SNP veteran says an independent Scotland should keep 'envy of the world' BBC

The SNP’s longest serving MP has said an independent Scotland should keep the BBC.

Peter Wishart said the state broadcaster is the “envy” of the world and should operate as a “shared” service if the country votes Yes in the future.

He also described himself as British as well as Scottish and a royalist.

The MP for Perth and Kinross-Shire made his comments to the Record’s Planet Holyrood podcast on the tenth anniversary of the 2014 referendum.

During the discussion, he spoke about his recently published ‘Inside the Indyref’ diaries which chronicled the campaign.

The future of the BBC was a major issue during the referendum, with some pro-independence supporters accusing the broadcaster of bias and staging protests.

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The SNP Government’s independence white paper backed a “new publicly funded, public service broadcaster”, but Wishart was opposed.

“I had spent a lot of time as a DCMS [culture] spokesperson dealing with issues like broadcasting,” he said. “My view is it should have been a shared service and that is what I made clear.

“Had we done anything else we would have been susceptible to the claim that Scottish viewers wouldn’t be able to get the programmes they want, what they were used to.”

The Westminster veteran recalled that the BBC was a “hot” topic during the indyref, adding:

“I felt just to resolve that and get it out the way that we should continue to have a shared BBC. I am somebody who is a big fan of the BBC and BBC Scotland operates pretty effectively as a standalone service.”

Asked if it remained his view that an independent Scotland should share the BBC, he said:

“Absolutely. I think if we were to do this again that would be what I would be advocating”.

He added: “There is something distinctive and specific about the BBC that is good and which is the envy of the world.”

Wishart also spoke about how the Yes campaign “disastrously” failed to win over older people who had strong feelings of British identity.

He said the different parts of Britain had built up a “reservoir" of “cultural attachment” and said:

“We should have done more to build a case that we were going to continue to share that.”

Asked whether he feels British, he replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

He said he supports an independent Scotland sharing some resources and facilities with the rest of the UK, and described himself as a royalist.

Chris McEleny, general secretary of Alba, said: “For any independence supporter to trust a single word of the BBC when it comes to the constitution is quite silly. The clue is in the name - they are the British Broadcasting Corporation. Protecting British interests - and fleecing the remaining Scottish license fee payers - is their modus operandi.

“Peter will be glad to know that, in an independent Scotland he will still be able to watch Strictly Come Dancing and the Antiques Roadshow and I believe he will still be able to access BBC Parliament if he’s missing it but thankfully his fellow Scots won’t be paying for it.”

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