Should Sarah Smith be taken off air

[Opendraw]

Aibu to think this kind of biased opinion has no place on the BBC

“It has been obvious that Nicola Sturgeon has enjoyed the opportunity to set her own lockdown rules and not have to follow what's happening in England and other parts of the UK”.

Sarah Smith, BBC News at 10 (18/5/20)

Oh and just for avoidance of doubt, I'm Scottish. Born here, live here, pay tax here. Hate the SNP. Hate the way they push themselves as speaking for the entire country when they don't.

Sarah Smith has apologised.
She shouldn’t be taken off air.

There is no effective Opposition in Scotland.
The SNP get a very easy ride on UK programmes such as Question Time and are rarely held up to proper scrutiny.

But honestly, if this is the thing that’s upset you the most in all the news being broadcast at the moment, persecution complex much ?

The good news is that once this is over she'll have Alex Salmond to contend with who has a few scores to settle.

He must have thought all his Christmasses had come at once with the timing of his trial. Flew totally under the news radar.

I think this is the first time I've ever heard get a bit of stick from the media and tbh it was quite refreshing.

There is no effective Opposition in Scotland.

Well there was, but Ruth Davidson stepped down. I'm not a Conservative voter but she is an awesome woman.

I thought that was exactly what NS was doing.

I'd never heard of Sarah Smith before this thread. I like Nicola Sturgeon though and think she is being sensible regarding lockdown.

I'm sick of reading how NS has trumped the English as it is obvious she will when he press conference is at lunch time and ours is at tea time . I am really not a fan but tbh she has been clear and decisive in a way I don't think the English lot always have been.

@Opendraw

YABU. To enjoy also means to “possess and benefit from”. Nicola Sturgeon clearly possesses and is benefiting from the ability to set her own policy. It’s clear that this is the meaning that was intended, even if Sarah Smith hadn’t also clarified this this position on Twitter.

Funny isn’t it how all kinds of shit can be thrown at UK or more specifically English politicians by the media and no one bats an eyelid, but say something derogatory about wee Nippy and all hell breaks loose?

Indeed, I'm not a Tory or a Boris fan, but the abuse he gets (no doubt some of it justified) is incredible. the SNP seem to have most of the media scared of them.

I’ve always been a bit eye-rolley at Sarah Smith’s coverage of Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP...always felt like she was a bit biased in the opposite direction (ie was a NS supporter) so was delighted to see this. In my view she is reporting fact.

I didn't hear it and like NS, but why apologise if like pp are saying she pologised?

I read the term enjoying as it was intended, i'e. benefiting from and taking advantage of rather than taking delight and pleasure from.

She expressed a similar sentiment on the 6 o'clock news (saw that one, didn't see the 10pm one). If the BBC had a problem with it then they would have done something about it after that.

She used the word 'outwith' on the main news last week. It is not a word used in England.

I read the term enjoying as it was intended, i'e. benefiting from and taking advantage of rather than taking delight and pleasure from

Me too.

6pm one she said

"Throughout this the Scottish Government have always said that they've based their policy on expert advice and it's got nothing to do with politics, but it's been obvious how Nicola Sturgeon has embraced the opportunity to make her own different lock down rules and not have to follow what's being done in England and the other UK nations."

The "but" changes the context.

I’m a big fan of Nicola Sturgeon. She looks after Scotland well.

We’re expected to believe that someone of her supposed intelligence didn’t notice at the time that she’d said “enjoying” instead of “embracing”?

Does she think we’re stupid?

YABU, purely because I think sacking people because they say something that is wrong or you don't agree with or is potentially offensive is against the principles of free speech.

Tbh right now it's labour who are getting on my wick far more than NS who is just paving the way out for Scotland (and possibly gaining some independence points, although I doubt she'd have chosen this way to do it). I think it's better that they have their own rules, because it makes it even more complicated otherwise I think trying to keep everyone 'happy'.

I think NS gets it in the neck because she's female. The comments re her appearance etc are foul, she's no great beauty but then neither are most of us.

This publicly funded channel is one of the most biased o f all

Nonsense. People of all political hues get cross about the BBC , which is a clear indicator that it's getting it about right. It's not infallible, but then it's composed of human beings none of whom are infallible.

If you want an example of real bias, try listening to the likes of Ferrari and Farage on LBC.

Of all the people you want to lose their jobs over their criminal handling of this pandemic, Sarah Smith shouldn't be high on the list.

I found Sarah Smith's phrasing odd. Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have maintained more of a lockdown than England. Surely it is E gland who are doing their own thing.

I’m a big fan of Nicola Sturgeon. She looks after Scotland well.

I'd genuinely be interested in what things you think have been well looked after. From what I can see, everything is failing but I appreciate as a non fan, maybe I focus on the negatives?

@GrumpyHoonMain I know someone else has picked up on this so sorry for pointing this out again but not all other countries are excluding non hospital deaths. In fact a comparison of all cause excess mortality to reported covid deaths shows that there are considerable excess deaths above those being reported in the UK but not in France. Also possibly in Spain, Netherlands and New York. So far from all other countries not reporting all covid deaths, there are significant questions to be answered about the level of excess deaths in some places, the most extreme case currently being the UK. The euromomo report (a few weeks behind) gives an interesting view of participating countries in Europe.