Beware the self-loathing. It will only make Scotland worse

They take challenging situations and seek to make them more ­difficult. Their goal is to amplify faults and ­diminish virtues. You can recognise them ­easily. In good times they are largely invisible, however, as soon as problems arise, they come out of the traps at speed.

Their guiding maxim is ESIC – ­Everything Scottish Is Crap. The Scottish media is ­brimming with them. The sort of rational ­discussion common elsewhere is an anathema. They dwell and delight in the negative.

No one can join the BBC Scotland editorial team who is not fully ESIC. The same goes for much of the media, ­­except, of course, for the folks on this fine organ you are reading now.

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Some claim to be Scots. But this raises a ­paradox. If so, then they are wholly ­occupied in doing themselves down. Saturated in ­self-loathing, they paradoxically rarely see the mote in their own eye. But they are hugely eager to point out that in others. Bile and bias take precedence over facts.

Scotland has a new First Minister. Look at the way this news has been reported. ­Almost every columnist has rushed to point out his ­shortcomings. They may be proved right, but contrast that with the honeymoon period ­enjoyed by his British counterparts. Even when they are turning the UK economy to ashes ­within weeks.

An alternative approach may have been to highlight the fact that Humza Yousaf is of ­immigrant stock and has battled to reach the top spot. After all, this is how Rishi Sunak’s rise to Prime Minister was portrayed.

Meanwhile, few column inches have been ­devoted to the hugely significant fact that we are now in a potential situation where a leader of Pakistani descent could negotiate with a leader of Indian descent over the partition of Britain. The empire strikes back with a vengeance!

Lousy media has other consequences, of course. When people are presented with a ­version of the facts that is massively at odds with their own experiences, they shy away from these distortions. They seek alternatives or ­create their own media.

For instance, I jumped at the chance to create The Nation Talks (TNT) on IndyLive with Kevin Gibney for precisely this reason. We have now screened 135 shows featuring ­foremost scientists, academics, show business stars, and even journalists. We also feature guests who do not favour constitutional change. We do not avoid them. We welcome them.

For decades, like many of you, I was exposed to ESIC and the ESICERs. Unlike them, I do not believe that my nation is crap or that the ­people in it are inferior and I am genuinely ­sorry for those who do.

To wake up each ­morning ­knowing that my boss wants me to belittle my friends and neighbours must be ­deeply ­disheartening, even if it does mean ­making the mortgage ­payments. Who knows, this ­self-loathing may bring ­possible psychological damage. Unless of course, one genuinely believes that oneself and other Scots truly are crap.

The average businessperson could be excused for being confused by the editorial stance of much of the Scottish media. In what world does it make sense to alienate half of your potential audience or readership?

Worse, since around 80% of young people in Scotland favour independence, ­according to a BBC journalist. This means that present ­audiences are not being replaced as older ­members shuffle off this mortal coil.

It is difficult to avoid the image of a madman screaming into the abyss. There will come a time when commercial logic prevails over ­political bias.

Even BBC Scotland will find it is bound by it.

There are other consequences too. New data from the World Values Survey, one of the ­largest academic social surveys in the world, shows that the British have an exceptionally low level of trust in their press. Only Egyptians have less confidence in the media than the UK.

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Remember that Egypt has undergone huge disruption since the Arab Spring. Despite this, “Global” Britain’s media is rated a mere 5% ­better.

The same survey showed that only a tiny ­minority of 13% say they have trust in the ­British press, and this has collapsed from 29% in the 1980s.

British institutions too have suffered ­greatly. Trust in the UK Government and the ­Westminster Parliament have all declined ­markedly. Ironically, trust in the European ­Parliament has increased.

Amazingly, even in the face of this colossal British collapse, ESICERs continue to insist that Scots are inferior.

John Perkins, so-called Economic Hit Man, is our next guest on the TNT show.

Join us at 7pm on Wednesday