Journalists have criticised the Scottish National Party’s decision to allow just three members of the media to attend its leadership hustings.

The SNP has told the press just one STV camera will be able to attend tonight’s event, alongside a single print journalist and one radio journalist to cover it on a pooled basis.

The party had initially decided the press would be barred from the hustings featuring leadership candidates Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes.

However, SNP bosses have since decided to make a partial U-turn on the policy after all three said they felt the media should be able to fully cover tonight’s debate in Cumbernauld.

Daily Record political editor Paul Hutcheon, pictured, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland the arrangements were “deeply unsatisfactory” and claimed “press freedoms are being infringed”.

He added: “This is not simply a contest to select the SNP leader. This person will lead the country and become first minister of the country.

“It affects everyone, not simply SNP members. Everyone in Scotland is entitled to see these three candidates up close and personal.”

“I think they have an allergy to transparency. If you look at SNP headquarters there are questions about donations, about loans and I think their instincts are not to allow media into these things.

“They have to realise what the optics are of this situation and make a U-turn very quickly.”

The Conservative Party allowed full media access to hustings during its leadership contest last year, prior to the election of Liz Truss.

Paul added: “Are the SNP really going to be less transparent then the Tories? It is a terrible look and it is a shambles of the SNP’s own making.

Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, has also criticised the SNP’s policy.

She said: “While the Society welcomes the decision by party bosses to U-turn on allowing the media access to this evening’s event, the default position should always have been in favour of openness and transparency.

“It is essential that proper media access is permitted for all the upcoming hustings events to ensure proper scrutiny of the candidates for the benefit of the Scottish people.”

A spokesman for the SNP told the BBC: “We are in discussion with media outlets making a request for access to our members’ hustings event in Cumbernauld, and we’re already looking at ways to make content available to our wider membership for the remainder of this series of events.”