SOME English newspapers never miss a chance to criticise decision-makers in Scotland.
But with Nicola Sturgeon’s administration winning praise for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, critics have had to be a little more creative.
The Daily Express saw its opportunity when it emerged more than 100 people had been fined by police while attempting to make non-essential journeys from England to Scotland.
The story was headlined “Scottish police block more than 100 English travellers – drivers fined”. However, no mention was made of Police Scotland, nor of people attempting to travel to Scotland, in the body of the article, which was published on Friday.
A photo caption also referred to "Scottish police finded [sic] more than 100 English travellers" while another was captioned “Scottish police have been regulating the borders” – despite the story being exclusively about Cumbrian police activity within the English county.
READ MORE: Deploy army on Border to stop lockdown trips, says Highland councillor
The Express changed the headline after a complainer from Glasgow flagged up the article to press regulator IPSO.
“I was shocked to read it”, said the complainer, who wishes to remain anonymous.
They added: “I complained to the regulator IPSO who contacted the Express. The article was amended within 24 hours, on Wednesday, but no explanation provided. I checked the changes and spotted that the dodgy photo captions remained, complained again and these were amended at second time of asking.”
Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has previously dismissed reports that his officers would police the border as “uninformed speculation” and said his force has “no intention” of doing so.
Looks like it’s back to the drawing board for the Express.
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