Churchillian echoes strike wrong note
IT is branded the ‘biased broadcasting corporation’ by Nationalists with a grudge, but the state broadcaster is providing the SNP with unprecedented coverage of its conference.
That includes the traditional prime-time slot on BBC One for a political broadcast t his evening, which features another negative attack ad from the party that claims to be anything but. The over-produced A Tale of Two Cities paints London – or more accurately, Westminster – as ‘out of touch’, while all is rosy north of the Border.
Perhaps most remarkably, it appears to draw comparisons between Britain’s youngest MP, Mhairi Black, and the country’s greatest politician, Sir Winston Churchill. The 21-year-old Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP strides alongside Sir Winston’s statue in London, as her maiden speech echoes around her.
By the time he reached 21, Sir Winston was already a warrior, winning his first medal from the Spanish after coming under fire in Cuba. Miss Black is arguably best known for using obscene language on Twitter while posting about waking up beside cans of Tennent’s lager and pizza.
Yet Miss Sturgeon insists the country’s youngest MP could be First Minister one day. ‘She is just incredibly talented,’ the SNP leader gushed last week.
The broadcast snubs the party’s other young stars at Westminster – such as Stephen Gethins, Hannah Bardell, Natalie McGarry, Stewart McDonald and Angela Crawley
Meanwhile, the BBC’s unprecedented focus on the SNP conference i ncludes sending as many as 97 people to Aberdeen, according to Nationalist sources. As well as output from the massive BBC Scotland and network teams, the broadcaster’s Persian service even live streamed events from the hall.
But the BBC, it is likely to receive scant reward for providing the SNP with such a platform. Alex Salmond is due at conference today – can he resist another attack on the corporation and former political editor Nick Robinson, who he blames for his referendum humiliation?
And the most unenvied job in Aberdeen this week? Manning the BBC’s exhibition stall in the conference centre.