WELL done George Kerevan. His article “Why it really is time for Scots to make a serious stand against the BBC” (March 15) is the most sensible thing I have read for a long time. Defunding the British Brainwashing Corporation to fund alternative indy-backing media is an idea whose time has come. In fact it is long overdue. It would be the biggest leap forward in advancing the independence case since the “It’s Scotland’s Oil” campaign of the 1970s.
A nationwide non-payment campaign killed off the hated poll tax. Let’s make the BBC the next target.
I am less enthusiastic about using the money diverted from the BBC to fund a whole myriad of internet-based independence-supporting media outlets, some of dubious quality, and frankly currently broadcasting boring hour-long interviews between individuals with vaguely similar political outlooks.
READ MORE: George Kerevan: Why it really is time for Scots to make a serious stand against the BBC
I would class as number one priority the production and broadcast – to as wide an audience as possible – of an alternative, very professional news bulletin in direct time competition with the BBC daily bulletins at lunchtime and especially at 6.30pm. This simple aim would encourage many to join the campaign. I see no harm in using these facilities to also directly compete against STV’s version of news, which is usually little better than the BBC news wrapped in tartan closely followed by the latest fitba gossip.
Given the many TV channels now available on even the most basic of TVs, serious consideration needs to be given to this, and research carried out as to how to get from internet-based media on to the big screen – the TV in a corner of every home in the land.
In a few weeks’ time vast bundles of election leaflets will be delivered by the hard-pressed Royal Mail. They will arrive six at a time accompanied by leaflets for double glazing and pizza delivery. The vast majority will go straight from the doormat to the recycling bin, completely unread, in under a minute. Television is still the window on to the world for many.
Where do I sign up, George?
John Baird
Paisley
GEORGE Kerevan is right when he says that it’s time to make a serious stand against the BBC.
Some of us in the independence movement have already been doing this for years now as the BBC continues its deliberate campaign of distortion and Unionist propaganda against Scotland and her democratically elected government. At this time when the Tories are not only actively dismantling our NHS, they are also actively engaged in shutting down democracy – the latest bill seeks to control who can and cannot protest and the Internal Market Act can override everything the Scottish Parliament decides!
In Scotland, we have had governments elected in England imposed on Scotland for decades – hardly democratic but NEVER highlighted by the likes of the BBC, who then go on to claim they are “impartial”!
We have Boris Johnson, the leader of a party that has not won a General Election in Scotland since 1955, telling us that he will not respect the outcome of the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May if it delivers a majority for the SNP and he will deny Scots the right to have a say in the running of their own country. A democratic outrage, yet silence from the BBC who then go on to report on what China is doing to Hong Kong!
If we are serious about democracy, independence and we truly love Scotland, IT IS OUR DUTY to find ways of making our displeasure known to these dictators in London, and there’s no better way to do this than starving their broadcasting mouthpiece of funds. Boycotting the BBC is a simple thing to do and what’s more, it can be done legally! Stop watching the BBC and cancel your TV licence. You can see some BBC programmes legally on YouTube or certain other catch-up channels, but in the end, what’s more important: the future of your country for your children and grandchildren, or watching River City?
Peter Jeal
Dalbeattie
GEORGE Kerevan is absolutely correct – there has to be a boycott of the TV licence in Scotland. The licence fee is paying for the BBC to lie to us, time after time. Either Sarah Smith is the most incompetent journalist in the world or she is following orders of releasing fake news via BBC broadcasts and then meekly apologising for her errors on Twitter. Of course the number of people who see the apology is miniscule compared to the number who watch her biased and distorted news broadcasts.
We all know that most newspapers are BritNat supporters and print lies after lies when it comes to Scottish independence, but we don’t go out and buy those papers – so why should we keep paying for BBC propaganda aimed at harming the cause of Scottish independence?
I believe Scotland already has more licence fee objectors than anywhere else in the UK but it would be great if everyone joined this campaign. I particularly like the idea that we invest our licence fee payment into Scottish broadcasting – there are a range of options and maybe this is something that Now Scotland could look at. It’s perfectly legal not to pay the TV licence – information about this is available online. Let’s encourage as many people as possible to ditch the BBC.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
AS a female daily reader of The National, I feel the need to write to express my anger and almost disbelief at Ms Bardell, MP for Livingston, saying a curfew on all men should be considered after 6pm!!
As a wife of 53 years, a mother of two daughters and a son – who has been the only member of my family to have been assaulted in midday – it is ludicrous to suggest that the majority of males in Scotland are predators on women. Indeed on the same page as this article there was a news report on a male who was attacked at Hamilton station on Saturday.
READ MORE: SNP MP says curfew for men should be considered in areas where women are killed
As an SNP supporter I will now be placing my vote with an alternative party and would suggest that males and females in Ms Bardell’s constituency should consider doing the same. I am writing this as a woman who was attacked in her youth, but I feel Ms Bardell’s suggestion is disgraceful and frightening and in my opinion is contributing to firing up hysteria at this time and harmful to the independence movement.
I Hutchison
East Kilbride
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