TORPEDOED! CND supporter advised BBC’s nuclear sub show
THE BBC is facing a storm of protest after it was revealed a CND-supporting councillor was paid to give technical advice on Royal Navy submarines for the autumn drama hit Vigil.
It is claimed the input from SNP councillor Feargal Dalton may have contributed to an inaccurate picture of life below sea that has caused anger among veterans of the Senior Service.
Suranne Jones stars as Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva, who is winched on board fictional nuclear submarine Vigil to investigate the mysterious death of crewman Craig Burke, played by Scots actor Martin Compston.
The programme also explores the prospect of MI5 infiltration at a peace camp, modelled on the one at the Faslane base on the Firth of Clyde which protested against nuclear weapons since the 1980s.
Councillor Dalton retired from the Navy 11 years ago as a Lieutenant Commander, a weapons engineer with experience of firing a test nuclear missile off Florida in 2009.
But while serving in the Navy, he was driving his wife, Nationalist MP Carol Monaghan, to CND rallies.
Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party, told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Feargal Dalton has long campaigned against the Trident nuclear deterrent.
‘The BBC should have employed an expert who, unlike Mr Dalton, is not so obviously biased against nuclear submarines and has a long-standing association with CND.’
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and a member of the House of Lords international relations and defence committee, said: ‘I can understand why you might have someone opposed to Trident as an adviser for the peace camp scenes. But it would be strange if such an individual was giving advice about technical and on-board issues.
‘The characterisation of the Navy and its ratings and officers in Vigil is a long way from the reality. The Royal Navy simply does not behave in the boorish way depicted.’
Royal Navy veterans have also expressed anger at the decision to hire Councillor Dalton.
Writing on a Royal Navy personnel message board, one ex-serviceman who served on HMS Vernon said: ‘I’m sure the luvvies at the BBC are handin-glove with the CND-sympathising heads of the SNP on this piece of blatant anti-RN propaganda.’
Another wrote: ‘The script makes the RN look terrible. I can’t believe the BBC are allowing the armed forces to be portrayed like this.’
Councillor Dalton serves as Glasgow City Council’s representative on Nuclear Free Local Authorities Scotland and is a member of its national steering group. He was approached for comment.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The World Productions team consulted a range of advisers and experts to make Vigil, including Mr Dalton, who had no editorial input but offered factual insight from his long career as a member of the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service.’
The hit drama, which continues tonight, has also triggered anger among protesters at Faslane, who refused to give permission to film at the peace camp.
Andy Freeborn, 45, who has lived there since 2007, said: ‘They wanted to film here and offered us £500 to do a walk-through on the site. But we asked them to tell us first what the script was about.
‘We discussed it but decided we didn’t want to be associated with it because it was the BBC and it was all just nuclear weapons propaganda. We didn’t want to be seen supporting it because it would be morally wrong for us to get involved.’
‘Long campaigned against Trident’