The SNP have lodged an official complaint with Ofcom following a discussion on Scottish independence on the Jeremy Vine show.
Panellists were discussing Boris Johnson's campaign to become Prime Minister amid reports that if he did become prime minister support for independence could surge.
Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, who appeared on the Channel 5 show said the report on a surge in Scottish independence if Boris became PM was “food” for Nicola Sturgeon.
This really has to be seen to be believed.
— Sarah Mackie (@lumi_1984) June 25, 2019
'I mean for goodness sakes...Scotland, by itself? How is it going to survive?'
The Jeremy Vine show on Channel 5, 25th June 2019.
Part 1/2: pic.twitter.com/BYXOSbSCv8
READ MORE: Twitter storm after panellists on Jeremy Vine show claims 'Scotland could never survive alone'
He then made a comment about how Scotland could not survive going it alone stating: “I mean, for goodness sake, Scotland, by itself? How’s it going survive? It has …what does it have?... oil, and a monster in a lake, and... whisky.”
It is now understood that Ofcom has been contacted by the party after Channel 5 ignored and failed to reply to emails from the party raising concerns.
In their complaint, the SNP say the broadcast was in breach of sections 5.7 and 5.9 Ofcom’s broadcasting code, citing the lack of impartiality and Vine’s insistence in continuing the discussion despite a lack of a pro-independence voice.
Explaining the SNP’s decision to lodge an official complaint, Hannah Bardell MP, the SNP’s media spokesperson at Westminster, told our sister paper The National: “This was one of the most inaccurate discussions about Scotland and independence ever broadcast on network television.
“That’s saying something given the level of nonsense Scottish audiences witnessed in the run-up to 2014.
“We’ll continue to work with journalists, editors and, where necessary as in this case, broadcasting regulators to make sure Scotland’s voice is heard – they are duty bound to ensure their programmes have due accuracy and due impartiality, not serve up guff like this.
“Ultimately the broadcasters are only harming themselves with embarrassing low-level output like this from Channel 5 – which will only make Scottish audiences switch over.”
A spokesperson for Channel 5 said: “We regularly cover questions around Scottish independence on our daily current affairs programme, reflecting a broad range of opinions and voices.
“The comments expressed by the contributors in the programme reflect their personal viewpoints, not those of the channel.”
The comments made on the June 25 episode were lambasted by viewers with some stating that the 'narrow-minded comments' were an advert for Scottish independence.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel