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Burnham visits Scotland and invites Swinney to work on devolution

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly center (67%).

4 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Prime Minister Andy Burnham made his first substantive trip to Scotland since taking office and met First Minister John Swinney in Glasgow. The BBC, Financial Times and Guardian report that Burnham proposed devolving decision-making powers from Westminster and Holyrood to regions and towns, and invited Swinney to work together on it. Burnham called for an end to “tribal politics” between the two governments. The BBC reports that he told Swinney a second independence referendum remains “off limits”. The Guardian reports that an SNP minister accused Burnham of hypocrisy over his stance on independence. According to the BBC, Swinney is expected to promote a renewed push for independence at the SNP conference on Saturday.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Scotland and invited First Minister John Swinney to work together on devolving decision-making powers to regions and towns.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Center
    BBC News, Financial Times

  2. Burnham said a second Scottish independence referendum is “off limits”.

    One side only: the centerReported byCenter2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    BBC News, Financial Times

  3. Burnham called for an end to “tribal politics” between the Scottish and UK governments.

    One outletBBC News· Center

  4. An SNP minister accused Burnham of hypocrisy over his stance on independence.

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

  5. Swinney is expected to promote a renewed push for independence in his keynote speech at the SNP conference on Saturday.

    One outletBBC News· Center

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • Burnham’s stance on Scottish independence is hypocritical.

    An SNP minister accuses Burnham of hypocrisy. Burnham says the constitutional questions should be set aside and that a second referendum is “off limits”.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that Burnham visited Scotland and invited Swinney to work together on devolving power. The Guardian stresses the SNP’s charge of hypocrisy, while the BBC and Financial Times centre his rejection of a new independence vote.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The Guardian’s live-blog headline announces the speech as a plan on devolution and gives no verdict on it.

    Burnham to deliver speech in Scotland on devolution – UK politics live
    The GuardianLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Center headlines frame the visit as cooperation, with Burnham inviting or urging Swinney to work together on devolution, and the FT adds his rejection of a new independence vote.

    Burnham invites Swinney to work together on 'deeper Scottish devolution'
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read 3 of the 4 articles in context when it wrote the analysis. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • devolving powers to regions and towns
  • SNP accusation of hypocrisy over independence
  • a bank tax in the budget
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • The GuardianLeft

    Burnham to deliver speech in Scotland on devolution – UK politics live

    The prime minister is expected to announce plans on devolving decision-making powers away from both Westminster and Holyrood towards regions and towns Good morning and welcome to our UK politics live blog. …

    Read at The Guardian (opens in a new tab)

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • cooperation with the SNP
  • an end to tribal politics
  • rejection of a new independence vote

Leaves out

  • SNP accusation of hypocrisy

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 16, 5:49 AM EDT

  • Center

    2 hr 38 min later

    Its first report, Oct 16, 8:27 AM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 16, 5:49 AM EDT
  2. BBC NewsCenterOct 16, 8:27 AM EDT
  3. Financial TimesCenterOct 16, 11:00 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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