Remember that time that Alex Salmond gave a speech encouraging the YES vote during purdah in the Scottish Referendum in front of Bute House? I don't but, I did just see the Prime Minister give a weird, Vote Remain, campaign speech in front of Number 10, Downing Street.

The problem with this speech is that it is a clear violation of Purdah. I am not a fan of the Leave campaign. I think its a brutal campaign run by fear of immigration and no real policies but I'm also not a fan of the way both sides of this campaign have been held to a much lower form of scrutiny than the referendum in Scotland.

According to Number 10, the Prime Minister did not break Purdah rules because the Prime Minister's seal was not on the podium that he read from.

Of course the rules state that.

38.Government property should not be used for campaigning. Requests from campaigning groups to use government buildings for campaign purposes must be declined.

And this is where the issue get tricky. Downing Street is technically a public street. It is a public street that no one is allowed to use. There are several laws that prevent the normal usage of the road but, the actual street is in legal limbo because the Government buildings around it are protected and therefore, the street has to be protected as well.

The PM's office is using that ambiguity to protect themselves however, as the picture shows, this is a photo opp in front of Number 10 and it will be perceived as the Prime Minister using his residence to influence the vote and that would be a violation of this rule:

7.In general, it is important that there is, and is perceived to be, a clear separation
between government activity and campaign activity. Official resources should not
be used to support campaigning. Government departments must not publish any
material or undertake communications activity that deals with any of the issues
raised by the referendum question or that encourages voting in the referendum.

If Alex Salmond gave a speech, as First Minister of Scotland, in front of a Government department, let alone the official residence of the First Minister, the press would have destroyed the YES campaign, the SNP and the First Minister of Scotland.

All I'd like to see is just a little bit of parity because nothing is going to come of this event. We will move on to the rest of the debate which makes me ask the larger question, what's the point of purdah if there's no penalty for breaking it?