Imagine, in another country far far away, a deadly pandemic sweeps the land, killing thousands. The democratically elected, popular government acts to save lives by enacting ‘emergency power’s‘ to enable the nation’s unarmed and respected police force to tackle the greatest risk of infection spread, which scientists have identified – house parties with large numbers from several family groups.
The trade union representing police officers, charged only with protecting their members’ interests, questions the feasibility of the emergency powers.
In this other land, the state broadcaster, responsible for helping to communicate the changing national strategy to fight the virus asks the trade union to defend its hesitancy when the emergency powers have been approved by the parliament and are based on scientific evidence.
Back in Scotland, the trade union, the Scottish Police Federation, said there were loopholes in the new legislation but we don’t hear what they are, nor had we, do we hear the reporter ask the ‘federation’ to defend their viewpoint.
Instead, the state broadcaster suggests that the Chief of Police who has explained the new powers at a briefing has had to defend these new powers allocated to his force by democratically elected politicians, acting on scientific advice to save lives, in the middle of highly dangerous viral pandemic.
There’s a huge irony in this positioning by the state broadcaster for those who remember, in the 1970s and 1980s, their uniform support, day after day, of the government and management positions when reporting on the manual worker trade unions defending their members against job losses.
Out of interest, I asked five educated neighbours what they thought the Scottish Police Federation was. All said ‘a government body.’ In the past, I’ve found the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association to be similarly imagined.
Talking-up Scotland / Scottish media fact checking is like shooting fish in a barrel 
Bring on independence and shut this shower up.
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Free Masonry and Orange Lodge
Piss easy to recruit into the Dark Forces
Of Imperialist oppressors
Know thy foes
No matter,whom, why or how
Just know that is all
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The Police Federation, like the RCN and the BMA, is one of BBC Scotland’s go-to bodies for a comment on any SG actions. They are never properly identified as a trade union, but their statements are presented as authoritative and they are rarely challenged. I heard the initial interview on GMS and, thereafter, it was the headline item on each hourly news bulletin.
GMS has a default position that whatever the SG proposes is, by definition, wrong, inadequate or lacking clarity or teeth.
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“Why does the Police Chief have to ‘defend’ emergency powers implemented in a democracy?”
Didn’t hear it but presume it was Calum Steele (who the rank and file detest over the way he ‘rolled over’ and accepted changes to their pension like a good little establishment poodle)!
I believe the answer is because the BBC is not news but the Propaganda outlet of Scotland’s Colonial Master, Westminster who pays the wages of lickspittles like Graham Stewart (who if he was a serious journalist would know that the “Only obeying orders” excuse was discredited at Nuremberg.
I therefore claim my £5*
*That was the prize wasn’t it, (I didn’t read the small print Prof)?
😉
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£5 Bank of Ayrshire note on its way!
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That one of they white ones Prof?
:0
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“Defend” is high up the list of words to be used by the BBC in describing SNP actions.
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