SNP party political broadcast wasn’t satire, it was a lesson in schoolyard bullying
One might be forgiven for thinking at first that the muchdiscussed SNP party political broadcast, which allegedly mocks Scottish journalist David Torrance, might offer something in the way of political satire. Far from it.
To qualify for satire the piece would have needed edge, witty exaggeration and humour. But, of course, SNP media producers don’t specialise in the art form of satire – they need to appeal to party supporters. So the viewer is presented with a demonstration video showing what activists can do when a “Yoon“tries to strike up a discussion about the SNP’S record in government: outnumber and isolate the person in schoolyard bully fashion, fire a raft of supposed SNP achievements at him, then withdraw from the scene.
Enter First Minister Nicola Sturgeon herself to deliver the final rhetorical blow. The rest is silence. Is the video actually aimed at Mr Torrance? I would like to leave it to the man himself to judge whether or not the “Yoon” in the video bears any resemblance to him or to his professional style of argumentation.
REGINA ERICH Willow Row, Stonehaven The recent SNP broadcast was notable for more than its unsubtle attempt to deride one of its critics. Its core message was listing what the SNP has delivered over the course of the last decade, emphasised by the simple technique of gradually building up the list, with multiple repetitions, like a nationalist version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
But this was a very one -sided rendition. No mention of the continued failure to have any significant impact on closing the attainment gap in education for example, despite the First Minister so often claiming education as her government’s main priority. The numerous missed targets in our hospitals did not get a mention, nor the bedeviled reorganisation of our police into one force whether frontline police or the public wanted it or not. Then there is the tunnel vision of nationalism that has again and again seen the main focus of the Scottish Government being to try to engineer a second independence referendum, or the weknow-best attitudes that have seen a dogged attempt to get the ill-judged Named Person legislation implemented in the face of legal challenges and widespread public concern.
There are plenty of reasons the SNP is so sensitive about criticisms of its performance in government, not least that there are just so many shortcomings to mention. KEITH HOWELL
White Moss West Linton, Peeblesshire