Mark Pack

Nick Robinson has reported:

I’m told that Labour has asked the two other big parties to sign a joint letter to broadcasters criticising them for covering the debates and the polls too much and claiming that the news bulletins had “failed to deliver the usual specialist examination of specific policy areas”. The Lib Dems and the Tories have refused to sign. The BBC has yet to receive the letter.

Here’s the party’s official response to the request from Labour:

We have discussed your proposal, however, we do not think that it is appropriate for political parties to seek to dictate the nature of political coverage to broadcasters. We are pleased that because we have set out our policy priorities clearly in our manifesto and included detailed costings, broadcasters and others have been able to analyse our policy and subject it to proper scrutiny and discussion. It might assist coverage if other parties followed suit. We would of course welcome further focus on policy given our clear message, focused priorities and detailed costings.