Political broadcasts
We are obliged by the Agreement to make airtime available for party and referendum broadcasts. Party broadcasts are quite separate from our own journalism and their transmission does not imply BBC support for the views contained in them. A series of broadcasts is assumed to provide balance. The copyright of party broadcasts resides with the parties but extracts may be used without the consent of the political parties.
Parties make the broadcasts at their own expense and are responsible for their content. However they do have to abide by rules laid down by the BBC and Ofcom, which include an obligation to observe the law, for example on libel, incitement to racial hatred and violence and to the BBC Editorial Guidelines on harm and offence. The ground rules are available at www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/blg.shtml.