BBC Network news - no longer relevant for the nations?

There is no such position as the 'UK Health secretary'. Matt Hancock only has control over health services and the Coronavirus response in England alone. Prescriptions are charged at £9.15 per item in England. In Wales & Scotland (not sure about NI) prescriptions are completely free, regardless of how many items you need.

Funding for each nation is allocated via the Barnett forumla (which itself is a flawed formula), and via the Barnett block funding grant every year, the devolved nations get complete free rein over how much money they want to spend on health, education etc.
When it comes to Education, there most definitely is no such position as UK Education secretary. Education policies are now very different in every devolved nation, and in Scotland, have been very different for decades.

So to describe Matt Hancock as the English Health secretary, and Gavin Williamson as the English Education secretary, is very accurate. However, when it comes to the network news on BBC One & BBC NC, this distinction is rarely made. They are introduced as "the health/education secretary" when in fact there are 4 different health secretaries across the UK.

This is all fascinating but its not about news.

I'm aware of all that. The point is – if the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the UK government (UK health secretary being accepted short hand, English health secretary not being a widely-accepted term) made a decision about the prescriptions to which you refer, there would be implications for the other nations. As I say, they are not acting in isolation.

It's relevant if we are to talk about how news is reported.

Scotland takes second on the One (behind Dame Vera death - imo appropriately) and in front of Dominic Raab comments.

I really can’t see Huw Edwards, a man well known to be patriotic about Wales, to work for an organisation that doesn’t single out what’s happening where and not speak up about it. I watch the 1, 6 and 10 at the moment (the consequence of working from home) and they do clarify who, what, where and when very well.

If you want news to be nothing but about your area, I suggest you try this channel called “BBC One” at 18:30 every day. It’s great if you live in a nation, because it tells you news specifically in your area. In fact, it rates higher (and always has) than any other news bulletin on any channel in the UK.

And, at the end of the day, sadly for some, Boris Johnson is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and not the First Minister of England. March-May was pretty much the same in terms of lockdown measures it has only been recently when devolved administrations have decided to take a different path into what they feel is best.

I'm sorry to say that this isn't entirely accurate. There are a significant number of areas in which Westminster reserves competency over and above the devolved administrations. They are called reserved and excepted matters and extend far beyond the usual suspects of defence, foreign or monetary policy.

For instance, the UK Government is responsible for embryology, surrogacy and genetics. As a consequence, when Matt Hancock announced that IVF treatments could resume from 11th May, he was announcing a UK-wide policy. Similarly, the UK Government remains the principal source for any and all legislation pursuant to medicines and medical supplies. Much has been written on the PPE crisis within the NHS with a focus largely on its impact within England. However, there have been significant issues throughout the UK and this is a responsibility of the Government in Westminster. That's not to say that there isn't a large degree of delegation and discretion upon the part of the devolved administrations, but this is done solely at the behest of - and with the consent of - the Government in Westminster. There's always a lot of focus upon Section 30 of the Scotland Act but Sections 63 and 108 (I think) are equally as important (if not more so).

This may seem to some like dancing on a pinhead but that's the problem. It's very easy to say that Matt Hancock only oversees policy in England, or Gavin Williamson only oversees policy in England, but it's factually incorrect. Indeed, given the importance medicines and medical supplies in the current climate, it's important that these issues are made clear. Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, has areas of competency over the prison systems in all of the devolved administrations. Gavin Williamson retains responsibility (and use that description loosely) for overall child protection policy within the education sector.

I'm not suggesting that it's right or proper that this should be so. Indeed, quarantine (of animals and people) is a reserved matter. Some would say that it would perhaps have been better if the UK - as a whole - had followed a path similar to that set out in Scotland and Wales and had gone into lockdown earlier than it actually did so.

I haven't seen anyone in this thread say that they want news to be nothing but their area. In fact the opposite is the case. People have been arguing out that so called "National news" (which claims to cover the whole of the UK) could do better at representing news from across the UK. Suggesting that we try BBC One is 1830 is rather patronising.

You're right that lockdown measures have been broadly similar, but the timings and implementations have varied considerably across the four nations (and indeed the Isle of Man and Channel Islands which get an even worse deal TV news wise)... and it's the reporting of those variations, or lack of the reporting, on "National News" which brings us back to the original point of this thread.

Yes, but at the end of the day, in my opinion, the BBC are doing very well considering the circumstances. One central government, three devolved administrations. They are all contradicting eachover whether it be only very slightly (NI) or quite significantly (Wales/Scotland). I have not seen a time whether in the headlines or a package, a presenter fail to mention “in England” or “in Scotland, Wales and NI).

The reason I suggest the 18:30 programme is because if you want more specific detail for your area then that’s your best bet.

I think we can all agree that the BBC have done a magnificent job of keeping us up to date with the crisis and its only recently during the lockdown that the nations have started to diverge

Having said that I feel when the situation returns to "normal" (whatever that may be) questions may be asked about the BBC's news operation.

Citation needed, I'm afraid; otherwise I'm going to have to assume that isn't the case.

My instinct on this is that there's probably a kernel of truth in it (that is, the Covid-19 policy confusion) but nowhere near the problem you insist upon it being. The reason I'm so jaded about this topic is that it periodically comes up (usually the Scottish variant) and is more or less always ultimately about the OP's own feelings towards England (and by extension, the UK) rather than the pseudo-practical premise the argument is made on. So far, I'm not convinced you're any different in this respect.

I'm not anti-English, as that's what you're implying. But I do disagree with the BBC national, UK-wide news presenting reports that only apply to England as UK wide reports. The BBC has improved how it presents it's reports on the pandemic over the last few weeks, but there are still problems. Last week there was a report on the potential relaxing of the 2m social distancing rule and re-opening the hospitality industry. The devolved governments have total competency over if they want to relax the 2m rule and when they re-open hospitality. The report only applied to England, this was never mentioned or pointed out, and it was presented as a UK wide report.

Same with the free school meals summer vouchers campaign earlier this week. In all of the national TV news coverage I saw of it, not once was it mentioned that Scotland and Wales had already confirmed they would extend the FSM vouchers over the summer, and Marcus Rashford's campaign only applied to England. You'd expect after 20 years of devolution that the BBC in London would know what areas are devolved and what are not.

As has been said, if England relaxes the 2m rule and Scotland & Wales don't, it will be crucial that this is made crystal clear it only applies to England. It's even enshrined in workplace law in Wales. Will this get mentioned?

I'm totally flummoxed as to what on earth is the issue here?

What is so difficult to understand? Those who have raised this 'non issue' are of a clear minority.

The 'National News' which covers ALL UK news isn't going anywhere. Everyone needs it! It's a part of people's schedules (pre covid) and post! National news at 6, regional at 6.30, more elsewhere if you want it. Same applies to the 1 and 10.

Why on each would any nation/region not be interested in either? The Scotts will always be interested in knowing what's going on in the rest of the United Kingdom, the same as the Welsh and Northern Irish.

It's blind madness to even contemplate there not being a 1, 6 or 10 for ALL.

We are now at page 6 of this thread and it's poppycock. Some great debate, but at the core - plain fantasy and rubbish. Apologies if my presentation is harsh.

Wales of where I am from and I live in London and Wales already has well over 80 mins of news produced by the Wales Today team per weekday. Before Covid they had a weekly programme after the 10.

Scotland have their own channel available to all.

What exactly is the issue?

I’m afraid it isn’t as clear cut as you appear to believe. Health and safety from a public health perspective is devolved yet health and safety from an employment perspective is reserved to the Government in Westminster and to the Health and Safety Executive in particular. The devolved administrations do not have total competency on these matters. Competency is shared, and in some instances, reserved.



Again, it isn't as clear cut as this. I agree that the administrations in Cardiff and Edinburgh had already committed to extending the scheme, as is their prerogative. However, the management and oversight of such schemes is reserved to the Government at Westminster. It is - in part - for that reason that the Scottish Government has already asked the UK Government what finances and measures will be in place if it needs to prolong the furlough scheme to specific sectors of the economy within Scotland or adjust (in other words subsidise) benefits.

For the record, your comments that "The report only applied to England, this was never mentioned or pointed out" and "...not once was it mentioned that Scotland and Wales had already confirmed they would extend the FSM vouchers over the summer, and Marcus Rashford's campaign only applied to England" do not hold water. It as mentioned specifically in most (I won't say all) reports that discussed these topics. Indeed, when Scottish and Welsh politicians were interviewed they explicitly referred to these differences.

To go one stage further... you've said "if England relaxes the 2m rule and Scotland & Wales don't, it will be crucial that this is made crystal clear it only applies to England". That was made perfectly clear. When changes to the transport rules were introduced - such as wearing face masks - it was made clear that people getting on a train in Edinburgh would not be required to wear a face mask but once they crossed the border into England, they would be required to do so (and vice versa). Indeed, the reports about a relaxation of the lockdown rules (barbecues and what not) referred to places such as Chester, where you could visit friends and family, but would be unable to do so if they lived on the far side of the North Wales Expressway.

I don't think there's been anything wrong with the BBC's coverage. It's fulfilled the remit of the national broadcaster in a time of national crisis.