Pro-Brexit Conservatives have lashed out at a planned TV debate on Brexit, due to take place in less than a week’s time.
Conservative Brexit supporters and the Liberal Democrats have written demanding that they are included in the debate, stating that the concept “breaches the concept of impartiality” unless a prominent Brexiteer is also represented. 
Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and other former Cabinet ministers, including Iain Duncan Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg, wrote to the BBC's chairman Sir David Clementi to complain that the Brexit people voted for would be "nowhere represented" in a debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon brands Brexit TV debate "an absolute travesty of democracy"
As reported by the Daily Telegraph, the letter states that a debate between the prime minister and Labour leader would “do nothing to illuminate the real issues at stake” as both were on the same side during the referendum.
It is understood Vince Cable has also written to the heads on BBC, ITV and Sky to argue instead that since May and Corbyn are now both pro-Brexit, excluding him from the debate represents an “egregious imbalance”.
Although a debate looks likely between both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday, December 9, some issues remain including the format, and whether it could instead be broadcast on ITV.
This weekend, the BBC issued a statement on the debate saying: “Our proposal is to broadcast a programme which includes both a head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition and also an opportunity to hear from a wider range of voices.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to warn Theresa May her Brexit deal is "doomed"
“After all, a broad range of views on this issue is held by the public and by Parliamentarians - from those who want a different form of Brexit to those who want another public vote - and we believe that should be reflected in the debate.”
A Downing Street spokesman told the Guardian: “in order to accommodate Jeremy Corbyn's confected demands we’ve moved our preferred day, accommodated the addition of social media questions at Labour’s request, and agreed there should be maximum head-to-head time, while still including voices from employers and civil society in the debate”.
READ MORE: David Mundell to tell banks that Brexit deal offers 'clarity'
The spokesman added: “But if Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t agree to what’s now on the table – a debate on primetime with the prime minister – the public will rightly conclude he’s running scared. So let’s get on with it.”
However, a Labour spokeswoman said May was “running away from the scrutiny of a real head to head debate with Jeremy Corbyn”, as she had in the 2017 election.
“Why else would she not accept ITV’s offer of a straightforward head-to-head debate, as Jeremy has done?” she said. “Instead, her team are playing games and prefer the BBC’s offer, which would provide less debating time and risk a confusing mish-mash for the viewing public.”
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also spoken out about the debate stating that: "If this or any Brexit TV debate goes ahead without all options - including that of remaining in the EU - being included and given a voice, it will be an absolute travesty of democracy."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel