Dig channels out of hole with £100m, says Blackford

THE BBC should spend its way out of trouble by sinking up to £100million into its troubled Scottish channels, the SNP’s Westminster leader has said.

Ian Blackford suggested the Corporation could plough more public cash into its ailing Scotland-only digital channels to make them as ‘good as they should be’.

Mr Blackford pushed the case for extra investment of up to £100million to improve BBC Scotland and BBC Alba, its Gaelic channel, during meetings last week with Tony Hall, the BBC’s director-general and Donalda MacKinnon, the outgoing head of BBC Scotland.

Pressure has been growing on the channel amid a row over viewer numbers.

But in an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Blackford said: ‘Scottish interests and the interests of public service broadcasting need to be protected and the two channels in Scotland need to have a greater share of BBC resources to make better quality programmes and to create better opportunities for the independent broadcasting sector across the country.’

Mr Blackford’s idea was met with scepticism from opposition parties.

Maurice Golden, the Tory culture spokesman, said: ‘The new BBC channel was launched with massive resources and talent that would make most media green with envy. If that isn’t enough to draw viewers, bosses still have time and money to make BBC Scotland a success. Throwing an obscene amount of cash into a black hole is no responsible solution.’

Mr Blackford also told BBC executives that he would be reiterating the case with the UK Government for broadcasting powers to be devolved to Scotland, and would continue to campaign for a Scottish Six O’Clock News on BBC One.

The broadcaster declined to comment on Mr Blackford’s opinions last night.