Mebyon Kernow is calling on the BBC and other broadcasters to allow it to have a 'Party Election Broadcast' for the 2015 general election, calling a rule that they would have to have candidates in 83 seats outside Cornwall 'absurd and undemocratic'.

The Party is presently preparing a detailed response to a BBC consultation on the issue of PEBs.

But the basis of the consultation is "draft criteria" from the Broadcasters’ Liaison Group, which states that, as in previous General Elections, a “political party would qualify for one PEB” if it stands in a “minimum of one sixth of the seats up for election” in one of the “home nations” of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Therefore, in order to be allowed a PEB, Mebyon Kernow would need to stand in a total of 89 seats across “England.”

MK Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole said: “The recommendation, which would deny Mebyon Kernow airtime, is both absurd and undemocratic.

“How can it be fair that MK – a Cornish political party – would need to stand in all six seats within the historic nation of Cornwall, as well as a further 83 seats outside of Cornwall, in order to be allowed a broadcast?

“Mebyon Kernow will continue to argue that genuine “regional” or “national” parties which stand candidates in a majority (or all) of the seats in a particular area be allowed an election broadcast.”