Wakey wakey, why so slow; Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour finally wake up to the fact that the Sturgeon briefings on Covid are 'SNP party political broadcasts', ten months out from an election, and months off the pace of what is happening, the opposition should press the point that the SNP can also limit political activities in communities, how is Holyrood 2021 going to be seen as a free and fair election?

Dear All

If you’re a regular reader on this blog, you will have seen now and again that I used the phrase, ‘George Laird right again’. I did this to remind people that I had made predictions of what should be done, what needed to be done and much later, sometimes weeks, months or years, it happened. One example of this was several years ago, me talking about the need for an EU border force, an idea which others later arrived at. Back in Sept 2010, I floated both the idea of a single national police force and fire service while in the SNP. Later on the SNP politicians came to the same ideas, instead of following my theories of how these should operate, they put their spin on it. Their ideas led to problems such as the ‘vat’ problem with Police Scotland because of their unwillingness to work with the UK government.

The Scottish Conservatives have now sussed out something I have touched upon months back, that Nicola Surgeon and the SNP are using covid briefings as opportunities to run covert are 'SNP party political broadcasts'. A few days ago, I even tweeted again that the political parties should make a formal complaint to the BBC. I would also say that these briefings should now be taken completely off the SNP leader and presented by BBC personnel, with additional guests with expertise. It was always going to happen that Nicola Sturgeon once she had a platform would abuse it for political gain. As the Scottish Conservatives have pointed out, Sturgeon has veered off Covid and used the TV broadcasts to score political points. And if you don’t know who she is attacking or badmouthing, it is typically the UK Government. The Scottish Conservatives so far have pointed out that there are at least seven occasions when this has happened.

Next year is election year at Holyrood, 2021 is going to be an interesting election, for various reasons with new parties set to debut. At this point, it should be pointed out that the opposition to the SNP have been slow to react not just over covid briefings but also in a general sense. The SNP have used their position to effectively block them out as a force. Of the new players coming to the electoral scene, there are the pro UK, Alliance for Unity, headed up by George Galloway and what could be described as a rogue Nationalist outfit headed by former SNP MSP Dave Thompson with elements connected to Tommy Sheridan in it. The Nationalists are seeking to use the new indy party to scoop up regional lists which would not be available to the SNP due to their FPTP dominance in constituencies. Sometime ago, the idea was floated of tactical voting but due to hostility of the pro UK main parties, the idea never gained ground. The opposition to the SNP haven’t made inroads as expected or effectively challenged the Nats. They need to wake up, the voters need convinced and so far they aren’t producing narratives to convince. As I mentioned awhile ago, the opposition to the SNP really is the majority of pro UK Scots such as Allan Sutherland.

My view of the Scottish covid briefings is simple, they are a farce, Nicola Sturgeon controls the briefings, others are mere but players; and the press; they get one question. If Sturgeon doesn’t like the question, she doesn’t answer it, or if she calls it political then it is dismissed out of hand. Her stock answer seems to be, ‘this is a covid briefing’, but apparently she can talk about politics, she can attack rivals and she can have an 'SNP party political broadcast'. In briefings, Sturgeon referred to the UK Government’s approach to airbridges as “shambolic”, she went out of her way to criticise Boris Johnson for remarks on the Scotland-England border, and raised questions about immigration policy. What she is supposed to do is stick to facts, figures and Scottish government policy about covid response.

The Scottish Conservatives also highlighted that had also “blasted the UK Government’s rebranded ‘stay alert’ guidance, only to herself adopt an almost identical message weeks later”. In case you haven’t clicked to it, what Sturgeon is doing is following UK government policy, but in a delayed fashion. If something goes wrong like a ‘spike’, she then takes credit for being cautious. One thing which you need to know is that politicians give the impression of having all the answers, but the truth is, they don’t. As much as the SNP love the idea of how wonderful Sturgeon is doing, the truth is that she isn’t having a good pandemic, she is having solely a good PR show on the BBC. The scandal of covid in care homes is a disgrace, the fact the elderly weren’t sent to hospitals are a disgrace, the fact there wasn’t enough or the correct PPE is a disgrace, and it is all a Scottish failure.

Now, it seems the opposition are finally getting it about the "SNP party political broadcasts", so much so that both Labour and the Tories urge BBC Scotland to stop airing the briefings, which the opposition claim have become increasingly “partisan”. Yes, they are ‘partisan’ but this is the nature of the SNP, with them it is ‘party before country’, the common good plays second fiddle to power. Scottish Labour has also asked for an urgent meeting with BBC Scotland Director to argue the briefings are now a misuse of public money and in breach of the BBC charter. As I mentioned above, the BBC must take over the briefings, this appears the only solution because it is highly unlikely that the BBC will allocate the same amount of air time to the opposition.

Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said:

“It was quite right for the First Minister to embark on these daily briefings at the outset of this crisis, and for them to continue in the months that followed. But increasingly, as the statistics have improved and there’s inevitably less to say about them, the First Minister has turned to political point-scoring. This analysis shows how what starts with a daily data update soon descends into an SNP party political broadcast. She shouldn’t be doing that, and the BBC shouldn’t be indulging it. Either Nicola Sturgeon reverts to this being purely a factual event; or the corporation takes a stand and refuses to give her the airtime.”

Jackson Carlaw is right to complain, but his solutions are both unworkable, the only real solution is what I have outlined, these briefings are tainted, they are "SNP party political broadcasts". They are designed to place Nicola Sturgeon as the sole voice of the government, and when the election starts, Sturgeon will be the sole voice of the SNP campaign. If I can understand it, if I can get it, why can’t Jackson Carlaw? Carlaw needs to demand an investigation and the briefings turned over to the BBC. Covid is with us for the rest of the year, campaigning by parties needs to start back in communities, allowing Sturgeon and the SNP air time is an unfair advantage.  

BBC Scotland said:

“We are broadcasting Scottish Government briefings on the pandemic ad the easing of lockdown because these are matters of significant public interest. While cases of infection may be decreasing from their peak during the pandemic, there remains a valid editorial justification for reporting public health information and asking questions on new developments, such as the recent clusters in the Borders and Lanarkshire. The briefings in Scotland are covered by BBC one - which has also been the case when the UK and Welsh governments have held briefings. Viewing figures indicate there is a continuing audience need and appetite for information on the crisis, with an average daily combined audience of 275,000 for the briefings on both BBC One Scotland and the BBC Scotland channel.”

Is it time the point was forcibly made that these briefings can be done by the BBC? When a democracy becomes unbalanced, it is dangerous; the BBC in my opinion has like the rest of the press in Scotland been cowed. If the Scottish opposition parties get nowhere with BBC Scotland, they should raise a formal grievance with the BBC in London regards The Charter. As Scottish Labour points out, we are ten months out from an election, also given the SNP can control people and crowds movements, it tends to suggest that they can limit political activities in communities. Did the BBC take that into account when they just fobbed off opposition parties?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University