BBC dismiss complaints of Andrew Marr 'bias' against Nicola Sturgeon in interview

The complaints related specifically to the First Minister’s appearance on The Andrew Marr Show on November 29 in which the Scots presenter suggested there was a "gap" between reality and her public claims about both the Alex Salmond scandal, her government's coronavirus record and the state of education in Scotland.

Andrew Marr, the Glasgow-born journalist and author, presented an attitude towards the First Minister which some compared to an “attack dog” who was aiming not for a political interview but a “character assassination”.

The First Minister was held to account on Covid-19 death rates in Scotland and England.

Mr Marr told Ms Sturgeon that the Scottish National Party had "actually done worse than England in dealing with the Covid-19 second wave."

He later asked her: "Have you let Scotland down?"

It was later pointed out comparisons had related to recent weeks, rather than the length of pandemic.

Figures at that point showed there were 50.5 deaths per million in Scotland in the week to 15 November, compared to 40.6 in England.

Ms Sturgeon insisted that over the entire pandemic Scotland's death rate was "quite significantly lower" than that in either England or Wales.

The BBC presenter also accused her of misleading his viewers during a 2018 interview over when she knew of sexual misconduct allegations against Mr Salmond.

In addition, Ms Sturgeon denied after being challenged that she had failed to meet her key target of closing the huge gulf in school attainment between the wealthiest and poorest pupils.

The corporation has hit back at complaints, however, stating that they don’t believe Marr’s approach was unfair’.

"The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon was closely questioned on topics such as her handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the attainment gap in Scottish education, and we heard Ms Sturgeon respond at length," the BBC said in response to complaints.

"Andrew Marr referred to two distinct periods in his questioning about the pandemic, the first wave in the Spring and the second this Autumn.

"Viewers were clear that Ms Sturgeon was being questioned about Scotland’s performance in the first wave before being presented with the most recent data available at the time of the interview.

"We don’t agree that the approach taken was biased or unfair."

The BBC continued: "The Andrew Marr Show is known for its rigorous and in depth interviews in which politicians and others in positions of power are held to account.

"The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was asked a range of challenging questions as were the other politicians interviewed on this edition of the programme.

"Every interview is different but we believe each showed the scrutiny, detail and due impartiality the audience would expect."

During the interview, Mr Marr said: "You have talked a lot of the low prevalence of coronavirus in Scotland compared to other countries.

"But when you look at the data, isn’t the truth that Scotland had the third-worst record of any country in Europe in the first wave?"

Ms Sturgeon replied: "The number of deaths in Scotland is far too high. You won’t hear me say anything different.

"I don’t think it should be seen as a competition, but since you’ve asked me, we have a lower death rate than England and Wales."

Mr Marr also played back a clip from his October 2018 interview with Ms Sturgeon in which he asked her when "you heard any stories" about Mr Salmond before they were disclosed in the press.

She responded at the time: “I’ve said previously Alex Salmond informed me about these complaints in April, that was the first I had known.”

But in evidence to the Holyrood inquiry she admitted she held a meeting in March 2018 with Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff covering “allegations of a sexual nature”.

Ms Sturgeon also knew about “allegations of sexual misconduct” as far back as November 2017, following media inquiries from Sky News.

Challenged by Mr Marr about the disparity, Ms Sturgeon said that she stood by what she said in October, 2018, adding that she was referring to issues raised under "Scottish Government processes" and that the Sky News inquiry related to a story that was never run.

She insisted the presenter was "conflating" when she found out about allegations in general, and those specifically raised by civil servants that were investigated by the Scottish Government.

Mr Marr added: "I asked you just what you knew about Alex Salmond at that time, I didn't narrow it down at that point.

"It seems to me there is a gap between presentation, very very good presentation and the reality when it comes to coronavirus data, when it comes to education, when it comes to the Alex Salmond issue. There is a gap between how you present yourself, very very effectively, and what's really been going on in Scotland."

Ms Sturgeon responded, saying that she didn't accept the assessment and added: "Ultimately the judge will not be me, and with the greatest respect to you, the judge of that will not be you, the judge of that will be the people of Scotland and I don't take that judgment for granted."

As of December 10, the BBC’s figures reported that 161 complaints were received relating to “bias against SNP" in an interview with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The figures only detail issues which were complained about more than 100 times.

Strictly Come Dancing received 141 complaints from people who felt it was “inappropriate for male professional dancers to be dressed in drag for the opening dance”, while Have I Got News For You received 105 complaints for “offensive humour”.

In total BBC Audience Services received 4146 complaints about programmes and 9214 altogether between November 23 and December 6.