Anger at SNP’s demand to be in BBC brief
SNP chiefs have been accused of attempting to turn Scotland into a ‘oneparty state’ after demanding they be included in coverage of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefings.
Nationalist deputy leader Keith Brown wrote to broadcasting bosses branding the decision to invite opposition politicians on to discuss the latest updates ‘deeply unfair’.
The BBC coverage cuts away during media questions to allow representatives from the Tories,
Labour, Lib Dems and Greens to comment.
Mr Brown claimed it is ‘now overtly political with a stark bias against the largest party’.
The letter has sparked outrage from opponents amid concerns over Miss Sturgeon’s television time just months from the Holyrood election.
In his letter to the BBC, Mr Brown said: ‘Constituents of mine, who are also your audience, have contacted me and have rightly pointed out that the First Minister’s only focus is on public health and pandemic related matters – indeed, the First Minister goes out of her way to avoid making political points even when invited to by journalists.
‘So why is the BBC enabling non-SNP politicians to have a “free-hit”?
‘I urge you to reconsider the format of and our exclusion from this programme as a matter of urgency.’
The new title is BBC Scotland News Special, changing from the previous Coronavirus Update.
Despite Mr Brown’s claims that Miss Sturgeon ‘goes out of her way’ not to talk about issues other than the pandemic, she has deviated from this to criticise Brexit previously.
The Scottish Conservatives yesterday said the complaint was ‘laughable’ and Miss Sturgeon had been allowed an ‘uninterrupted statement’ on the BBC almost every day since the Covid pandemic began in March 2020.
Tory chief whip Miles Briggs said: ‘Not content with leading a daily televised briefing, the SNP now want the right to reply themselves.
‘It’s madness and it would be laughable if the result of their pressure and lobbying of the BBC wasn’t so serious.’
‘They are determined to turn Scotland into a one-party state where only SNP voices are heard. On the current evidence, they’re succeeding.’
Mr Briggs accused Miss Sturgeon of using the pandemic crisis as a ‘campaign platform’ and claimed that she had ‘disrespected and bypassed the Scottish parliament on a number of occasions’.
In September, the BBC sparked outrage after announcing they would no longer broadcast Miss Sturgeon’s daily briefings.
Bosses said they would decide whether to provide live television coverage of the press conferences based on their ‘edi
‘Stark bias against the party’
‘It’s madness and laughable’
torial merit’ which led to a huge backlash from the SNP.
Just days later the BBC did a U-turn on the decision as cases of coronavirus began to rise again north of the Border.
At the time, the BBC revealed that the coverage would continue – but with ‘other voices and perspectives’.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC continues to deliver on multiple platforms the Scottish Government’s Covid briefings.
‘We are also committed to delivering on our obligations around impartiality and we therefore hear from a range of other voices – either political or public health experts – on our BBC One Scotland offer to audiences.’