FOLLOWING several emails from The National, the BBC has eventually apologised after radio presenter Kaye Adams read out a text which compared the SNP’s “Tory-free Scotland” slogan to the rhetoric the Nazis used during the Holocaust.

The corporation said “on reflection” the text should not have been broadcast and it was “sorry for the offence it caused”.

This response was only sent to this paper at 6.45pm on Tuesday, despite the first enquiry being sent at 2pm on Monday.

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Following this, The National has put a selection of key questions to the organisation to try and establish who decided this text was appropriate to be read out, what action has been taken since the incident and what will be done to ensure this lack of editorial judgement does not happen again.

The National has also asked whether a public apology will be made.

The questions that have been put to the BBC as of Wednesday morning are as follows:

  • The BBC guideline 4.3.3 talks about making "reasoned decisions, applying consistent editorial judgement" on whether to include or omit perspectives. Do you believe this guideline was followed by Kaye Adams and those that work on the programme? 
  • What is the process a listener's text goes through before it is seen by the presenter?
  • What is the decision-making process for deciding whether a text is appropriate to be read out on air? Who is ultimately responsible for deciding whether a text is appropriate to be read-out?
  • You said in your apology that the production team and senior editors have been spoken to. What has been said to the production team and senior editors following this incident?
  • Has anyone spoken to Kaye Adams about her reading out the text? If so, what has been said?
  • What actions will be taken to ensure poor editorial judgement like this does not happen again? 
  • Will the BBC make a public apology for this error of judgement?

The National has asked for a response from the BBC by 5pm on Wednesday.

During BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings show on Monday, Adams read: “Slowly getting rid of all political opposition, this is the rhetoric of the 1930s, says John.

"What about the 700,000 Scots who vote Conservative, are their political viewpoints to be marginalised from Scottish society and ultimately banned from expressing their opinion?

"Is this Humza’s 'final solution for dealing with the Tory problem'?"

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The line is a reference to the Nazi slogan "Endlösung der Judenfrage" – the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says this phrase describes "the deliberate and systematic mass murder of European Jews".

BBC editorial guideline 4.3.3 states “There is no view on any subject which must be excluded as a matter of principle, but we should make reasoned decisions, applying consistent editorial judgement, about whether to include or omit perspectives.”

The previous guideline, 4.3.2 states “…minority views should not necessarily be given similar prominence or weight to those with more support or to the prevailing consensus".