Statement by TUV East Belfast candidateJohn Ross:
“The poll published in today’s Belfast Telegraph demonstrates that in spite of TUV being marginalised during the campaign by broadcasters our support is solid. I believe that it actually underestimates the scale of the TUV surge. I look forward to all the famous “commentators” who are in and out of studios to talk us down having to eat some humble pie in a week’s time.
“That said, there remain serious efforts to suppress the TUV message, the most blatant of which is our exclusion from the BBC and UTV leaders’ debates. TUV have protested this most strongly but our appeals have fallen on deaf ears.
“In 2017 the Alliance Party were included in the debates in spite of the fact that they obtained just 7.7% of the vote in the previous Assembly election. TUV has constantly polled higher than this in recent polls, including the one published this morning which puts us on 9% and within the margin of error of overtaking the SDLP.
“Why were Alliance good enough for inclusion when polling less than TUV currently while we are excluded?
“The Unionist people will hear the TUV message loud and clear in spite of the efforts of the BBC and UTV. In the age of social media they no longer have the influence they once had. It is, nonetheless, telling that they seek to silence a major voice within the Unionist community while they were quite happy to give Alliance a platform when they were polling less than TUV. Many will conclude that this tells then all they need to know about the way in which the broadcast media have covered this election.
“In excluding TUV from the leaders’ debates broadcasters are, Canute like, seeking to stop the tide. They, like he, will fail.”