Douglas Ross accused the BBC of bias after he was not allowed to pre-record a TV interview so he could look after his two young children, but SNP ministers allowed it.
The Scottish Tory leader said the broadcaster’s flagship Sunday Show had refused to schedule an interview after the party conference, taking into account his police officer wife would be on the 7am shift.
In a lengthy statement posted online, he noted that the program had previously allowed the SNP’s Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes to pre-record interviews.
Mr Ross accused the BBC of forcing him “to choose between my family or their interview” and said as a husband and father it was “an easy decision” to choose the former.
The Sunday Show is broadcast live on BBC One Scotland at 10am on Sundays and often features interviews with Scotland’s political party leaders on weekends of party conferences.
But the real interview this Sunday was with SNP Deputy First Minister Shona Robison.
Martin Geissler told the audience that Mr Ross was “unavailable due to childcare issues” and that no other senior representatives of the party were available. However, he did not provide any explanation for the BBC’s refusal to pre-record the interview.
The company later issued a statement saying the Sunday Show always held its conference interviews “on the day of delivery” but did not explain why this was necessary.
Conservative insiders said the BBC had been aware of Ms Ross’s police switch for weeks but had refused requests to interview her despite a large number of journalists being present at the Aberdeen conference on Saturday.
Mr Ross, who is also MP for Moray, has two sons aged two and four. His wife, Krystle, is a Scottish police officer.
He said on Twitter that no Scottish Tories would appear on the show after the BBC refused to pre-record the interview.
“We have been discussing this issue with the BBC for a few weeks. This morning my wife started her daily shift at Police Scotland at 7am so I am looking after our two sons, aged four and two,” he said.
“There was no opportunity for an interview this morning, so we made the request on Saturday afternoon.
“I had hoped the BBC would be flexible in their approach given these family commitments, but they insisted the interview could only take place on Sunday morning.
“This is despite the BBC having previously pre-recorded interviews with SNP politicians. “In recent months, both Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes were allowed to pre-record interviews in the days leading up to Sunday’s broadcast.”
The 5 March 2023 edition of the show, which is still available on BBC iPlayer, featured a pre-recorded interview with Ms Forbes, who represents the SNP leadership.
Mr. Geissler introduced the episode: “He was in Inverness yesterday and took the time to talk to me.”
Mr Ross said he was looking forward to joining the program to discuss the conference on Friday and Saturday.
But he said: “As a husband and father, I value the limited time I have with my family away from politics and I regret that senior producers at the BBC cannot understand or accept this.”
Mr Ross concluded: “We all want to do what we can to encourage more people into politics, but this decision by the BBC shows that we still have some way to go to ensure people understand the family pressures that come with balancing being a politician and a parent.”
In interviews, Mr. Geissler asked Ms. Robison if she was looking forward to caring for Mr. Yousaf while he was on paternity leave.
The Prime Minister and his wife announced on Friday that they are expecting a child.
Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson tweeted: “This looks particularly weak from @BBCScotlandNews given they previously agreed to interview @HumzaYousaf and @_KateForbes as pre-records to be played on Sunday.”
‘A clear example of double standards’
Scottish Conservative Party leader Craig Hoy tweeted during the programme: “A very poor and worrying editorial decision by the BBC. “This is a clear example of double standards and before it goes off air Martin and the @BBCScotlandNews team on the Sunday Show must explain how this situation came to be.”
He later added: “On the same programme, Shona Robison was asked if she was looking forward to covering the First Minister while she was on paternity leave, while the BBC failed to explain why they had refused to pre-record Douglas Ross when he could look after his two sons today. Bad programme, BBC.”
A BBC spokesman said: “Although we are flexible about location and time, the Sunday Show always conducts party conference interviews on the day of broadcast.
“In the interest of fairness and consistency we made this offer to Mr Ross or another representative of the Scottish Conservatives but the offer was not accepted.”