BBC Heavily Biased against Pro-Independence Campaigners: Scottish Analyst
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The mainstream media outlets in the UK, BBC in particular, are heavily biased against supporters of Scotland’s independence, a Scottish expert of Media Politics said.
“BBC coverage, in particular, has been heavily biased in favor of No (vote in Scottish independence referendum),” Dr. John Robertson from University of the West of Scotland said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.
The Scottish people will vote in an independence referendum on Thursday, September 18. Scots will decide whether their nation, which has a population of just over 5 million and is a source of North Sea oil, should end its 307-year-old union with England and leave the United Kingdom.
In his remarks, Dr. Robertson also denounced London’s claim that it will not allow Scotland to use the pound in a currency union, calling it a “bluff”.
“The Sterling (Pound) zone needs the income from North Sea oil... the UK refusal to share currency is a bluff,” the political analyst said, adding, “Scotland is a very wealthy country.”
About 97 percent of Scots have signed up to vote as the independence referendum is set to be the biggest poll in Scotland's history.
The total number of people who have registered for Thursday's referendum is about 4.29 million, more than for any previous election or referendum in Scotland, according to the vote's "chief counting officer".
In the event of a vote for independence, Britain and Scotland would have to begin work on dividing up the $2.5 trillion UK economy, North Sea oil and the national debt, while Prime Minister David Cameron would face calls to resign.
Scotland would have to decide what currency it would use after London said it could not use the pound in a currency union, while Britain would have to decide what to do about its main nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, which the nationalists would like to eject.
