Nicola’s daily TV show

WITH regard to the First Minister’s televised daily briefings on the BBC (Mail), is there another ‘leader’ of any country that gets such daily exposure without contradictory views being expressed?

even Kim Jong-un must be envious of 45 minutes per day on the state broadcaster’s main channel. If these were merely on the medical emergency and updates then surely they would occasionally be led by health Secretary Jeane Freeman. The fact that she has no empathy with the public and is totally out of her depth in the job should not be an obstacle to her doing so – Matt hancock is similarly handicapped but has been allowed to front UK government briefings on numerous occasions.

No, this is the Nicola Sturgeon show. The SNP is not just a one trick pony with policy, it only has one thoroughbred in the stables to promote it. The daily briefings might just find justification if they were merely that, but on Friday the UK government was criticised for ending the furlough scheme in October.

There was no one there to point out that if we had been foolish enough to leave the Union in 2014, there would be no scheme at all, unless oil was at $115 a barrel as the SNP promised at the time and not the $40 that is the reality today.

Then on Monday we got complaints about the UK testing operation without the UK government being able to respond.

BBC Scotland should have pulled the plug on these party political broadcasts weeks ago.

Howard Lewis, Edinburgh.