Riddoch Sounds Sceptical Note over Media Coverage of Jimmy Reid's Death

Scottish broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch, will have touched a few raw nerves among some of her colleagues in her regular column in The Scotsman yesterday – in the wake of the media coverage of the death of Jimmy Reid.

In a trenchant and characteristically honest piece, defending climate change protesters who are currently railing against The RBS in Edinburgh, Riddoch writes: “The welcome board even contains an echo of that famous line from the late Jimmy Reid about the dangers of bevvying.

She reports the message: “This camp offers an alternative to consumerism. It is not a space for excessive use of drugs and alcohol – nor is it a festival.

“It is an active movement for social change. Those responsible for violence, intimidation, harassment or unwanted sexual contact will be excluded.”

Then came Riddoch's sting in the tale, a few paragraphs further on. She writes: “Jimmy Reid's funeral prompted a media – who latterly ignored him – to broadcast fond recollections of a possibly illegal work-in organised by young Communists who wanted to overthrow capitalism.”