THE Prime Minister, David Cameron’s name was hurled into the continuing dispute between First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the BBC over his non-appearance in a rugby chat broadcast by the Corporation on Saturday, ahead of Scotland’s match against England.
At First Minister’s Questions, he was challenged by Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, to resist raising the subject with Chris Patten, chair of the BBC’s governing body, who is meeting Salmond this afternoon.
It is said that Salmond did not appear on Saturday’s broadcast because a political advisor at the BBC felt it was “inappropriate” given upcoming local government elections and the independence referendum.
While Davidson argued that Salmond’s name was suggested by his team to the BBC as a possible pundit, Salmond responded with an email – said to be from the BBC – suggesting it was the other way around.
And while arguing that the local government elections are too far away to be relevant, he asked of the independence referendum whether David Cameron will now be prevented from talking to the BBC about the Olympics, since the referendum is not due for over two years.
