The National:

ANDREW Neil has refused to apologise for spreading false information relating to The National's revelation England was being prioritised over other parts of the UK when it came to the distribution of PPE.

After the story was published on Wednesday, the broadcaster took to Twitter to ask The National to apologise for the story after Scottish Government National Clinical Director Jason Leitch said the claims were untrue.

But embarrassingly, it had already been revealed by the First Minister that Leitch was not fully appraised on the issue when he gave the interview.

READ MORE: Jason Leitch apologises for branding PPE scandal 'rubbish'

Neil was then urged to apologise when Leitch said sorry for describing the PPE claims as "rubbish" and after John Rentoul apologised to the FM for saying the claims were untrue.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Journalist apologises to Nicola Sturgeon over PPE

Neil said he would only "apologise for being right".

He added: "OK. I’ll apologise. I apologise for being right. Thus exposing those who manufactured a fake grievance for the sake of causing division in these islands — between Scotland and England — at a time when the nation is in crisis and should be united. There. Happy?"

The story was also picked up by The Times and the BBC but we don't see Neil criticising them ... 

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