I READ with interest various letters complaining about media bias against Scotland/the SNP/All Under One Banner marches and a number of other topics relevant and pertaining to Scotland.

Unfortunately for Scotland, broadcasting is a reserved issue. We all know that the BBC is biased against us, yet we have to pay a licence fee to them. They inevitably use that money to berate us and they don’t stick to their impartiality rules. As for the independent television companies, they look to their commercial sponsorship and backers and the majority of viewers who are English. This has been the norm for decades now and won’t change. So why are we complaining about it and have we learned nothing over the years?

After the referendum in 2014, we realised we had to do things on our own. We, the people of Scotland, became motivated to win our freedom and we’ve marched all over the country. We’re doing things Westminster and the English establishment can’t comprehend. As a result, they’re sticking their collective heads in the sand because they don’t know what to do and now see Scotland as a lost cause.

The latest opinion polls put Independence at 48% with a plus or minus of about 3%, which could put us just over the line, and that’s only for those over 18. Take into consideration those who will have the vote on the day and we could add another 3% or 4% on to this easily. As a result, the people of Scotland now believe that we’re going to achieve independence sooner rather than later.

In the 1960s the BBC tried and failed to control the rise of popular music, and as a result a number of pirate radio stations emerged and the BBC had to capitulate rather embarrassingly. However, I’m not advocating that we set up a pirate television station, but we could set up our own television channel well within the law and rules, either via a subscription channel or from the budget allocated to Holyrood.

There’s a devolved administration in Moldova and Catalonia in Spain, both of which run their own television stations from their allocated budgets. The devolved area in Moldova is an ethnic minority and smaller than Ayrshire, and if these places can do it then so can we and I believe that we should. All that is required is to purchase a license to broadcast, appoint a few executives and get some reporters who believe in independence – and there

must be some. Then we can inform the people of Scotland in an unbiased way what the truth is about events around Scotland and abroad that would be of interest to us.

If we do this, then when “the establishment” rolls out faded and aged English pop stars, comedians and former sports stars telling us how to vote, we can interview them and ask them relevant questions as to what they know about Scottish matters and if they have a vote in Scotland. The same with the English politicians when they insist that we won’t get a Section 30 order, when they know full well they’ll have to grant it because if they don’t then all they’re doing is getting more people to join the independence cause.

These same English politicians will also have to negotiate the settlement and break-up of their beloved Union they so desperately want to avoid. So obviously they want to deny what is the reality and inevitability of the independence movement.

Effectively, we the people of Scotland have decided that we are an independent nation and all that matters now are the legal niceties. As long as we keep on the right side of the law, we can push thing to the next stage before Nicola Sturgeon announces the date. A television station is the obvious next step that we need to take to resolve media bias.

Alexander Potts
Kilmarnock