From the Canary, yesterday:
‘On 18 June, two Conservative politicians were convicted of child sexual abuse. The jury at Swansea Crown Court found former mayor for Pembroke David Boswell guilty of raping a girl under the age of 10. On the same day, former mayor of Godalming Simon Thornton pleaded guilty to more than 20 child sex offenses.’
Thornton has been sentenced to nine years in prison and Boswell has been told to expect a lengthy sentence.
BBC News at 6 did not seem to cover the story at all. I checked on the 18th, 19th and 20th June.
In sharp contrast, BBC Reporting Scotland, on the 21st June, broadcast extended versions of this below, as their first headline story, nine times throughout the day:
‘An MSP faces being suspended from Holyrood for a month after he was found guilty of sexual harassment. Mark McDonald resigned as early years minister in November 2017 after he sent an “inappropriate” text message to a woman. He later quit the SNP. The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life concluded that the case amounted to sexual harassment. Holyrood’s standards committee has now recommended Mr McDonald be suspended without pay for a month.’
McDonald’s text message is below:
Remember McDonald carried out no physical abusive act, made no actual threats of an abusive act, was not charged by the police and has been merely suspended for one month yet the case received heavy media attention. The two Tories committed appalling crimes against children, but the BBC apparently saw little public interest in the story.
The Reporting Scotland coverage can only characterised as disproportionate and evidence of a sustained and ingrained anti-SNP agenda in Pacific Quay.
COMPLAINT SENT in this shorter form to meet BBC word limit:
BBC Scotland News, on the 21st June, broadcast reports on the case of suspended SNP MSP Mark McDonald, as their first headline story, nine times throughout the day. McDonald had sent a text (see below), carried out no physical abusive act, made no actual threats of an abusive act, was not charged by the police and had been merely suspended for one month yet the case received this disproportionate attention. Evidencing that this was disproportionate, excessive, coverage was BBC at 6’s complete disregard for the story of two Conservative politicians who were convicted of serious child sexual abuse on the 18th June 2018. The jury at Swansea Crown Court found former mayor for Pembroke David Boswell guilty of raping a girl under the age of 10. On the same day, former mayor of Godalming Simon Thornton pleaded guilty to more than 20 child sex offenses.’. So, thinking back to the details of the McDonald case, headlined nine times across the day, the story of two Tories committing appalling crimes against children was not reported on the 18th, 19th or 20th June 2018. Remember, McDonald committed no criminal act, receiving only an internal suspension from his place of work while the two Tories have been sentenced to nine years in prison. The full text sent by McDonald is: ‘Cutting me deep. That’s twice you’ve dingyed (ignored) me now. Twice. It’s ok tho I understand (3 crying emojis). My phone wanted to autocorrect dingyed to fingered there. Which I’m so glad I noticed before I sent that message.’
Talking-up Scotland 
There were reports on 19 June on local BBC sites, but, in the case of Mr Thornton, there was no mention of his political party. In the case of Mr Boswell it mentioned, in the penultimate sentence that he hd been elected as a Conservative in 2017.
It was legitimate to report the behaviour of Mr McDonald, and, since they were not local matters, for BBC Scotland not to report the other was a reasonable decision. However, for the BBC nationally not to report the other two matters is puzzling – to say the least – given that this involved the rape of a child.
However, when set in the context of the scant reporting of, say, the overt sectarian and racist comments of several Tory Councillors in Scotland and the failure to question Ms Davidson on the fact that her claim that some had undergone appropriate training, did not, in fact happen, then I think it is further support for the idea that the BBC is institutionally biased.
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Agree with you John , even yesterday after FMQ , Brian Taylor concentrated on Mark McDonald with a journo from the Daily Mail and David Clegg from the Daily Record who said McDonald’s position was untenable . The story of the session which was not mentioned was Nicola Sturgeon hammering Conservative Miles Briggs (again ) when he tried to get Nicola to give praise to May for putting more into the NHS . The true facts and figures that she hit him with had him wishing the ground would swallow him up !. Not a word about this on the BBC or Brit Nat press , not even the National gave it much cover , so the people once more don’t know they are being sold a pup from the UK Government ! . Mark McDonald is being used as a weapon to beat the SNP with , not that I approve in the slightest about the e-mail he sent , but he insists it was not sexual harassment . There has been much bigger offences in other parties that after a second of publicity have been quietly air brushed out of view !
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I don’t excuse McDonald for his conduct, but it does seem as if there are two levels of accountability and reporting in the UK.
There is McDonald in Holyrood and there are numerous offenders in Westminster—-all who have done very similar things.
McDonald is punished and as part of that punishment his conduct is frequently reported in the media, not least the BBC.
Those at Westminster don’t appear to suffer the same consequences, either in the political parties they belong to, the parliament they operate in, or the media that reports on these events.
One of those miscreants at Westminster, Damian Green, even appearing on the Daily Politics a few days ago, not as an example of misconduct, but as a pundit.
Would McDonald get the same invitation from the BBC?
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Totally agree .
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Greene was on Question Time too and took part in debate on similar issues!
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McDonald’s behaviour is at the lower end of the scale, I suggest. Read this report in the FT Magazine from last week. Horrific, and nothing is being done about it. But then it’s mostly Labour and Tory sex pests and the parties don’t want to rock the boat – it might bring them into disrepute (lol). https://www.ft.com/content/5e6a296c-6e9e-11e8-92d3-6c13e5c92914
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A different politician from a different party and in a different Parliament – Not a questionable text but decidedly dodgy ethical territory – doubt the beeb will cover it. I noticed it on RT site. Judge for yourselves – edit below:
Capital Group, the company of UK PM’s husband Philip May, profited from Donald Trump’s caging of children in immigration detention centers. The centers are run by General Dynamics, which is partly owned by May’s investment firm.
General Dynamics has been assisting the US Office of Refugee Resettlement in processing immigrant-children cases during President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. As many as 2,000 children are reported to have been separated from their parents in just six weeks under the controversial policy. A distressing audio clip of children sobbing went viral on social media.
A number of high-profile corporations have invested in ‘defense’ company, General Dynamics, which manufactures weapons. Philip May’s Capital Group is one such corporation. Its Capital Research Global Investors (CRGI) owns just under $4 billion worth of shares in General Dynamics as of June 20, representing almost seven percent of the company.
Proceeds from the company holding children in detention centers will therefore have helped to finance Philip May’s paycheck from his role as a relationship manager with Capital Group.
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Ah but who would dare to question him in a public arena , no one I am sure , we won’t see the BBC camera team plus journo rushing to HIS door , after all , Tories look after one another no matter what shenanigans they are involved in ! .
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McDonald’s text added.
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You will have them tearing their hair out again , let’s see how far this one goes , and keep a record and we will see if any correction or admission of biased reporting of ANY of these complaints takes place !
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Will do
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Tory and liebor perverts are a disease on our nation that someone needs to find a cure for.
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At the end of last year, around October, Ammar Anwar Solictor stated that he had been contacted by a number of women who had been sexually harassed by MSPs. He said he listened to a catalogue of abuse which included physical abuse, it was a time bomb ready to go off, the perpetrators should be running scared and it cut across ALL parties. This was reported by the BBC omitting the term “ALL parties.”
The Daily Record reported on three “creepy male MP’s” making unwanted advances. They didn’t name them but said their names were common knowledge at Holyrood.
Then we had Monica Lennon Labour MSP go public with complaints of a sexual assault by a senior colleague and witnessed by another who said “that was your fault for coming over here. You got him all excited.” She reported this to the Labour Party but dropped the issue due to feeling that she was not believed. Two other females who also made complaints to the Labour Party did likewise, she said.
So what’s going on here? Is Mark McDonald SNP MSP being made a scapegoat to distract us all from digging a little deeper?
Oh and before I sign off another aspect of this case that really annoys me is that media reporting only gives out so much information. Just enough to get everyone’s imagination go into overdrive and to thinking that Mark McD has committed the crime of the century. He should be given the opportunity to clarify the situation and clear his name, imo.
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Absolutely – thanks for these thought-provoking comments.
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