ONE PALTRY FACT

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Another vignette from this morning's Today programme...
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I think Jim Naughtie wanted us to learn a fact today - that the Conservatives are running fourth in Scotland, according to the opinion polls. He told us that before 7 o'clock. He repeated it as he introduced us to the SNP-Conservative marginal of Angus at 7.40. Then he repeated in again at the end of the programme (8.55). I will quote just one example, the final one, just to give you a flavour: "Decision day a week away. One element in the overall picture is going to be the result from Scotland, a distinct political community. To summarise, 59 seats, 1 of them held by the Tories in the last parliament, but they're running fourth in the polls. Labour are well ahead." (Earlier he described the Tory strength in parliament as "one paltry seat").
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Naughtie's ponderous on-air essay from Angus would have had both SNP and UKIP listeners fuming, as it was both Unionist and pro-European in tone. (The SNP less so, as Naughtie was talking them up at the expense of the Conservatives). Naughtie said that past concerns about EU fishing quotas were now outweighed by the realisation that Europe (especially the French and Spanish markets) is vital for the area's economic success.
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