by Rab Bruce’s Spider

If anyone retains any lingering doubts about the BBC’s agenda to undermine the Scottish Government, the release of the latest Quarterly Unemployment statistics yesterday showed their bias once again.

The figures showed that Employment in Scotland is at a record high, with the number of Unemployed falling by 12,000 compared to the previous quarter. That, however, was not what the BBC reported. By comparing the statistics to those released last month rather than last quarter, they discovered a slight increase in Unemployment by around 3,000, and this was the figure they highlighted. It was only when the Scottish Government pointed out that they were not comparing like with like that they corrected their story and issued an apology. You can read their revised article at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-40947422

This morning, however, Radio Scotland focused on the 3,000 rise as its headline statistic, despite the correction issued by BBC London yesterday.

Now, statistics can prove anything, and it is fair to point out that there has been a slight rise in Unemployment on one reading of the figures, but it is not at all the main feature of the statistics. By using this as their primary headline, BBC Scotland are attempting to show the Scottish Government’s economic efforts are failing. Of course, the Scottish Government is quick to hail good news on the economy as being down to their policies, while bad news can be blamed on Westminster since the Scottish Government does not have all the economic powers of a normal Government, but that is a separate argument. The issue here is that BBC Scotland continues to concentrate on bad news whenever possible.

Generally, these statistics are good news. Scottish Unemployment is lower than anywhere else in the UK, more people than ever are in work, and the quarterly comparison shows a fall in Unemployment. That should be the story, even if a caveat on a small month to month increase is worth mentioning.

You can make what you like of the actual statistics, but the only thing you can take from the BBC reporting is that Donalda MacKinnon has completely failed in her stated intention of rebuilding trust in the BBC.