Conservatives take BBC bosses to task over Ross interview column

The Scottish Conservatives have called for talks with BBC Scotland after leader Douglas Ross was not allowed to pre-record an interview despite having to look after his two young sons.

Leaders of Scotland’s main political parties are usually interviewed on the BBC’s flagship weekend political show, The Sunday Show, before and after party conferences.

But Mr Ross did not turn up because the BBC refused to pre-record the interview, despite being informed that he needed to look after their sons as his wife, a police officer, started her shift at 7am. Ta.

Leaders of Scotland’s main political parties are usually interviewed on the BBC’s flagship weekend political show, The Sunday Show, before and after party conferences.

Scottish Conservative Party leaders have asked SNP leaders for clarification after previously allowing them to pre-record interviews.

Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “I have written to BBC Scotland bosses to express my party’s frustrations on this matter and to call for a meeting to seek answers.” We believe that denying our request to record Saturday’s interview was completely unreasonable.

“It’s all the more galling given that they have previously made concessions to other politicians to allow them to pre-record their Sunday interviews…This is one rule for one rule, another for another. It’s a rule.”

BBC Scotland said: “The Sunday Show will be flexible as to location and time, but will always conduct party conference interviews on the day they air.” In the interest of fairness and consistency, we made this offer to Mr. Ross, but the offer was not accepted. ”

• Prime Minister Humza Yousaf plans to take paternity leave when his wife gives birth later this year. “I’m going to be a thorough hands-on father to him,” he said yesterday. The couple already have two children, daughter Amal, 4, and Yousaf is stepfather to 14-year-old Maya.

i won’t run away duty as a father Tune in to BBC

Explanation Douglas Ross, Scottish Conservative Party leader

I have never tried to pick a fight with the BBC or any other media. All politicians should champion freedom of the press as a means to influence and, if they are lucky, persuade the public.

The trade-off, of course, is that politicians will face awkward questions and have their ideas and policies examined.

One of my main complaints about members of the SNP government is their reluctance to submit to scrutiny. That is why I have made transparency a central pillar of the Scottish Conservatives’ approach. So I was not only anticipating, but looking forward to a rich interview on Sunday Show at the party convention over the weekend.

Until now, the BBC has been happy to pre-record interviews with other politicians. In recent months, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes have been allowed to record interviews days before Sunday’s broadcast. Yet I was refused with the same courtesy. I was given an ultimatum to interview on Sunday or not at all.

This was despite the BBC knowing that his wife, Krystle, a police sergeant in Elgin, was scheduled to work a shift starting at 7am on Sunday. We have two young sons, ages 4 and 2, and I had no intention of neglecting my fatherly duties or share of childcare duties. Every parent knows that supervising a child that age is not a part-time job that you can quit for 30 minutes.

We have been in discussions with the BBC for a number of weeks and I have suggested a simple alternative. The plan was to record the interview at the end of the meeting on Saturday afternoon. But it doesn’t budge.

I was keen to provide an overview of the core issues discussed at the successful and illuminating conference. And I was ready to have my arguments challenged. Instead, host Martin Geisler simply told viewers that I would not be appearing “due to childcare issues.”

I would argue that is at least a contemptuous understatement and a complete misunderstanding as to why the BBC terminated the interview.

Far from being a last-minute, minor issue that led me to ignore them, as their lines seemed to imply, there was an enormous amount of conflict surrounding this. The BBC rightly supports Family Promise in its editorial coverage. We hope it will be useful for your own employees as well.

In fact, during Sunday’s program, there was an exchange between Mr. Geisler and Deputy Prime Minister Shona Robison that touched on the maternity leave and maternity leave of Mr. Yousaf and cabinet minister Mhairi McCarran.

It rightly presented them as examples of a desirable work-life balance for politicians (something all other workers should expect as well).

While on maternity leave with my eldest son Alistair, I was one of the first MPs to take advantage of a change in the rules to allow proxy voting in Westminster. If the British Parliament, often criticized for its outdated ways of working, has moved into his 21st century, shouldn’t the BBC too?

We all want to do everything we can to encourage more people to take part in politics, but the BBC’s decision will bring pressure to balance being a politician with being a parent. This suggests that we still have a long way to go to make people understand.

I take my family commitments and the limited precious time I have with them seriously. I’m not going to abandon them for the sake of the BBC. Especially when other politicians are clearly not subject to the same “Forget Sunday” mandate.

In the end, Alistair, James and I had a perfect day visiting a local farm, eating ice cream and playing soccer.

It convinced me that I was right to put them in front of the indomitable BBC.