Daily Mail: Half of Scots audiences now believe the BBC is 'not for them'

Story from Daily Mail:

Viewers in Scotland are more likely to believe the BBC is out of touch with their lives than people who live south of the Border, new research suggests.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said only around 49 per cent agreed that the ‘BBC is for people like me’, compared with up to 60 per cent in the South of England.

The report also found that fewer than half (an average of 43 per cent) of respondents to the survey in Scotland said the BBC ‘reflects my region/nation fairly to the rest of the UK on its programmes’.

Commenting on the results, Scottish Tory culture spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘The BBC continues to be held in high regard by many Scots, but these findings should act as a reminder for BBC bosses.

‘While Scots continue to grapple with the global cost-of-living crisis, the BBC must guarantee that viewers right across Scotland feel they are getting their value for money from the licence fee.’

The NAO report said: ‘Scores for the metric “The BBC is for people like me” are highest in London and southern England, but lowest in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.’

The details of the survey were issued in a report published in November after 8,614 adults in the UK were interviewed.

The head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: ‘The BBC has made progress increasing spending, activity and decision-making outside London, already almost meeting its overall target for the transfer of network television production expenditure.

‘However, it has made less progress in transferring radio and music budgets outside London and is behind on its ambitious target for apprentices.’

Responding to the findings about the concerns of viewers in Scotland, a BBC spokesman said: ‘The Across The UK strategy is addressing these perceptions and, while we recognise that we operate in an increasingly competitive marketplace, audience feedback continues to inform our decision-making. We will continue to evolve our content to ensure we reflect Scotland back to itself and the rest of the UK.’

Last year the BBC was accused of caving in to nationalists after it axed a cartoon of a Scottish Government minister.

Corporation chiefs had used an animated clip of Lorna Slater, co-leader of the Greens, to plug its radio comedy show Noising Up.

But they deleted the ‘Limo Lorna’ cartoon sketch after a backlash online, fuelled by criticism from Green and SNP ministers and their supporters.

Separately, the BBC’s former lawyer Alistair Bonnington claimed in 2022 that BBC Scotland was flouting its duty of impartiality due to pro-SNP bias.

Mr Bonnington said the broadcaster was ‘slavishly biased’ in favour of the SNP Government.

His intervention came after former Scottish Labour MP Tom Harris warned in the Mail that the BBC had ‘no understanding of the existential threat to Britain’ posed by the SNP.