Media Bias Something I hadn’t expected during the referendum on Scottish Independence is the blatant bias shown by the mainstream media. In the past I’ve always considered the mainstream media (the BBC especially) to be pretty much neutral in its political reporting. Not so now. Okay, I always knew that most newspapers carry an agenda biased towards left or right wing politics, but this across-the-board misrepresentation and misreporting of events, claims and counter claims, for me, beggars belief.

Political Persuasion I took absolutely no interest in politics until after I’d left school and was working as an electrical apprentice, when it dawned on me that I’d be eligible to vote in the next general election. I decided to have a look to see who I’d be voting for. The Conservative party seemed the right choice for me, as a proud admirer of my father’s achievements in his classic rags-to-riches story.

Leap of Faith When he and my mum were a young, poor couple, my dad had the idea of starting up his own taxi business. Armed with only his car and ten pounds loaned from the only non-dissenting voice around him, my mum’s sister, he left his safe job as a mechanic at a local garage and set about realising his dream. Through hard work and determination, his business turned out successful, so much so that a few years later decided to sell it and buy a pub.