Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine plant
UK energy minister calls the First Minister's intervention 'irresponsible' after security briefing on Ming Yang plans
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
The proposed site near Patna will total almost 300MW of new onshore wind capacity
Photograph: Daily Record (embedded from source)
What this story says
- John Swinney asked Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reverse the UK Government’s block on Ming Yang’s proposed wind turbine factory in Ardersier, near Inverness.
- The project was projected to create up to 1,500 jobs and represented about £1.5 billion of investment, as reported by the Daily Record and The Scotsman.
- UK energy security minister Michael Shanks called Swinney’s intervention 'irresponsible' after arranging a security briefing for him, a claim carried by the Daily Record and Evening Standard.
- No right-rated outlet reported on the story, according to the material supplied.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
70/100
Craft
87/100
Hype
30/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
John Swinney, Scotland’s First Minister, asked Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reconsider the UK Government’s decision to block plans for a wind turbine factory in Ardersier, near Inverness. The proposed facility, owned by the Chinese firm Ming Yang, was projected to create up to 1,500 jobs and represented about £1.5 billion of investment, as reported by the Daily Record and The Scotsman.
The UK Government blocked the project over national security concerns. Swinney raised the issue in his first meeting with Burnham and later wrote to the Prime Minister, according to the Evening Standard and The Scotsman. Ming Yang also contacted the UK Government following the change in leadership, the Evening Standard reported.
UK energy security minister Michael Shanks described Swinney’s intervention as 'surprising' and arranged a high-level security briefing for him. Shanks said it was 'irresponsible' for Swinney to continue pressing the matter after the briefing, a claim carried by the Daily Record and Evening Standard. Conservative shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie urged Burnham to reject Swinney’s plea, citing ongoing national security concerns.
What the coverage left out
No right-rated outlet ran the story, according to the material supplied. None of the digests from the left-rated or centre-rated outlets mentioned Conservative shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie’s call for Burnham to reject Swinney’s plea or his suggestion that the UK Government should instead back new drilling in the North Sea.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 12 Aug 2026, 17:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine plant
Evening Standard — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
6 rated outlets
- The six left-rated reports led on Swinney’s intervention and the UK Government’s response. The Daily Record and The Scotsman quoted Swinney’s accusation that the block was an 'anti-Scottish move' by a Labour Government. The Daily Record also carried Shanks’ description of Swinney’s intervention as 'irresponsible' and his statement that national security concerns were 'a legitimate reason for us to say no to a particular investment'.
- The Daily Record quoted Swinney’s claim that the UK Government was 'welcoming Chinese investment into Hinkley power station south of the border' while blocking the Ardersier project. The Scotsman’s digest noted that union bosses had also appealed for Burnham to review the security concerns raised over Ming Yang’s plans.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The two centre-rated reports, the Evening Standard and BBC News, led on Shanks’ criticism of Swinney’s intervention. The Evening Standard quoted Shanks’ description of the First Minister’s actions as 'irresponsible' and his statement that Swinney had received a 'security briefing at the highest level'. The Evening Standard also carried Swinney’s accusation that the block was an 'anti-Scottish move'.
- The BBC News digest noted that Swinney was 'dismissing claims he is putting political point scoring before national security concerns'. Neither centre-rated report mentioned the projected job creation or investment figures in their digests.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
6- John Swinney branded 'irresponsible' in row over Chinese-owned turbine factory (opens Daily Record in a new tab)
Daily Record — is Daily Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Swinney ‘irresponsible’ to ask PM to reconsider block on Chinese factory plan (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Irish News — is Irish News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Swinney ‘irresponsible’ to ask PM to reconsider block on Chinese factory plan (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Andy Burnham urged to rethink blocked plans for Chinese turbine factory in Highlands (opens The National in a new tab)
The National — is The National biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Swinney ‘irresponsible’ to ask PM to reconsider block on Chinese factory plan (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Swinney pressures Burnham on blocked Ming Yang wind factory plans (opens The Scotsman in a new tab)
The Scotsman — is The Scotsman biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
1Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine…?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 75% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine… biased?
- Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine plant is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Swinney presses Burnham to reverse block on Chinese-owned wind turbine…?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why did the UK Government block the Ming Yang wind turbine factory?
- The UK Government blocked the proposed Ming Yang wind turbine factory in Ardersier, near Inverness, over national security concerns. Energy security minister Michael Shanks described these concerns as 'a legitimate reason for us to say no to a particular investment', as reported by the Daily Record and Evening Standard.
- How many jobs could the Ming Yang factory have created?
- The proposed Ming Yang wind turbine factory in Ardersier was projected to create up to 1,500 jobs, according to reports in the Daily Record and The Scotsman. The project also represented about £1.5 billion of investment.
- Which outlets reported on John Swinney’s intervention?
- John Swinney’s request for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reconsider the block on the Ming Yang factory was reported by six left-rated outlets and two centre-rated outlets, according to the material supplied. No right-rated outlet ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
