Below is a clip from last night’s Reporting Scotland. It features regular election loser Christine Jardine, an ex-BBC journalist who the Lib Dems have tried unsuccessfully for years to crowbar into Parliamentary seats all over Scotland (like Aberdeenshire East in 2016, Gordon in 2015, the European Parliament in 2014, Aberdeen Donside in 2013 and Inverness and Nairn in 2011).

She’s currently contesting Edinburgh West, which the party has some credible hopes of winning, having held the seat for almost 20 years prior to 2015. And it seems that her former employer has decided to try to give her a helping hand.

And, y’know, they’re really not allowed to do that.

There are strict rules covering airtime being given to candidates during elections, and one of the key ones is that candidates mustn’t be allowed to discuss their own seat uncontested. They can talk about general national issues, but they can’t discuss their local seat without other candidates present, as Christine Jardine is not only permitted but expressly invited to do by presenter Laura McIver in the footage above.

Ofcom makes that abundantly and repeatedly clear:

We look forward to the increasingly-maverick state broadcaster’s explanation.