The Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow has claimed it would be “absurd and undemocratic” for it to be denied a party political broadcast during the election campaign.
MK is arguing that because it is fielding candidates in all six seats in the “historic nation of Cornwall”, it ought to qualify for airtime.
Draft criteria from the BBC Trust state that a political party would qualify for one party election broadcast if it stood in at least one-sixth of the seats up for election in one of the home nations. This equates to 89 seats in England, 10 in Scotland, seven in Wales and three in Northern Ireland.
The MK leader, Dick Cole, said: “How can it be fair that MK, a Cornish political party, would need to stand in all six seats within Cornwall, as well as a further 83 seats outside of Cornwall, in order to be allowed a broadcast? By contrast, the recommendation would mean that political parties in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales would only have to stand in three, 10 and seven seats respectively.”
In a letter to the BBC Trust, Cole said genuine regional or national parties, which stand candidates in most (or all) of the seats in a region or nation – including Cornwall – should be allowed a broadcast.
MK was founded in 1951 and has contested local elections since 1965 and parliamentary elections since 1970. It has never had an MP but has four councillors, including Cole, on Cornwall council.
It argues that Cornwall is one of the four nations inhabiting the British mainland and should have the same right to self-determination as England, Scotland and Wales. It is campaigning for the creation of a national assembly for Cornwall.
The BBC Trust’s consultation on the criteria ended on Monday.
