THE BBC were accused of "lying" to two young SNP activists, telling them an SNP conference interview would be about what to expect from Nicola Sturgeon's conference speech, but instead being grilled on housing, health and education stats.

You can read our full story by clicking here. Laura Pollock, 20, and Steven Campbell, 22, were being interviewed by Nihal Arthanayake.

When we asked the BBC to comment on whether they felt the interview was appropriate in tone and impartial, they told us: “The interview focused on the party’s policies with two of its supporters. The tone was cordial and fair throughout. Those involved have not raised any issues with us.”

So, we want you to listen and judge for yourself – was this a "fair and cordial" interview? You can listen to the segment on our soundcloud below, or read the full transcript we've included.

TRANSCRIPT

Nihal Arthanayake (presenter): We have Stephen Campbell and Laura Pollock who are SNP members eagerly awaiting Nicola’s speech. Very good afternoon to both of you.

Steven Campbell: Good afternoon, lovely to talk to you.

Laura Pollock: Hello.

N: How lovely to talk to both of you.

N: So let’s talk about some of these challenges. Let’s park Brexit and park a second referendum. What do you think the big challenges that Scotland face [sic] are, starting with you Laura?

L: Oh no problem. Big challenges Scotland is facing apart from Brexit and independence, was that the question?

N: What are the big challenges that they face?

L: I would say that I’m expecting for Sturgeon to call out Boris and Trump and that their attitudes…

N [interrupting]: That’s external though – I’m talking about internally. Looking at Scotland and saying – you can’t just be a party that everyone thinks of all they’re obsessed with is a second referendum for Scottish independence. Scotland faces challenges in terms of housing, in terms of education, NHS, policing, all of these challenges.

L: I’m quite focused on child care and I feel as though child care and education around that, that’s an important one.

N: Stephen – can I ask you as well where you think the big challenges lie?

S: I think the biggest challenge lies in climate change. Because that doesn’t just affect Scotland, it affects the whole world, but we made really, really ambitious targets so now it’s really important to hear how we’re actually gonna go about tackling those. And on top of that, you mentioned the NHS and you mentioned education, and I get that it’s not the best in the world, but I mean I just recently graduated and I didn’t have to pay a penny in tuition fees. If it wasn’t for that, which is one of the main policies of the SNP, I never would have been able to go to university.

N: Mmm. And in terms of, then, where you think the SNP have come short – now I am asking delegates, but look… and members of the party… but I trust you to be honest enough to say we’re not getting it right all the time. So where do you feel, Stephen, that the SNP have fallen short?

S: I think there’s been a lot of issues facing staffing in the NHS – my sister works for the NHS, that’s something we need to tackle, but that’s going to be very, very difficult in the light of Brexit, because we have so many EU staff here who are now leaving the country and others don’t want to come because they don’t feel welcome, and I really hope that in the SNP we can kind of spread that welcoming message so we can tackle that challenge.

L: I definitely feel that the state pensions is awful – and there was a resolution on Monday about it. But the UK state pension is the worst of any major countries. So that’s definitely a big one – and the resolution and policy… we really need to tackle that.

N: What about teacher shortages, Stephen?

S: It’s the same thing again. Brexit is really, really not helping that situation. I understand the SNP is really trying to put more into getting a lot more young teachers into university and I think that that is starting to kinda show, and I think with Brexit, I think we need to make sure that as a party we are trying to encourage people to move to Scotland because we need more immigrants here – not just the NHS, not just education, but just our society as a whole.

N: Mmm. Do you think that the SNP has been successful in its management of the NHS in Scotland?

S: Largely yes. Granted we’ve certainly got shortcomings, that’s – I’m not going to deny that that happened. We’ve got the best performing NHS in the UK, obviously that doesn’t make up for the fact we’re not perfect, we’ve still got work to do but I think that the NHS In Scotland is something to be proud of. I’ve got family who work for it and I know that they’re very, very proud to work for the Scottish NHS.

N: Mmm. I mean, looking at some information from last year, in terms of mental health provision for young people, waiting times were the worst on record in Scotland.

S: I’ve personally spoken out a lot about mental health, I’ve written articles, I’ve spoken about it on social media, so it’s something that’s very close to my heart. Again, we’re not perfect, but I think it’s almost a good thing that so many people are talking now – the reason that we have such a long provision is because I feel like the stigma is being tackled quite successfully, and because of that a lot more people are feeling like they can speak out and they can seek help. Yeah, granted, there is really long waiting lists, I’m not going to deny that, I’ve been on them myself, it’s not a pleasant experience, but the people in most serious need of help are prioritised and they’re the ones who get the help first.

N: Mmm. Yeah, so, Laura, what are you expecting to hear from Nicola Sturgeon – or in fact actually let’s do that in a different way, what are you hoping to hear?

L: I was hoping you’d ask what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping for her to address the attitudes of Boris, definitely, she said in 2016 that she wasn’t prepared to be a politician that maintains her silence and she hasn’t been up to this point, but I really hope she calls it out. John Swinney did it yesterday – described him as a clown but a dangerous one, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping that she recognises the youth wing, looking at the stuff we’ve been doing over the past few days and our hard work as well, and I really hope she addresses public services and on delivering on those.

N: Mmm. I mean, you know, since 2006 – on the eve of the SNP coming to power – Scotland’s rankings in science has fallen from 10th place to 19th, in reading ability from 11th to 23rd, and in maths from 11th to 24th, that’s the Pisa rankings of 35 member nations of the OECD. I mean, that’s pretty alarming isn’t it?

L: Yeah those are staggering figures.

N: Yeah! Well, those show on the SNP’s watch they haven’t helped educate the children of Scotland.

L: Since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister there has been 1200 extra teachers in our schools.

N: There is a teaching shortage in Scotland is there not?

L: I agree. And we’re not perfect on that. But we have those numbers – and then we’ve got more than 900 schools that have been built or refurbished under the SNP, so there is action there.

N: Stephen, what are you hoping to hear in Nicola Sturgeon’s speech?

S: Like I said earlier, I’m really hoping to hear more about how we’re going to tackle climate change. Obviously we were, I think, the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency, like I said we’ve set the most ambitious targets anywhere in the world so I really want to hear more about how we’re actually going to do that. I’m also hoping she mentions – I saw this on your news earlier today – about the pardoning of gay and bisexual men for historic offences. Obviously, these were men who were criminalised for basically just loving someone of the same sex, so I’m really hoping that she mentions that because I watched it in the parliament a year and a half ago and it was really, really emotional, and I think that’s something that not just in the SNP but in Scotland we should be proud that we’re really, really progressive in that manner.

L: Absolutely. I also would like to add that I’ve love for her to address the issues in Catalonia right now.

N: Um. What about the focus on an independence referendum – a second independence referendum. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, look, you’re members of the SNP, so presumably you’re fully signed up to the idea of it, but is that not just an unnecessary distraction when as I’m pointing out the SNP have, well, more immediate issues to deal with – once they have been given power to deal with things such as education they seem to have failed over the last 13 years.

S: Well no, we’ve definitely not failed. You’ve got to remember that Westminster still sets our overall budget, so while we can decide where to allocate the money, the money does come from Westminster.

N: So those rankings that I mentioned, that’s down to Westminster. So when things go wrong you can blame Westminster and when things go right you can big up yourselves?

S: I didn’t say that.

N: Right, okay. So then what are you putting this down to, this failure in reading ability, science, maths, the three core…

S: I’m not too sure on what the Pisa is I’ve not read that myself before. I can’t argue if the numbers are showing that. That is not very good and I really, really hope that we address that soon. I know that our Education Secretary is excellent and I know that our schools are, again, excellent. I’m just out of the education system myself and I do genuinely believe that our education system is something for us to be proud of.

N: Mmm. Well, I think there is new figures due to be published this year, they may have already been published so I may be going on old ones, but certainly from 2006 right through to 2018 the SNP have been in power for most of that time, that would not be encouraging. Okay, so you clearly believe there should be a second independence referendum. Is there not a sense of referendum and election fatigue amongst people, do you GENUINELY think it’s a vote winner in Scotland?

S: Of course I do. Polling seems to indicate that it’s about neck and neck, so we need to keep working and getting more people onside – because people look at what’s happening with Brexit, it’s forced them to pay attention to politics. They look at what’s happening down in Westminster, it’s just a bunch of elitist people shouting at each other. I do feel like the UK is going down a very, very dangerous path and it’s not going to be resolved quickly. This is going to be us for generations now. I don’t want to be part of the UK in the current state that it is and I don’t see how we get back from it.

N: Mmm. Do you think that Westminster would allow a second independence referendum, especially if Boris Johnson wins the next General Election – I almost feel like an idiot asking this question because I think we all know the answer to it, don’t we? Do you think they would?

L: In a democracy, a politician should never stand in the way of the people. If the momentum’s there and the mandate’s there they would have to give us a right to choose.

N: So you believe in respecting the result of the EU referendum then?

S: Well yeah because Scotland voted to remain. So I do respect that.

N: But as part of the United Kingdom?

S: That’s true, but that doesn’t mean that Scotland’s voice can just be ignored. In 2014 we were told to lead the UK not leave the UK… until we disagree and then we just have to go along with whatever a majority of people in England and Wales decide.

N: So this is I guess one of the big mechanisms that the SNP is gonna use to try to persuade people in Scotland to vote for a second referendum – that Scotland voted to remain.

S: Yes, because it’s true. And I think a lot of people in Scotland are really, really angry at what’s been happening. This isn’t in our name. The attitude of Boris, of the Conservative Party, of Westminster has been nothing short of disgraceful. They’ve made people who’ve come here from the EU who have come here, lived here, worked here their entire lives feel like they don’t belong here anymore, that is not right.

N: Mmm. Imagine if the UK left the EU, then Scotland left the UK, rejoined the EU, and here’s a big question because I’m not sure that many people thought about it pre 2016, what would happen at the border?

S: Well whilst Scotland was out of both the UK and the EU I don’t see why there would have to be a border, this will all be up to negotiations. You’ve got to remember it won’t just be a yes vote, that’s it, borders go up. There will be negotiations, the whole thing…

N [Interrupting]: Well we know how that thing’s worked out when it comes to the island of Ireland, don’t you? That’s been the main sticking block for the last three years.

S: Of course, that’s a very unique issue though.

N: Mmm. So you feel that the Scottish people, and it would be quite interesting for some of our Scottish listeners to text in and tell us their thoughts on this, you think the Scottish people are swinging round to the idea of having this referendum?

S: Well that’s what the polling shows…

N: I’m going to have to interrupt you both there unfortunately because you’re also gonna want to hear this – the leader of the SNP and of course First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has now taken to the stage at their annual conference in Aberdeen and is about to speak. Over to Nicola Sturgeon.