This morning the Today Programme brought on the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, to give her analysis of Tim Walz‘ running-mate speech at the Democratic National Convention. What followed was pure fawning praise:

“It was a very impressive performance from somebody who is not an experienced public speaker and he gave the energy of your favorite high school teacher suddenly stepping up to the plate and telling the country things could be better I thought it was really interestingly brief which is always merciful in political speeches and extremely effective and he showed that this is a man who is a campaigner who is ready for the national stage even though I think most people in that hall had not heard of him three weeks ago.“

Nick Robinson tried to offer some counter by weakly adding that Republicans call Walz a “phony“. Smith was having none of it:

“That was a man dripping in authenticity that we saw appear there tonight. Somebody really very very unaffected by the national stage who looked entirely what he is: A former high school teacher a former football coach, the governor of a small state who’s proud of what he’s achieved in that state and who wants to bring things to America. There is nothing about him that seems contrived in any way at all. Now maybe you don’t want somebody bringing the ‘big dad’ energy to the campaign maybe you don’t like his small-town values but I think it would be very difficult to describe him as a phony of any kind.“

Robinson then also gave up with the impartiality malarkey and said Walz is a “very good warm-up act too“. To much agreement:

“He does, and and he was talking a lot about how proud he is of Harris and how great she will be for the country and he was a very very effective spokesperson for her.“

The entire 23-minute episode of Smith’s Americast episode about JD Vance’s RNC speech featured only impartial, to-be-expected coverage. Guido leaves it up to co-conspirators to decide whether today’s coverage corresponds with the BBC’s impartiality guidelines…

A notoriously bile-fueled SNP MSP has gaslit the BBC’s ex-Scotland Editor, Sarah Smith, after she claimed she was glad to have walked away from the “bile, hatred and misogyny” of Scotland’s political culture. Responding to Smith’s announcement however, Glasgow Cathcart MSP James Dornan tweeted “America would be the go to place to escape all her imaginary woes then”. Complete with an eye roll emoji. 

Dornan’s pretence that vile and hatred doesn’t openly exist in Scottish politics is particularly laudable. In July last year the representative was reported for saying of Jacob Rees-Mogg, “If your god exists you will undoubtedly rot in hell,” a comment that the SNP seemed to defend.

Dornan also falsely accused an Edinburgh bus company of “anti-Irish racism” last year, despite no evidence; and accused Rangers’ players of singing a sectarian tune based on clearly doctored footage, something which he again refused to apologise for. Dornan’s denial of bile and hatred in Scottish politics is the least introspective statement since Jeremy Corbyn was calling for kinder, gentler politics…