IN his column last week Michael Russell denigrated the BBC but then went on to claim somehow that going forward we will still need an unbiased public service broadcaster (Current BBC can’t be defended but unbiased public media is needed, January 22).

However, haven’t we realised that this proposition has become an oxymoron; indeed looking historically hasn’t it in reality always been so?

Perhaps the difference now is two-fold. We have a singular issue in Scottish independence where we can see the BBC’s naked bias, which isn’t so much the politics of left or right (why it is criticised by both sides of the political spectrum), rather that of an establishment using it to reflect an increasingly unfair, undemocratic and untenable status quo.

Second is that broadcast news reporting has been found out by the proliferation of alternative means like social media, where various news sources can help build the news picture often substantially at difference, and more succinctly than organisations like the BBC.

In short, recognising this we can simply switch off and still glean fact-based news and without the vested-interest slant.

The empire has rightly gone. We no longer need this biased BBC to remind us of its so-called former glory propped up by a monarchy long overdue to be evaluated whether still relevant in the modern era without the drip feed of public broadcasting promotion and influencing public opinion.

READ MORE: Michael Russell: The BBC cannot be defended - but unbiased public media is essential

Sorry, Michael. Yes, any government has factual information it needs to impart to the public but commercial and social media means adequately fulfil that role.

Isn’t it time to scrap the licence fee and make the BBC take its place on the same commercial footing as the others?

Why should we have to pay even more to be propagandised, talked at, rather than being informed in an unbiased way?

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh

SHOCKED and disgusted I may be by reading of the proposed deportation of young mother Rawan Alshaban and her toddlers, but unfortunately, not at all surprised (Home Office horror leaves father in wait, Jan 22).

I myself know of a young doctor, given permission to stay and work here. When, after a few weeks, her visa papers had not arrived, she telephoned to query this, only to be told that they had confirmation that they had been delivered by courier to her address. When she asked where they had been delivered, it was to a house several doors away.

Even though they admitted that the delivery address was not the one they had on file for her, she was told to go and ask the occupants there for her papers. There she discovered that new tenants were in process of moving in, had dumped all the mail behind the door in the bin and the bin had been emptied that morning.

On reporting this to the Home Office, she was told it was not their problem and she would have to apply all over again from scratch! It was only after a period of severe worry and help from superiors that they eventually replaced the documents.

It seems that the culture of refusing to accept blame and passing it on to others is alive and well in more parts of the Westminster government than just No 10.

L McGregor
Falkirk

“INFORMATIVE” was my reaction to the article by Social Security Secretary Ben Macpherson (How we’ll do things differently from the DWP, Jan 26). This article was focusing on the new benefit of “adult disability payment” being introduced by the Scottish Government through the limited welfare powers that have been devolved.

As the Social Security Secretary pointed out at the start of his article, Social Security is a human right and none of us know when we may need it, so it is imperative that at the introduction of this new benefit, the Scottish Government get it right. For too long the DWP have treated the disabled, the vulnerable, those who need to rely on social security with little fairness, no dignity and certainly no respect.

So for the Scottish Government to have the opportunity to clean the slate and review the whole process, listen to those it will affect has been refreshing. With thousands dependent on “disability benefits” to survive, it is their financial lifeline, the transition from Westminster and the DWP to Social Security Scotland is no mean feat and we must recognise this work is going on daily, all be it, not hitting the headlines.

This article gave readers an insight, an update on a vital Scottish Government department and more of the same from other Scottish Government departments would be appreciated.

If we are to get ourselves ready for the campaign at the forthcoming local elections and for indyref2, then we need to keep ourselves updated and fully informed, this would be a good avenue.

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk

WOULD the UK Parliament be prorogued again if a Tory minister was found to have told the truth?

M Ross
Aviemore