STV has defended its decision to snub the Scottish Greens from next week’s televised hustings.

The broadcaster is due to the host first TV debate of the campaign on Monday, with the leaders of the SNP, the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib Dems all taking part.

Despite being the third biggest party at Holyrood, the Greens have not been invited.

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MSP Ross Greer described the decision as “outrageous.”

He said the Scottish Greens had been "one of the five major parties in this country for more than 20 years.”

The party's executive committee - which Mr Greer co-chairs - wrote to STV chief executive Simon Pitts demanding he include the party in the debate.

“Scotland has five mainstream political parties, all of whom have continuously held representation at national and local level in our country for decades,” the letter said.

“One of those parties is, of course, the Scottish Greens, so we are left perplexed by STV’s decision to exclude us from the centrepiece of your election campaign coverage.

“More people across Scotland will have the opportunity to vote for a Scottish Greens candidate this year than at any previous Westminster election.

“Therefore, the majority of your viewing audience will be deprived of the opportunity to hear from the full breadth of visions on offer from the mainstream party candidates in their constituency.

“In excluding our co-leaders from previous election debates, STV has relied heavily on the current level of representation each party holds at Westminster.

“We acknowledge that the Scottish Greens do not presently hold seats in the House of Commons, but this alone is not justification for our exclusion and essentially amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy; it is far less likely that a voter will choose to give their support to a party whom they have not had the opportunity to hear from as a result of decisions such as this.”

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The party also said it was likely their record in Government as part of the Bute House Agreement would be debated, that it was unfair not to allow a Green response. 

An STV spokesperson told The Herald: “Under the terms of our licences, STV’s programmes must comply with the Ofcom Broadcast Code and its rules around due impartiality.

"We are comfortable that our election coverage, including the leaders’ debate, meets these guidelines.”