Lib Dem MP: Jo Swinson AND Nigel Farage Should Be Included In ITV Debate
3 November 2019, 07:10 | Updated: 3 November 2019, 07:15
The Liberal Democrat's Brexit Spokesperson, Tom Brake, is calling for Jo Swinson to be included in ITV's debate between Corbyn and Johnson - but thinks Farage might also deserve a place there.
Speaking about the ITV debate, Tom Brake said: "They also have to take into account current support and there have been a number of polls recently where the Liberal Democrats were ahead of the Labour Party.
"So it's it's not clear to me how possibly ITV could have come to the conclusion that it should only be Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn. And of course, as you said in your introductory remarks, that would leave a debate from two people who frankly want Brexit.
Now, given that Brexit is likely to feature fairly promptly in the General Election campaign, it would be bizarre to have two supporters of Brexit battling it out without a voice of Remain."
Clive asked: "If you're basing it on the Euro elections, wouldn't it be logical then that Nigel Farage is in this debate as well?"
He replied: "Quite possibly. Yes, I'm not disputing that. I'm disputing the interpretation that ITV have put on the broadcasting code, which I think clearly says that Jo Swinson has to be in that debate."
Clive said: "The problem is if you include absolutely everybody in every possible party, you end up looking like a bad addition of Fifteen to One, where do you draw the line? How many people are you going to have in a debate?"
Brake replied: "Well, I would turn that round again and point out that ITV have made a decision which says that they have chosen two people for this debate when the Liberal Democrats in some recent polls, in some reason elections, like the European elections, have actually outperformed the Labour Party.
"In the first case and in the second case, both the Conservative and Labour parties. So to say that, for some reason Jo Swinson shouldn't participate, I think is is completely unacceptable.
And if ITV don't shift their position, then it may be that there's other other action that we'll have to consider taking."
