Commenting on the latest statement from the BBC and ITV about the 2015 General Election leaders’ debates, Simon Barrow, co-director of the polit
Commenting on the latest statement from the BBC and ITV about the 2015 General Election leaders’ debates, Simon Barrow, co-director of the politics and beliefs think-tank Ekklesia, which proposed multi-party debates and a civil society one on network TV, said:
“Thinking is clearly shifting within the major network broadcasters about the changing nature of politics across the nations of Britain and Ireland, the issue of a more participatory approach to democracy, the question of parties or leaders as the focus, and the facilitative role of network broadcasters in a multi-platform media environment.
“However you vote, it is helpful that the iron grip of so-galled ‘major parties’, buttressed by an non-proprtional voting system for Westminster, is being loosened, But there is still a long way to go.
“Whatever network television debates occur in 2015, it is surely a staging post to further reform and change.
“Politics needs to be about people, not vested interests, and a plural media – and not least a public service broadcaster – needs to reflect that, so that the spectrum of beliefs, policies and values are heard.”
* Ekklesia’s position: Broadening the General Election television debates: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/21296
* More on 2015 General Election issues and discussion from Ekklesia here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/generalelection2015