A concerned Bellevue reader – we'll call her 'E.' – has written to us in disappointed irritation at what she believes to be our biased, pro-SNP election coverage. She feels we should be impartial, and now promises to advise friends not to read the Spurtle.
Unfortunately, she did not include contact details in her letter, so we are unable to write to her in person or to seek permission to publish her misgivings in her own words.
However, E. we can assure you that the Spurtle continues to be politically neutral, with none of the team's varied personal preferences, compromises and frankly self-contradictory muddles appearing online or in print, or unfairly slanting our coverage. If it seems as if certain candidates have attracted more ridicule or criticism than others, we would simply say that the election is still a long way off and we will try to get round to offending everybody equally as and when opportunities arise.
The perception of pro-SNP bias may stem from the appearance on this website of display advertisements for Shirley-Anne Somerville and Leith Walk Councillor Deidre Brock. These are entirely commercial placements, costing £6 per month, and all other politicians not espousing hateful or racist principles are of course welcome to publicise themselves in the same way at the same price.
In fact, with 92 candidates standing across Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh Northern and Leith, we would positively encourage candidates to do so. With any luck, June's edition will be brought to you from a sun-soaked beach resort in South America.
Readers will see from our most recent 'Election Haggis' – Breaking news 7.4.11 – that we actively solicit political news, opinion and gossip of all shades.
Spurtle is committed to remaining Broughton's free, independent stirrer and will never be a partial promoter of particular party interests.