
The Liberal Democrats and the SNP will not appear in the first televised debate of the 2019 general election after losing a High Court battle against ITV.
Both parties challenged the decision to only include Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn in a head-to-head debate on Tuesday night – with the Liberal Democrats arguing in court that the “voice of remain had been excluded” from the event.
The Lib Dems have campaigned for inclusion since the debate was first announced – party members and supporters used the hashtag ‘#DebateHer’ to goad Mr Corbyn and Mr Johnson into inviting Jo Swinson to argue her case.
However, two senior judges have said the decision fell outside of the courts’ jurisdiction and that the parties would be better off complaining to broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Warby, said that, even if the court did have jurisdiction to deal with the case, the format of the debates was a matter of “editorial judgment” and there was “no arguable breach of the broadcasting code”.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a tug boat in the port of Bristol
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Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson (left) during a visit to the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Temple in Glasgow
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meets Colin and his mother after a speech at the University of Lancaster
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Scottish Nationalist Party leader Nicola Sturgeon meets voters and activists at Cafe Roma in Clarkston, Glasgow
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Protestors participate in an anti-Boris Johnson rally in his constituency Uxbridge, west London
AFP via Getty Images
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage looks out from a window on the Kestrel crabbing boat in Grimsby fish dock
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Jo Swinson helps chef Leonardo Mastofilippo to make pizza during a campaign visit to cafe Amisha in South Bermonsey
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) ladies during a visit to Birkenshaw Sports Barn in Uddingston
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Boris Johnson at the unveiling of the Conservative Party battlebus in Middleton, Greater Manchester
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Nicola Sturgeon sits alongside Cycling Without Age user Cyril Corcoran (centre), aged 78, in an electric tricycle during a visit to Hawick, in the Scottish Borders
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Nigel Farage holds a fish during a stop at the Grimsby Seafood Village
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Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson in the boxing ring at Total Boxer, a specialised boxing gym which offers training to young people as a means of keeping them away from violence, in Crouch End, London
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Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts as he participates in a school art lesson, making a clay figure at George Spencer Academy, west of Nottingham
AFP via Getty
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Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to the Heart of Scotstoun Community Centre in Glasgow
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Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon visits the Cafe Gelato in Rutherglen, Glasgow
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The Green Party launch in Bristol
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Farage enjoys some chips at the start of a nationwide tour for the 2019 general election, in Whitehaven
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveils the Labour battle bus in Liverpool
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Boris Johnson reacts as he talks with workers whilst weighing packaged tea bags at the Tetley Tea Factory in Stockton-on-Tees
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on the campaign trail in Whitehaven, where he was confronted by Karl Connor
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Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson speaks to volunteer Rosie Squires in the Stainforth 4 All charity shop during a visit to Stainforth in South Yorkshire to meet people affected by flooding
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Nicola Sturgeon poses with candidates during the SNP general election campaign launch in Edinburgh
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Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn with Laura McAlpine, the party’s candidate for Harlow
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Anti-Boris Johnson protesters demonstrate outside the hall where the Conservative Party were launching their campaign in Birmingham
EPA
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Green Party Co-Leader Sian Berry (left), Deputy Leader and Parliamentary Candidate for Newport West Amelia Womack (right), and Bristol West Candidate Carla Denyer (centre) at the launch of the party’s general election manifesto in Bristol
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The PM tastes whisky during a visit to Diageo’s Roseisle Distillery near Elgin, Scotland
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Nigel Farage poses with boxer Dereck Chisora during a visit to a boxing gym in Ilford
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Jo Swinson visits a science class at Hinchley Wood School near Esher
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a guitar as she visits Dalkeith Community Hub
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A man heckles as Jeremy Corbyn gives a speech at the Senior Citizens Hall in Macclesfield
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Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn visits residents affected by flooding in Conisbrough
Reuters
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Boris Johnson gestures as he helps quality control staff during a visit to the Tayto Castle crisp factory in County Armagh, Northern Ireland
AFP via Getty
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The Lib Dem leader eats a marshmallow during a visit to Free Rangers Nursery in Midsomer Norton, Somerset
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Nigel Farage visits a butcher’s shop in Sutton-in-Ashfield
Reuters
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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon visits Blosson Tree children’s nursery
AFP via Getty
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Jeremy Corbyn laughs during a visit to the Scrap Creative Reuse Arts Project, Sunny Bank Mills
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson hold Rosie the rabbit during a visit to a primary school while on the campaign trail in Taunton
AFP via Getty
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Jo Swinson playing with children at the Battersea Arts Centre in Lavender Hill
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Farage addresses supporters at the Washington Central Hotel in Workington
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Jeremy Corbyn poses with Labour activists as they canvas in Govan, Glasgow
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Nicola Sturgeon during a visit to The Shed, a Climate Challenge community project at North Edinburgh Arts
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets six month old Willow Rose Anderson, at the Lych Gate Tavern in Wolverhampton
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Jo Swinson holds up a sack of barley during a visit to Crafty Maltsters Scotland
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Jeremy Corbyn tries a scone in Bentley, Doncaster
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Nigel Farage takes a mouthful of homemade cheesecake during a stop at the Grimsby Seafood Village
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Boris Johnson hauling a consignment of frozen chocolate gateaux, during a visit to Iceland Foods HQ in Deeside
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Jo Swinson puts on a high visibility jacket during a visit to Sigma Pharmaceuticals, a family run pharmaceutical wholesaler in Watford
AFP via Getty
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a tug boat in the port of Bristol
PA
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Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson (left) during a visit to the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Temple in Glasgow
PA
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meets Colin and his mother after a speech at the University of Lancaster
Getty Images
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Scottish Nationalist Party leader Nicola Sturgeon meets voters and activists at Cafe Roma in Clarkston, Glasgow
AFP via Getty Images
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Protestors participate in an anti-Boris Johnson rally in his constituency Uxbridge, west London
AFP via Getty Images
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage looks out from a window on the Kestrel crabbing boat in Grimsby fish dock
PA
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Jo Swinson helps chef Leonardo Mastofilippo to make pizza during a campaign visit to cafe Amisha in South Bermonsey
EPA
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) ladies during a visit to Birkenshaw Sports Barn in Uddingston
EPA
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Boris Johnson at the unveiling of the Conservative Party battlebus in Middleton, Greater Manchester
PA
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Nicola Sturgeon sits alongside Cycling Without Age user Cyril Corcoran (centre), aged 78, in an electric tricycle during a visit to Hawick, in the Scottish Borders
PA
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Nigel Farage holds a fish during a stop at the Grimsby Seafood Village
PA
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Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson in the boxing ring at Total Boxer, a specialised boxing gym which offers training to young people as a means of keeping them away from violence, in Crouch End, London
PA
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Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts as he participates in a school art lesson, making a clay figure at George Spencer Academy, west of Nottingham
AFP via Getty
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Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to the Heart of Scotstoun Community Centre in Glasgow
PA
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Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon visits the Cafe Gelato in Rutherglen, Glasgow
EPA
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The Green Party launch in Bristol
PA
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Farage enjoys some chips at the start of a nationwide tour for the 2019 general election, in Whitehaven
AFP/Getty
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveils the Labour battle bus in Liverpool
PA
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Boris Johnson reacts as he talks with workers whilst weighing packaged tea bags at the Tetley Tea Factory in Stockton-on-Tees
AFP/Getty
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on the campaign trail in Whitehaven, where he was confronted by Karl Connor
PA
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Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson speaks to volunteer Rosie Squires in the Stainforth 4 All charity shop during a visit to Stainforth in South Yorkshire to meet people affected by flooding
PA
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Nicola Sturgeon poses with candidates during the SNP general election campaign launch in Edinburgh
Reuters
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Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn with Laura McAlpine, the party’s candidate for Harlow
PA
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Anti-Boris Johnson protesters demonstrate outside the hall where the Conservative Party were launching their campaign in Birmingham
EPA
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Green Party Co-Leader Sian Berry (left), Deputy Leader and Parliamentary Candidate for Newport West Amelia Womack (right), and Bristol West Candidate Carla Denyer (centre) at the launch of the party’s general election manifesto in Bristol
PA
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The PM tastes whisky during a visit to Diageo’s Roseisle Distillery near Elgin, Scotland
Reuters
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Nigel Farage poses with boxer Dereck Chisora during a visit to a boxing gym in Ilford
Reuters
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Jo Swinson visits a science class at Hinchley Wood School near Esher
Reuters
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a guitar as she visits Dalkeith Community Hub
Getty
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A man heckles as Jeremy Corbyn gives a speech at the Senior Citizens Hall in Macclesfield
Getty
31/47
Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn visits residents affected by flooding in Conisbrough
Reuters
32/47
Boris Johnson gestures as he helps quality control staff during a visit to the Tayto Castle crisp factory in County Armagh, Northern Ireland
AFP via Getty
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The Lib Dem leader eats a marshmallow during a visit to Free Rangers Nursery in Midsomer Norton, Somerset
PA
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Nigel Farage visits a butcher’s shop in Sutton-in-Ashfield
Reuters
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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon visits Blosson Tree children’s nursery
AFP via Getty
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Jeremy Corbyn laughs during a visit to the Scrap Creative Reuse Arts Project, Sunny Bank Mills
Getty
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson hold Rosie the rabbit during a visit to a primary school while on the campaign trail in Taunton
AFP via Getty
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Jo Swinson playing with children at the Battersea Arts Centre in Lavender Hill
PA
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Farage addresses supporters at the Washington Central Hotel in Workington
PA
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Jeremy Corbyn poses with Labour activists as they canvas in Govan, Glasgow
PA
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Nicola Sturgeon during a visit to The Shed, a Climate Challenge community project at North Edinburgh Arts
PA
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets six month old Willow Rose Anderson, at the Lych Gate Tavern in Wolverhampton
PA
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Jo Swinson holds up a sack of barley during a visit to Crafty Maltsters Scotland
Getty
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Jeremy Corbyn tries a scone in Bentley, Doncaster
PA
45/47
Nigel Farage takes a mouthful of homemade cheesecake during a stop at the Grimsby Seafood Village
PA
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Boris Johnson hauling a consignment of frozen chocolate gateaux, during a visit to Iceland Foods HQ in Deeside
PA
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Jo Swinson puts on a high visibility jacket during a visit to Sigma Pharmaceuticals, a family run pharmaceutical wholesaler in Watford
AFP via Getty
He added: “The clear conclusion of both members of this court is that, viewed overall, these claims are not realistically arguable.
“It follows that the television debate scheduled for tomorrow evening between the leader of the Conservative Party and the leader of the Labour Party may lawfully go ahead.”
ITV lawyers had already threatened to cancel the debate if the SNP and the Liberal Democrats won their case.
A spokesperson said: “We welcome the court’s decision and will continue with our comprehensive election coverage as planned.”
Lib Dem candidate Layla Moran said it was “outrageous” that no outwardly anti-Brexit party would be present in the debate, adding on Twitter: “It’s simply wrong of broadcasters to present a binary choice and pre-empt the decision of the people in a general election.”
The party vowed to take the matter into future legislation, arguing that such debates should not be left purely to the whim of broadcasters.
Liberal Democrat president Sal Brinton said: “Televised debates between political party leaders should be framed in stronger legislation.
“But more than that, our democracy should not be in the hands of invisible corporate structures, and arrangements for such debates should always be accessible and transparent.
“We will not set our principles aside, we will continue this fight. Not just for this general election, but for our future democracy too.”
The SNP’s leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, added: “It was already clear that the Westminster political system is utterly broken and incapable of properly representing Scotland’s interests.
“What is now clear is that the UK broadcasting system is similarly incapable. The result of the decision to exclude the SNP is to discriminate against Scottish voters and to effectively treat them as second-class citizens.”
Additional reporting by PA.
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