BBC tries to stoke racial tensions in Scotland

My letter of complaint:

Dear Sir / Madam,

On Tuesday 10th of March the BBC website reported on an opinion poll commissioned by the BBC into attitudes to immigration in Scotland. The article, entitled “BBC poll suggests 64% of Scots want immigration reduced”, can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31800374

The BBC guidelines on opinion polls clearly state “We should not headline the results of an opinion poll unless it has prompted a story which itself deserves a headline and reference to the poll’s findings is necessary to make sense of it”.

The guideline exists for an excellent reason, which is that it is not the BBC’s role to determine the political questions of the day, but rather to report on them.

This is especially egregious behaviour in a tense pre-election context. I find it hard to imagine what the BBC hoped to achieve by commissioning this poll in the first place.

Yours

Alistair Davidson

[UPDATE: Scotland 2015, the BBC’s flagship current affairs show, is following up on this story by inviting UKIP on to debate the main Scottish parties, except the Greens.]

[UPDATE 2: And “the debate will continue” on Morning Call tomorrow. Joy!]