Civil War Inside Labour & BBC Crisis, Bias & The License Fee

Labour civil war erupts just weeks before a make-or-break Budget. In this explosive Holyrood Sources episode, Calum Macdonald, Geoff Aberdein and Andy Maciver unpack the extraordinary Number 10 briefing against Wes Streeting — and what it reveals about Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour’s internal divisions, and the growing panic over a potential leadership challenge.

From Anas Sarwar’s impossible position defending a tax rise in Scotland, to Labour’s identity crisis and Morgan McSweeney’s role in the chaos, the team dissects the biggest political drama since the election.

Later, they turn to the Port of Aberdeen’s job cuts, Geoff’s viral LinkedIn post about the energy transition, and the latest twist in ScotWind, as Shell walks away from a £3 billion renewables project.

Plus, we have a heated debate on the BBC Panorama editing scandal, questions of institutional bias, and whether Scots should be forced to fund a broadcaster that some say favours the “soft left.” The panel discusses Tim Davie’s resignation, the role of BBC Scotland, the challenge of local news, and the license-fee debate — before moving on to Scotland’s budget pressure and the possibility of revisiting an income-tax pledge amid Westminster fiscal changes (Shona Robison & Anas Sarwar clips included).

Key topics:

• BBC Panorama editing controversy and fallout

• Institutional bias: can any broadcaster be truly impartial?

• BBC Scotland, local news coverage and the “central belt” problem

• Licence fee debate: compulsory funding vs subscription choice

• Scotland’s fiscal squeeze: Shona Robison on budget risk & Anas Sarwar on lobbying the Chancellor

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