LETTERS: Nothing parochial about a dedicated Scottish Six
Twenty years ago the idea had overwhelming support, but as revealed by former Labour spin doctor Lance Price, it was sabotaged in October 1998 by Tony Blair, in collusion with the BBC’s John Birt. Since then it has become a political football.
It is ironic that those against Scottish self-determination erroneously claim that we have one of the strongest parliaments in the world, yet oppose any serious outward-looking news coverage or political debate from Scotland at peak viewing times.
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Hide AdBrian Monteith’s comment that a Scottish Six could only be funded through huge cuts to BBC Scotland’s budget for drama, sports and entertainment is laughable as the latest BBC annual report shows that Wales gets around 95 per cent of its licence fee back and Northern Ireland gets around 72 per cent but Scotland gets a mere 55 per cent.
For example, last season BBC spent £1.2 million on Scottish league football coverage but over £66m on England’s Match of the Day.
The Tory UK government is seeking more influence over the proposed new BBC management structure while the head of BBC Scotland has been relegated to the third tier of management.
BBC Scotland ought to be a powerhouse of creativity and talent, reflecting the new vibrant politics and culture we have seen in this country.
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Hide AdHowever, it remains a poorly resourced branch office fit only for keeping the natives happy on a diet of court cases, car crashes and Old Firm football.
Fraser Grant, Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh
Spare us another £1.5m White Paper
It took about 18 months to produce, ran to 650 pages and cost almost £1.5 million of taxpayers’ money. Yet SNP MP Tommy Sheppard tells us that a new version of the White Paper is required.
This means that the ‘blueprint’ for independence would have struggled to have relevance beyond the projected ‘independence day’ in March this year. So much for the vision of the SNP.
I wonder if Mr Sheppard would like to tell us who would be liable to pay for the new version?
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Hide AdGiven that one thing the SNP is very good at is amassing money for its own party, perhaps it wouldn’t be too much to ask that it pays for the pursuit of its obsession out of its own funds.
Indeed maybe it could make it a money-spinner by turning it into an annual.
Colin Hamilton, Braid Hills Avenue, Edinburgh
Small countries have beautiful economies
Based on data from the World Bank and IMF, analysis by Global Finance Magazine has established that smaller countries continue to dominate the list of the world’s richest countries, while the top three are unchanged from 2015.
Lessons to be learnt here for our own ‘small’ country of Scotland perhaps.
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