THE BBC’s Newsnight has “lost the plot” and has an “obsession with Nigel Farage”, according to the SNP.
The party’s depute leader, Keith Brown, added that giving the Brexit Party leader a platform during a debate about a possible public health emergency caused by coronavirus “is nothing short of disgusting”.
READ MORE: The BBC: Destroy, defend or democratise?
Eyebrows were raised when Farage – an unelected politician whose party failed to secure a single seat at last year’s General Election – appeared on BBC’s Newsnight as part of a package on the spread of the coronavirus and the Government response to it.
His appearance angered the SNP depute leader: “Newsnight has lost the plot,” said Brown (below).
“The BBC obsession with Nigel Farage knows no bounds and providing him with a platform during a public health emergency is nothing short of disgusting.
“It’s about time the BBC accurately reflected the efforts of the UK’s four Governments to combat the spread of the virus and giving airtime to expert opinion, rather than give dog-whistle politicians a stage.”
In response, the BBC said it interviewed multiple people about the issue: “A clip of Nigel Farage appeared as part of a package looking at the political response to coronavirus.
“There were a range of interviewees included in the programme.”
READ MORE: BBC bizarrely interviews Nigel Farage about coronavirus
During his appearance, Farage was critical of the UK Government, calling their approach “irresponsible” and questioning the lack of tests on people entering the country from Italy.
Meanwhile, the number of positive cases of Covid-19 in Scotland rose to 27 yesterday after four more were diagnosed, and a sixth person died of the virus in England.
It came as the Scottish Government’s national clinical director warned escalation measures are “inevitable”.
Responding to the suggestion the response to the coronavirus outbreak has been overblown, Jason Leitch (below) said “we are not over-egging this pudding” and cautioned against “creating a stigma” around those who fall ill.
The latest update shows seven cases in the NHS Lothian area, six in Grampian and three each in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire. Fife, Forth Valley and Shetland all have two cases, while there is one case in the Ayrshire and Arran area and one in Tayside.
Leitch said he expects “hard decisions” will have to be made in the coming weeks and months as part of efforts to control the spread of the virus.
His warning came as aviation services business John Menzies suspended its annual dividend due to the expected impact of coronavirus.
The company warned investors two weeks ago that the Covid-19 outbreak would dent its profits for the current year.
READ MORE: The BBC has challenges but provides services the public values
The Edinburgh-based firm, which operates many of the behind-the-scenes parts of airports, has now said that further cost-cutting lies ahead amid “very disappointing” uncertainty caused by the virus.
Meanwhile, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage customers affected by coronavirus could defer their loan repayments for up to three months if they are in financial difficulty.
RBS/NatWest said customers’ situations will be looked at on a “case-by-case” basis and various potential options will be matched to them.
Elsewhere, a conference being held by a diabetes charity at Glasgow’s SEC has been cancelled amid growing concern. Diabetes UK said it was “not a decision we have come to lightly”.
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