BBC Scotland has broken its silence as the questions around its policy of reporting on Brexit mount.
The broadcaster has come under fire in recent days after it aired an interview with the president of the National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland, Martin Kennedy.
Kennedy, who had previously been vocal in his criticism of Brexit, appeared to have his reference to it cut out of a clip aired by the BBC, although mention was included in an accompanying online article.
This appeared to be part of a wider pattern, which former No 10 communication boss Alastair Campbell suggested may have been a policy decision.
READ MORE: Don't mention the B-word: BBC accused of airbrushing Brexit 'out of existence'
Campbell pointed to recent reports of the chaos at Dover, which have pointed to holidaymakers and the cancellation of P&O Ferries crossings as the cause of the long delays.
However, the head of the British Ports Association, Richard Ballantyne, has said the delays are linked to “Brexit scenarios”, and logistics firm DFDS confirmed that ferries are sailing without being fully laden as lorries can’t clear customs fast enough.
This was highlighted by filmmakers Phantom Power, who shared a clip from the BBC’s Reporting Scotland in which the delays are reported, but Brexit not mentioned.
Reporting Scotland blamed the Dover tailbacks preventing Scotland’s time sensitive seafood from reaching European markets on holiday makers rather than the Tory UK Govt’s failing Brexit customs checks system. No edits here, just straight omission of facts. pic.twitter.com/9jcNPlonvE
— Phantom Power (@PhantomPower14) April 12, 2022
The BBC has declined to comment.
However, asked on Twitter if the broadcaster had taken an “editorial direction … to avoid negative reporting of Brexit, as has been claimed”, BBC Scotland’s business and economy editor Douglas Fraser was dismissive.
He responded: “I have no idea what you’re on about. But I’m going to hazard a guess that the ‘has been claimed’ part was a fantasy.”
Well done. A triple negative. I have no idea what you’re on about. But i’m going to hazard a guess that the ‘has been claimed’ part was a fantasy.
— Douglas Fraser✒️🎥🎙 (@BBCDouglasF) April 11, 2022
Commenting on the apparent removal of Brexit from the aired interview with the NFU Scotland president, Fraser said: “To be clear, this was a short edited TV pack? Including an interview with a farmer rep who has been repeatedly interviewed about Brexit? I went to his farm for one of them. And you know this because… BBC online news gave more detail, including reference to Brexit?”
Asked why Brexit had been removed from the TV broadcast, he said: “I don’t know, but I’m guessing it had to do with editing to length, and probably at speed - an uncompromising discipline in TV news.
“You realise that we tend not to do 20 second interviews with contributors, but edit them to that length?”
Scotland’s former Brexit secretary Michael Russell previously told The National: “There’s a very strong view in Scotland that Brexit was a disastrous mistake, and the consequences that we warned about from the beginning are now happening.
"Whether it is the BBC refusing to acknowledge that warning, or whether it is the BBC pretending that we’ve all moved on, they really need to take a very serious look at how they are covering the consequences of Brexit because they aren’t going to go away.
"If BBC Scotland think they can airbrush it out of existence then they really need to take a very hard look at how they are editorialising their stance."
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