by Rab Bruce’s Spider

I suppose there might be something to the pro-BBC argument that they must be getting something right if both Left and Right accuse them of bias, although I confess I can’t see it myself. I’m probably biased too, but I believe that, like many Scots, I’ve seen the BBC in Scotland for what it is.

However, the Tories seem determined to do away with the BBC, which is a strange attitude when viewed from the position of a pro-Indy Scot.

Indeed, I’ve seen a lot of people based in England, often with connections to the BBC, telling us how much we would miss it. Now, there is no doubt that the BBC do produce some excellent programmes, and some which are extremely popular despite pandering to the current obsession with celebrity culture. But their news and current affairs programmes are so biased in favour of the Tories, I cannot understand their opposition to it. Except that Rupert Murdoch wants to do away with the BBC in its current format, which perhaps explains the latest threat to the Beeb.

Personally, I won’t miss it a great deal. Where there is a demand for a specific programme, some independent production company will step in, as witnessed by the bizarrely popular Great British Bake Off moving to Channel 4. Many older people will recall with fondness the magnificent and ground-breaking nature documentaries produced by David Attenborough, and while the BBC continues to produce high quality programmes of this sort, so do other documentary channels. Yes, there can be a lot of drivel to wade through before you find something worth watching, but there is a lot of drivel on the BBC as well.

What has been interesting is the level of backlash from Scots to those who claim the BBC is a trusted organisation. Clearly, I am far from alone in my view of the propaganda which emanates from BBC Scotland.

In any event, despite the Tories’ latest pronouncements on the abolition of the Licence Fee, I very much doubt that the BBC will disappear. If it is able to earn money from advertising, it will continue, albeit probably in a slightly different form. Perhaps that will damage the quality of some shows, but it surely can’t make their news and current affairs programmes much worse.