IF you were to be asked which party leaders have been hiding from media accountability during this election campaign, it’s unlikely you’d answer Nicola Sturgeon. However, it seems BBC presenter Kaye Adams has some concerns about her media appearances.
During yesterday’s Mornings with Kaye Adams radio programme, the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford was live answering listeners’ questions. One listener got in touch to say Sturgeon should have been taking calls instead.
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Adams said to Blackford: “Nicola Sturgeon was on Andrew Marr yesterday, she was on Your Call on Five Live, she was on GMB this morning, she was on This Morning on ITV on Friday, but is unable to be with us today. I mean, is there any reason behind that?”
The SNP candidate explained: “She is First Minister of Scotland and she has an important government meeting this morning which had been in the diary for some time. She has made herself available on numerous occasions to debate with others and of course it’s Boris Johnson in many cases which has failed to show up …”
Adams interjected: “But not to the listeners of Scotland.” Blackford rejected that claim, but Adams questioned whether the SNP leader had taken part in an open phone-in.
Blackford replied: “But the fact is Kaye when you talk about some of the others that you’ve had on the programme, they’re not running a government, they’re not running a country. There’s a government meeting that the First Minister has this morning that she has to participate in. I am the leader of the SNP at Westminster … of course this election ...”
Cutting him off again, Adams asked: “Is it that the UK audience in this election is more important to Nicola Sturgeon than the Scottish audience?”
“Good grief, no,” Blackford responded. “It’s about making sure that we win this election in Scotland for Scotland and of course we project that voice throughout the United Kingdom. But the First Minister has been on countless programmes in Scotland over the course of the last few weeks and months and I guess she will be over the course of the coming days.
“I’m here as the SNP Westminster leader, as a person that’s standing to lead that group in Parliament to answer the questions the listeners have …”
Adams replied: “Sure sure ... we appreciate she has a busy schedule and of course she has all these other commitments, you know, for Five Live and GMB and This Morning and Andrew Marr, so you know. Clearly she can’t do everyone and we’ve come to the bottom of the pile.”
We would love to hear the Prime Minister’s media avoidance scrutinised like this. Great work, Beeb!
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