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Jackie Baillie MSP (Labour) and Lord George Foulkes (Labour) succeeded in sabotaging the First Minister’s Covid updates. Foulkes bragged about stopping folk from hearing important information because that was bad for the image of his dud party, Labour.
4 people, presumably including Baillie and Foulkes or their staff/pals, wrote to Ofcom accusing BBC Scotland of bias in favour of the Scottish Government.
Friend of TuS, Brenda Robb wrote to BBC Scotland, under Freedom of Information, asking to see the communication around the above decision:
I have listened to a report by Fiona Stalker on the lack of transparency from the
Scottish Government during the pandemic with particular reference to WhatsApp
messages and minutes from meetings. As I agree with the principles of
transparency in public services I would like the BBC to provide me with all the
info they have relating to their decision to cut short Scottish Government daily
Covid briefings to allow opposition parties to comment on the briefing decisions.
This should include any communications from individual politicians, editorial
meeting minutes and memos and pf course any relevant WhatsApp messages (or
other messaging services)
The BBC’s Legal Department wrote back:
If held, the information you have requested is held for the purposes of ‘art,
journalism or literature’. The FOI Act provides that the BBC is not obliged to
disclose this type of information. However on this occasion, we are happy to voluntarily provide the below information in response to your request: The BBC’s services, including the broadcasting of government Covid briefings, are regulated by Ofcom. You may be interested to see that a number of complaints were raised with Ofcom about the due impartiality of the briefings. Further information can be found here. Please note that Ofcom states:“Our Guidance also states that the broadcasting of comments either supporting or criticising the policies and actions of any political organisation or elected politician is not, in itself, a breach of the due impartiality rules. Any broadcaster may do this provided it complies with the Code. However, depending on the specific circumstances of any particular case, it may be necessary to reflect alternative viewpoints or provide context in an appropriate way to ensure that Section Five of the Code is complied with.” Ofcom further observed that “Having taken into account the broadcaster’s and audience’s rights to freedom of expression, and all relevant contextual factors and editorial techniques as set out above, Ofcom considered that, in the programmes that we assessed, where statements were made by the First Minister or other Scottish Ministers in the updates which could have been construed as critical of the UK Government’s policies and actions or as promoting the SNP policies in relation to the handling of the crisis, these were appropriately contextualised, and alternative viewpoints on the issues relating to the policies and actions of the Scottish Government, and to the extent they were discussed, the UK Government’s policies and actions, were sufficiently represented, to ensure that due impartiality was preserved.”
BBC Reporting Scotland are keeping quite quiet about this.
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Am I correct in thinking that FFSFoulkes and Damn Baillie have never been seen in the same room at the same time – leading my suspicious mind to suggest ….
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Great work again by you and Brenda.
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Yon Baron in his ermine coat,
he likes tae strut, he likes tae gloat.
Expenses? We ken fine he has claimed the maist.
Dolce Vita–he ay-ways hud the taste.
The maist blusterin’, drunken blellum tae be fund,
He wrastled some pair auld Granny tae the grund.
An’ smacked a polis in the gub.
But finest wines, and fancy grub,
Oor Baron kid eat it oot a tub,
set up fur swine.
At piggish swillin’ he could shine”,
Its anither way fur him, tae say “fine dine”.
The mans a gutze, hae nae doot,
he could guzzle champers through a sh!tty cloot!
While looking down his snoot.
At us, in his ermine suit.
gavinochiltree
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Crying my eyes oot. 🤣😂🤣
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@gavinochiltree @ 5.34pm on 23 Feb
Brilliant ditty that captures yon old Labour goat perfectly !
Have a great day
🙂
NMRN
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OFGEM or OFCOM?
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NOTHING EVER EVER SURPRISES ME WHEN LABOUR ARE MENTIONED
<
div>LIES AND FABRICATI
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My memory is crystal clear. Having listened to many of the FM’s daily broadcasts during the pandemic, it’s hard to imagine greater opportunity being given for scrutiny of Scottish Government responses to Covid than that provided to multiple – and almost entirely oppositional – journalists at each and every briefing by the FM. There was zero attempt to avoid scrutiny.
And then there were the opportunities provided to opposition politicians at Holyrood.
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I’m surpised that Foulkes was not protesting that these daily briefings were a dastardly plot by the SNP intentioned to keep people informed and safe. Still waiting for the Inquiry to insist on GCHQ releasing extracts from Scot Gov telephone calls during the pandemic which I can only surmise they weren’t damning enough.
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aye, something like,
they’re trying to keep people safe,
and what’s worse,
they’re doing it on purpose.
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Foulkes is an embarrassment to Labour……as he makes it too obvious how their, Labour’s, politics is steeped in hatred against the SNP ……he is active in talking down Scotland , so much so, that he even demanded that the Tory government, supposedly ones who are in opposition to his Labour party, cut the funding for the Scottish government as, according to him, they were spending it on what he constitutes as ‘illegal spending’ on independence…..meanwhile he is more than happy that the Tories increase spending in their ‘fight’ for his and their (non) Union….which I believe George stated was “never meant to a Union of equal partners’…..thus contradicting what many of his colleagues and other party politicians have tried to con voters in Scotland into believing that the UK was a supposed but actual ‘Union of equal partners’ as a fact but in reality tis NOT either a Union or treated as equal for Scotland……mainly because they, Pro UK politicians, (and George) see Scotland as a region that is no more distinct than some regions within England…..
Mind you George like his other labour colleagues in the HOL are on a nice little earner in the HOL…..daily rates paid for attendance , subsidised meals and drink in parliament restaurants and for some Scottish (INO) Labour peers gaining external earnings via their status as a Baron thus they are recognised by some private sector companies who seek a political connection in their company.
Baron John Reid :
Chair, Advisory Board, Shearwater Group plc (digital resilience/cyber security)
Member, Independent Advisory Board, Harcus Parker Claimant Litigation Committee (PPI litigation)
Shareholding -John Reid Advisory Ltd
Baron George Robertson :
Senior Counsellor, Cohen Group (US-based consultancy)
Adviser, BP plc
Senior Adviser on geo-political and geo-strategic issues to 5654 & Company (consultancy founded to help companies act to earn reputation)
Shareholdings – Weir Group plc (engineering)
Baron Jack McConnell
Chair, Sustainable Development Fund Panel of Scottish and Southern Energy plc
Professorial Fellow, University of Stirling, Scotland
Adviser, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Occasional fees for media articles
Consultant, The World Bank Group Accountability Mechanism (independent complaints mechanism for people and communities who believe that they have been, or are likely to be, harmed by a World Bank-funded project)
**************
The above is just some ‘Scottish’ (INO) peers who are noted in ‘Remunerated employment, office, profession etc. in the UK parliament’s register of interests…..aka financial external rewards……same ones the media never obsess upon but instead prefer to promote their many respective #SNPBAD interventions…..
George Foulkes has NONE noted i.e. remunerated earnings via the parliament’s Register of Interests ….I suspect that is largely due to a (lack of) competence and a (lesser )desirability factors via various Private sector companies seeking his involvement with them…..as opposed to his lack of desire in , like many of his Labour HOL colleagues, wanting a piece of the very lucrative action that comes with being a member of the HOL……
A parcel of hypocritical and wealthy rogues…..
NMRN
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*.thus contradicting what many of his colleagues and other party politicians have tried to con voters in Scotland into believing that the UK was a supposed but actual ‘Union of equal partners’ as a fact but in reality tis NOT either a Union or treated as equal for Scotland…
Me grammar ain’t what it should be……so I will try this below….’correction’ (that might just possibly be as bad as the previous incoherent mess…LOL)
“.thus contradicting what many of his colleagues and other party politicians have tried to con voters with, that is, telling people in Scotland that within the UK their country, Scotland, was supposedly part of an actual ‘Union of equal partners’….. where as the reality is the UK is neither a Union nor for Scotland are we ever treated or seen as an equal partner within their UK by either the media or any of the Pro UK politicians/political parties “………..
Posted my above comment in haste….minus editing….and the result is writing some rubbish in it’s content….which is my area of expertise LOL….based on how many corrections I have to make on all that I post on here…..give me a break I am not the sharpest tool in the box or indeed a writer (like I needed to spell that out LOL)
NMRN
🙂
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