to events in this election campaign, by making effective use of new media technologies to get our messages directly to people. This is arguably the most successful online political fundraising campaign in UK political history.”
