Complaint
A viewer complained a report on evidence to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry wrongly implied Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, had accused the Scottish Government of politicising its response to the pandemic.聽 The complainant also said the report failed to refer to a Cabinet paper written by Mr Gove which the complainant said recommended a political strategy for adoption by the UK Government.聽 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 麻豆社鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Outcome
Mr Gove鈥檚 answer to a question about the possibility of the Scottish Government seeking to take a political advantage was shown verbatim without comment by the reporter.聽 This allowed the audience to judge his response, without any implication, accurate or otherwise, on the part of the reporter.聽 As the report鈥檚 focus was on evidence given by the former Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government, there was no requirement to refer to the UK Cabinet paper, and no departure from impartiality in not doing so.
Not upheld