IF you want to get yourself favoured by the BBC’s political programme editors then it appears that all you have to do is form a new party or split up an existing one.

For despite being the third largest party in the House of Commons, the SNP had to play third fiddle to the Brexit Party and the Change UK/The Independent Group when it came to guest appearances on BBC political shows during the month of May, which, lest we forget, was an election month and therefore covered by the rules set by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

How can it be possible that the new kids on the block got equal or more guest appearances than the SNP?

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There were other happenings during the month which the BBC will no doubt argue skewed their political coverage such as resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May, but did the Tories really deserve to have nearly as many appearances on five political programmes than all the other parties combined?

Some readers may ask why is the SNP complaining about the lack of fair coverage.

The answer can be found in the Corporation’s approach to the coverage of the 2014 Independence referendum.

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For whatever reason, the BBC and other broadcasters concluded that the normal rules on fair coverage did not apply as it wasn’t an election.

Senior SNP and Yes movement leaders are determined that there will be no repeat of that situation when the second referendum takes place.

The “due weight” rules of Ofcom must be followed by all broadcasters during the referendum run-up.