Speaker Story Screened South of the Border, not Scotland

There was a fascinating piece about Scot, Michael Martin – The Speaker of the House of Commons – on the BBC programme, the Politics Show, on Sunday.

Not only did he robustly respond to those sly digs at his accent – a la ‘Gorbals Mick’ – but
there were interesting behind-the-scenes shots from his official apartments, including of him getting ready for the day’s business in the House of Commons.

Except that the Scottish opt-out chose to run, instead, a piece about water.

It’s believed the BBC got such impressive access to Martin because the reporter was David Thompson, ex of the Daily Record, whom Martin knows and trusts.

It is possible the piece might run, in some shape, on Reporting Scotland or Newsnight Scotland. But then, again, perhaps not.

A BBC Scotland spokesperson said: “BBC Scotland opts out of a section of the Politics Show every week and broadcasts stories of interest and relevance to viewers in Scotland, such as this week’s examination of the future of Scottish Water and an examination of independent candidates in the lead up to the Scottish Elections. There are no plans to show the network Politics Show’s item on the Speaker in any other part of the output.”