I WATCHED Question Time this week, at least for a time, before deciding whether to throw a brick through my TV or simply switch off. In consideration of my pittance of a pension, I did the latter.

It is patently obvious that the BBC does not understand true impartiality, as the discussion of independence has only two sides, for or against, no matter how many parties back each side. Impartiality should therefore require that when this subject is debated, an equal number of participants from each side should be on the panel, otherwise the topic should not be chosen.

This week, too, Jeane Freeman was constantly interrupted, whilst both Ian Murray and Michael Forsyth were allowed to finish their tirade uninterrupted. Ms Freeman did indeed refute the lie about “once in a generation”, but did not clarify sufficiently that it was not a promise. Why does no-one ever ask for evidence of this lie as a promise? And why has the BBC not instructed all its interviewers to refute it?

WATCH: Jeane Freeman rips up Tory peer's 'once in a generation' indyref claim 

As for Maggie Thatcher’s minion, I remember him as responsible for forcing English-style school boards on our schools, against the wishes of most schools with active parent/teacher groups, at substantial cost and disruption.

Witness when he had two videos produced “to train parents how to run them”. These were accepted as excellent by schools and the inspectorate, but blocked by Michael Forsyth. He demanded an artificial, supposedly daily, morning assembly in a primary school be inserted, instead of the comparative religion lessons. This required the disruption of the chosen school, setting up and staffing an outside broadcast unit, the use of an editing suite. The cost to the education budget? £50,000, for a clip of the last line of a hymn and the minister saying “let us pray”!

He was a real asset to Scotland, was he not?

L McGregor
Falkirk

JEANE Freeman characteristically and correctly took Michael Forsyth to task for his parroting of the stock "once in a generation" bleat.

We need to remember that he and his kind have tried to undermine the case for Scottish independence for years simply by belittling the Scots.

WATCH: Michael Forsyth defends getting SNP's name wrong on Question Time

The same individual, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, said in the House of Lords on January 25 2007: "An independent Scotland would struggle to catch the waiter’s eye in Brussels. It would be a country of five million in a community of half a billion."

As it turned out, the Brexit negotiations showed to him, and the world, the support extended to Ireland, a country of similar size to Scotland, by the European Union. That would be the European Union that Scots were assured we could only stay in if the country voted No in 2014.

Gavin Brown
Linlithgow

LAST week’s Question Time panel was somewhat interesting: a business owner, a journalist, Conservative representative, Labour representative and an SNP representative. But considering the Scottish Parliament elections are only three months away it was indeed interesting that only one of the panel was a sitting MSP, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman. No Scottish Parliament candidates from either of the Unionist parties represented, which leads me on to the Conservative representative Lord Forsyth.

Lord Forsyth hardly represents society in Scotland, sitting in the unelected, undemocratic House of Lords, regardless of being a Scottish Lord. Quite frankly, questions arise! As the main opposition in Scotland, where were their democratically elected representatives? Ruth Davidson MSP, acting leader of the Conservatives at Holyrood; Conservative leader in Scotland Douglas Ross MP or any of the other five Scottish Conservative MPs for that matter? PM Boris Johnson’s visits to Scotland coupled with Lord Forsyth being the voice of Scottish Conservatives on Question Time really does speak volumes to the people of Scotland!

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk