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BBC bosses have no excuse for hobnobbing with big business lobbyists, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said yesterday.
The union said just “suspending” the BBC’s little-known links with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) from June until the Scottish independence referendum in September wasn’t good enough.
The business group had registered with the Electoral Commission as an official campaigner — backing a No vote — but quickly reversed its decision.
A BBC spokesman said last week it would suspend its ties “in order to protect the BBC’s neutrality.”
Meanwhile the BBC had cut staff covering the independence debate under its Delivering Quality First scheme.
But NUJ Scotland official Paul Holleran said that many members had asked at an emergency meeting why the BBC was involved with the CBI in the first place.
“There’s not enough staff at BBC Scotland to fill the rota now — we’re having problems with our shop stewards getting time off because they can’t fill the rota.
“So you can understand the resentment that would be felt there at learning that they’re spending who knows how much on an organisation which is clearly biased.”
