THE BBC has been forced to issue a correction after failing to declare a guest's Unionist links.
In a programme on BBC Radio Scotland on July 30, presenter Stephen Jardine interviewed Dr Robert Kilgour during a segment on Scotland's social care system.
Kilgour is chairman of Renaissance Care, a firm which operates 19 care homes across Scotland.
During the discussion, Kilgour was introduced as someone who runs care homes across the country and was asked to draw on his experience.
He went on to criticise the Scottish Government's National Care Service Plan.
However, the presenter failed to declare that he is a major donor to the Conservative Party.
Kilgour donated a total of £69,800 to the Tories between 2005 and 2023, according to the Electoral Commission.
He also donated £11,327.76 to Scottish Business Supports the Union Limited (also known as Scottish Business UK), a pro-Union campaign group which believes "a rerun of the Scottish independence referendum is bad for Scotland", and which Kilgour is the founder and chairman of – a fact the BBC also failed to declare on the programme.
The BBC has now issued a correction, accepting that it "would have been better" to have made reference to Kilgour's links to the Tories.
A BBC spokesperson said: "While the programme itself included a range of different views, Dr Kilgour’s comments during the interview included his opinions on the Scottish Government’s National Care Service plan.
"In those circumstances, it would have been better if the programme had referenced the fact that Dr Kilgour has previously donated to the Conservative Party, something we have reflected in our output before, and is also the founder and chairman of Scottish Business UK.
"We’re happy to make that clear now and have reminded programme teams about where additional context is helpful for our audience."
