Wading in to the daily briefingsdiscussion

In reply to Victor Clements’s claim [September 25, page 20] concerning Nicola Sturgeon’s daily COVID-19 briefings, his claim that they are political is misleading.

She has been careful to avoid getting political and has tried to stick to the medical and socio-economic facts while refusing to be drawn into political comments in answer to journalists’ often repetitive questions, trying to catch her out.

She has been the same with opposition politicians while on that subject.

Opposition politicians have to justify themselves to the electorate of course, just as journalists have to justify themselves to their editors and Victor Clements has to justify being Victor Meldrew.

He claims that by the BBC’s own figures, 95 per cent of the population doesn’t watch these briefings.

He forgot to mention that a noontime broadcast during working weekdays, by a politician, is in competition with dozens of entertainment channels - drawing five per cent of the population is actually a very good audience figure.

No doubt if there were no broadcasts, there would be accusations of cover-ups, higher infection and death rates than has been announced elsewhere – and a condemnation of Nicola for not communicating with the public.

He claims that he does not watch the TV broadcasts but caught a radio one.

In this, he heard Nicola repeat herself six times in 20 minutes in slightly different ways.

Apparently this confused him, he can’t remember what she said and, “It can’t actually have been that important”.

That being the case, his letter would be a pointless waste of time and space, but it isn’t – there’s more to it than him suffering a mathematical maladministration of mind: this is highly political and aimed at damaging the first minister’s standing.

Mr Clements is a failed LibDem candidate. Strange that he seems to have avoided giving a hint of any political bias on his own behalf.

He claims that we don’t need these briefings and we will get the news in the evening if anything changes and that older, shielded people, listening to these programmes every day, are inadvertently increasing their own anxiety levels.

Where’s his proof and – if this is the case – why won’t seeing the evening news also raise their anxiety levels?

He claims that this issue is all about presentation over substance and we need to question it more. Well, he would know – Lib Dems are experts at lacking substance.

As for the questioning, if he actually watched the programmes he is so good at lecturing us about, he would know that there is a barrage of questions on every occasion, whether from journalists in Bute House or politicians in Holyrood.

I have a rhetorical question, not to, but of, him – is this an opening shot as he positions himself to be a candidate next May or did he just have time on his hands?

Thomas R. Burgess St Catherine’s Square

Perth