AS anyone with a Twitter account might have guessed, today is GERS day – marking the release of the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland statistics.
Broadly, they show that Scotland's economy is travelling in the right direction.
READ MORE: First Minister says Scotland 'has more than paid its way' as GERS figures released
There have, of course, already been many reports and pieces of analysis published – but it was the BBC's that caught the eye of SNP MSP Paul Wheelhouse.
He posted a clip on Twitter in which the presenter says: "Scotland's public finances have improved slightly, with an increase in revenue and a reduction in the deficit, according to the latest figures.
"But the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5 billion more than it raised, meaning the nation's deficit is four times higher than that of the UK as a whole."
This is disgraceful @BBCNews - Your presenter clearly states that GERS says “...the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5Bn more than it raised...”. This is a really serious factual error & I expect to see a equally prominent/high profile apology to @DerekMackaySNP! pic.twitter.com/GbAgpSw5vV
— Paul Wheelhouse MSP 🏴 (@PaulWheelhouse) August 22, 2018
Wheelhouse pointed out why that presentation of the figures was unfair – and in no uncertain terms.
He explained: "This is disgraceful @BBCNews – your presenter clearly states that GERS says 'the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5bn more than it raised'.
"This is a really serious factual error & I expect to see an equally prominent/high profile apology to [finance secretary] @DerekMackaySNP!
"The Scottish Government’s entire budget = just over half of the total amount of taxes raised in Scotland (£60Bn in 2017/18).
"The deficit figures are after UK Govt spend on pensions, welfare and cost of UK national debt service, Trident nukes (not wanted here) et al are added in!
"I am often frustrated by ignorant coverage but have often shrugged it off – this goes into seriously fake news territory & given how important this issue is, this sort of disgraceful misrepresentation is totally unacceptable from a very well resourced public service broadcaster."
Indeed, while the DEFICIT may be £13.5bn, as the MSP points out, the BBC presented it as the "Scottish Government" being responsible for all of that spending.
And, as Dr Craig Dalzell pointed out on this very website, it's easy to see why the figures are flawed on that account.
For example, while they allow for cash spent on civil servants in England, those same civil servants aren't spending their money in Scotland.
The SNP minister concluded: "For the record I do not blame the presenter herself – the error lies with whoever wrote or edited her autocue. It was not the slip of a tongue."
And it even seems the BBC have been warned about this issue before – one Twitter user said he sent a complaint in 2016.
Hi Paul. They lie in their headlines the same way every year. Here are Jackie Bird's opening lines from GERS day reporting Scotland in 2016 and 2017. I complained, they conceded they were wrong yet they persist. It is very deliberate and completely dishonest. pic.twitter.com/FZMPZyRzJu
— Tam Jardine (@Tam__Jardine) August 22, 2018
We look forward to seeing this corrected...
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