Gordon Brown undermines Scottish economy

Ever seen a headline like this in a Scottish newspaper?

One of the main problems we face in creating a democratic culture in this country is that the Scottish press seem incapable of dealing with the notion of alternative narratives. In most democracies the press provide expression to a range of views and political positions. But not in Scotland where the press accept and collude in the widespread dissemination of the Unionist world view.

I wouldn't mind living in a community where the Unionist position was given wide exposure - after all it is a legitimate if sometimes perplexing position . What I do object to is the wholesale censoring of any alternative point of view. Where, for example, are the newspaper headlines like the one I suggest above? During this crisis the UK prime minister has sought every opportunity to undermine Scottish self-confidence and insidiously to question the country's ability to "survive" without support from the UK tax payer. Of course this is what politics is all about and only the naive would complain about him using this opportunity to advance party interest.

What bothers me is that the prime minister's clearly partisan position has been allowed to pass without comment. His views have been reproduced as if they were self-evident facts and the reporting on them has been suffused with the journalist's own sense of belief in Brown having somehow or other exposed the fallacious nature of the SNP's claim that Scotland could prosper as an independent state.

What we lack in Scotland is an alternative to this position. It is hard to imagine any action more designed to undermine self-confidence than Brown's attack on Scotland's present economic position and its future potential. That the "leader" of our country can get away with mounting such an attack is extraordinary particularly when sustaining confidence is so important at this critical time. That he can get away with such an attack without anyone suggesting that he might have some responsibility for Scotland's alleged deficiencies is even worse.

Why has no-one thought it worthwhile questioning Brown about the source of the support that has been given to the Scottish banks? The way this issue has been reported in Scotland you'd think Brown had personally gone round Surrey with a hat asking people for contributions "to save Scotland". And why is it that he has been able to get away with suggesting it is small independent states that are in trouble when clearly largeness or smallness has no part to play in a country's ability to ride out this economic storm. After all, the UK is suffering a currency meltdown because of the widespread belief that it will be particularly badly hit by the global problems.

As long as the Scottish press is unable to present an alternative narrative we in Scotland will continue to suffer from a serious democratic deficit. The Unionist position is not deconstructed in the mainstream press and the job of providing alternative views is left to bloggers.