THAT the BBC makes mistakes about Scotland now and again (and again and again) will come as no surprise to any of us. However, the sheer scale of this latest one had us in raptures.
For those who weren’t following The National’s coverage of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefing, there was the BBC’s live blog.
As the First Minister announced changes to the lockdown levels of a majority of Scotland’s local authority areas, the BBC’s blog was quick to inform us what she’d said. Well, not quite what she’d said.
READ MORE: BBC left red-faced after basic errors on Scottish Westminster constituencies
BBC users were informed firstly that “as well as Glasgow ... East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, the three Ayrshires, North and South Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire and Stirling” would be in Level 2 come Saturday June 5.
So far, so good.
Next, the First Minister told us the areas which would be moving from Level 2 to Level 1.
The BBC told us that these are: “Highland, Argyle and Bute, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, Moray, Angus, Falkirk, Fyfe, Perth and Kinross, Inverclyde, Eastern West Lothian, West Dumbartonshire Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders” [sic, yes really].
Readers with an eye for detail, or basic knowledge of Scotland, will note some of the questionable spellings above, just as Twitter user Alan Ferrier did.
READ MORE: All the lockdown level changes from Nicola Sturgeon's Covid update
Firstly, it’s not West Dumbartonshire.
However, Dunbartonshire also being known as the County of Dumbarton has caused confusion for many of us. Who can really hear the difference between an M and an N anyway? So maybe we’ll forgive that one.
Argyle? That’s a pattern (or a football team in south west England) nowadays, but also an archaic spelling of Argyll, so maybe we’ll forgive that one too.
Only amazed it doesn't say Plymouth Argyle. https://t.co/Cw8mOfqNb8
— Scotch Mist (@ScotchMist31) June 1, 2021
Fyfe? Ridiculous. (Although some of us at The National are fans of the brilliant singer Iona Fyfe).
I actually laughed out loud when I saw Fyfe - who knew I’ve spelled it wrong the whole 23 years I’ve lived here 🤣🤣 https://t.co/uq4Vlwxkja
— M A R I A N N E 🙃🏴 (@sharkbait_____) June 1, 2021
Least forgivable of all? Eastern West Lothian.
West Lothian, but the right-hand side of it? Livingston, but not Bathgate?
These mistakes seem so glaring that we checked the editor of the live blog. They’re based in London.
Even they seem to have noticed now though, as it has since been corrected.
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