SALMOND TO PRE-EMPT FIRST LEADERS' DEBATE

SALMOND TO PRE-EMPT FIRST LEADERS' DEBATE

SPECIAL BROADCAST CHALLENGING "COSY WESTMINSTER CONSENSUS"

SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond is to pre-empt the first
leaders' debate of the campaign with a UK-wide election broadcast.

The SNP have replaced a planned party election broadcast - scheduled for
screening just before Thursday's first leaders' debate on ITV - with a
specially recorded address which will take the SNP's alternative message
to the cuts agenda of the London parties into homes across the whole of
the UK.

Mr Salmond will use the broadcast to challenge what he will brand the
"cosy Westminster consensus" on budget cuts which the Labour, Tory and Lib
Dem leaders will all agree on during the ITV debate.

He will say that the broadcasters should have ensured a "real debate, with
all political voices" in order to offer viewers an alternative to the
"Metropolitan machine" politics of the London parties.

Predicting a "long-winded debate about English health, crime and schools",
Mr Salmond will also point out that the debate will be largely irrelevant
to a Scottish audience.

Previewing the party election broadcast, Mr Salmond said:

"Broadcasters sometimes trail their programmes by saying they can be seen
'except for viewers in Scotland'. In the same way, this leaders' debate is
being directed at the electorate - except for viewers in Scotland.

"The so-called domestic issues which will be debated - things like health,
education and policing - are all controlled in Scotland by Holyrood. As
such this discussion will be totally meaningless to viewers in Scotland.

"The broadcasters have ensured Scotland's voice is not being properly
heard in the leaders' debates. But our special party election broadcast
will take our message to people right across the UK. And for those
watching in Scotland, it will let them know there is a real alternative to
the decade of despair threatened by the London parties - and that
alternative is voting SNP on May 6th for local and national champions."


The Party election broadcast will be screened at the following times on
Thursday evening - all before the ITV leaders' debate begins at 8.30pm:

BBC 1 Scotland 18:55
BBC2 Scotland 17:55
STV 18:25
Channel 4: 19:55 (UK-wide)
Channel 5: 19:25 (UK-wide)