from Perry de Havilland at Samizdata:
“What particularly made me laugh was when the BBC voice over said “and the fact over one hundred governments have endorsed this report will add to its credibility.” So let me get this straight… the fact one hundred states which exercise political power over people have endorsed a report that will be used to justify imposing even more political control over people, and that makes this more credible? I wonder if the BBC would report a pro-tobacco report endorsed by tobacco companies the same way? What do you think?”
The comment thread accompanying that Samizdata post makes excellent reading – highly recommended.
Arguably it will add to its credibility, though without making it any more or less true. That people are credulous enough to believe that governments know better has pretty solid empirical backing…