THE BBC has been accused of “Anglo-centric discourse” around Brexit after journalists claimed there is “no major party” looking to return to the EU.
The statement came despite the SNP – the third-largest party in Westminster – campaigning for Scotland to become a full independent member of the bloc.
On the day of the Brexit anniversary, January 31, BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine broadcast a segment with political correspondent Adam Fleming discussing polling on attitudes towards the EU.
“The strange thing … is we don’t have a major political party saying we’ve got to get back in. It’s almost as if that will never, ever happen and it’s not on the agenda,” Vine told listeners.
Fleming failed to correct the claim or mention the SNP, instead discussing Labour and the Tories’ policies on EU co-operation.
“The EU is very keen to start talking about co-operating on the EU on more stuff,” Fleming told the host.
“It’ll be interesting to see can the Conservative Party, as it currently exists, embrace some of that stuff? Or does Rishi Sunak have to hug that idea of sovereignty really close to keep his own party on side.”
He went on: “Then you look at the Labour Party, they’re talking about enhanced co-operation with the EU in very specific places like security, plant and animal health and how the EU recognises qualifications in the UK like architects and plumbers. Now that is a long way short of re-establishing our old relationship with the EU, none of the major political parties, you’re right, are getting anything close to that.”
The BBC’s Politics account on Twitter also shared the excerpt, but it was later deleted.
The National understands that producers at BBC Radio 2 and social media managers have admitted to the error, but the SNP are concerned that no recourse of solution has been found.
The party has now escalated an official complaint to the ECU, the broadcaster’s Executive Complaints Unit.
SNP president Michael Russell (below) said: “It is totally unacceptable that Anglo-centric discourse like this is still churned out by the BBC. The BBC reducing Scotland’s political significance this way is unacceptable and it needs to end now.
"The BBC is supposed to reflect the whole of the UK and the UK is supposed to be a voluntary union of countries, not a Westminster based unitary state.
“It’s right that the BBC have acknowledged the Radio 2 piece and the subsequent video clip tweet fell short of their own guidelines – but BBC news bosses have so far failed to offer any recourse or remedial action, so we’re taking the complaint further.”
A BBC spokesperson said: "We take our coverage of Brexit very seriously and the importance of representing every political party’s views on the subject.
"In our item, we referred directly to the Scottish National Party being 'in a different place' on Brexit compared to parties such as the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats.
"However, we should have made clear in an earlier part of the discussion that one of the main political parties is in favour of rejoining the EU. We remain committed to covering every aspect of the UK’s political life – and that includes Scotland."
The SNP are working towards joining the EU after independence, with MP Alyn Smith having been appointed EU Accession spokesperson at Westminster following Stephen Flynn’s reshuffle last year.
Smith has described the economic impact of Brexit on Scotland as “catastrophic”, with GDP across the UK falling by an estimated 5.5% since leaving the single market.
Some 62% of Scots backed Remain at the Brexit referendum. Consistent polling since 2016 has also shown that the majority of Scots want to rejoin the bloc, with as many as 72% backing membership in recent polls.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack came under fire in January after claiming there was “no desire in Scotland to have membership of the EU” despite the range of surveys indicating otherwise. He refused to withdraw the statement.
Fact-checking service Full Fact cited 28 polls from John Curtice’s website What Scotland Thinks to point out that Remain had an average lead of 29 points over Leave amongst most Scots.
“When Alister Jack told parliament that ‘there was no desire’ for Scotland to have membership, he was speaking against a body of evidence that suggests the contrary,” fact checker Leo Benedictus said.
