From reader William Henderson:
This piece is a naked attempt to portray the SNP as a tricky, treacherous bunch of political chancers who don’t follow the arcane rules of British politics and who are obsessed with the drive for Scottish independent nationhood. It stems from the voting pattern adopted by the SNP during Westminster’s day-of-freedom on Wednesday past and some comments thereafter.
Should Sarah happen to read this, or have it drawn to her attention, may I point out that the SNP exists as a political party for the core purpose of bringing Scotland’s governance home. For the SNP it is the soul of open-ness to consider independence to be a factor in everything it does. For a political editor to attempt to make this seem ‘sneaky’ is running close to using a script based on Orwell’s 1984.
As for the way the SNP’s MPs voted on Wednesday, Sarah and her unionist companions should appreciate that every vote was carried out in line with the preferences for action openly advocated by the SNP (and totally ignored by Westminster and its obedient media) since 2016. It was a novelty – a political party actually doing what it promised its electorate. For this they are to be vilified.
To claim that this article was balanced in a sense that normal people view balance would be absurd. That it was the work of a ‘national’ broadcaster is obscene.
More on Sarah Smith here:
Talking-up Scotland 
I refuse to read anything Sarah Smith writes – she is someone who has never hidden her disdain for the SNP or the wider Indy movement and I won’t let her into my life. I don’t mind reading articles by folk I don’t agree with but her snide tone and clear bias as a BBC political editor is a disgrace. The London based chatterati have the (poor) excuse of not really knowing what goes on in Scotland but she has no excuse at all for her misrepresentation of Scottish affairs. Glad to hear it’s not just me who thinks this
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It was very deliberately constructed sentence to frame the position adopted by the SNP as being devious. She began, “The SNP are NOT BEING ENTIRELY CYNICAL about this ….”, clearly signalling to the viewers that they should interpret what she was then going to impart in exactly that way. She then went on to give an outline of the SNP position. By providing this short description, she probably met the BBC criterion of ‘balance’.
It is in keeping with the usual technique of phrasing which goes along the lines of: “The SNP Government DENIES that crime figures are rising/that
A and E waiting times are not meeting targets/that Scotrail reliability is falling/that class sizes are not ‘soaring’/ etc. This phrase comes after an allegation by Tories, SCALP, a professional trade union with a posh name, an ‘expert’, an ‘independent research institue’, etc has been read out.
I have been in London for the past fortnight and, it is interesting that on the BBC here, SNP MPs are often given far more respect than they get on BBC Scotland or STV. They are rarely interrupted when speaking, and are generally treated with respect by English Tory and Labour MPs who are being interviewed at the same time. It is not all sweetness, but the absence of hostility that is the default position in the Scottish Nomedia is noticeable. Of course, people like Kay Burley and Jon Snow can be overbearingly bombastic, but, I think that SNP MPs get a fairer hearing.
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Good points from both above. The blame game is always quick off its marks with both Labour (like Ian Murray) and Tory (J Lamont) blaming the SNP for abstaining and “wanting” a no-deal. These people are nothing but disgraceful hypocrites as they ignore the members of their own party who voted against or abstained. As I told Lamont in an email yesterday, after he blamed the SNP, it was Cameron who started this farce calling a referendum for which there was no demand because he wouldn’t stand up to his hard right wingers, followed by the unprecedented incompetence of May who got us into this mess. “let’s just get this straight: your lot created this mess, your lot are responsible, your lot want a No Deal. You [Lamont] even changed your vote, having promised to vote against. Your Scottish leader said you would stand up for Scotland. What a travesty. Your baker’s dozen have sold Scotland down the river simply to protect your rotten party.
Have the honesty to recognise that you are totally and wholly to blame, no one else. Either that or resign.”
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Reblogged this on seachranaidhe1.
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