The Beeb: it's not just a Scottish problem

In today's Sunday Herald, Iain Macwhirter has a pop at BBC Scotland for providing a second-rate service compared to England.

But I think Macwhirter's got it wrong. The Beeb is failing to provide a proper service throughout the UK, not just in Scotland.

Its coverage of political matters is frequently shallow, biased towards metropolitan areas, lacking in depth, lacking proper balance of opposing views, stuck in a two-party mindset, sensationalised, focused more on splits and processes than proper coverage of issues, and at the mercy of political spin merchants from all parties.

And, as we saw on Thursday with its election coverage, when it gets it wrong, it can get it spectacularly wrong.