:
I don’t know how this is being covered on other networks, but the BBC are starting all their news bulletins about John Redwood’s Competitiveness Commission reports with the words…
The Labour Party has today criticised…
This has happened many times before. Instead of concentrating on the substance of a Tory policy announcement the BBC seem to revel in giving Labour Ministers the microphone to explain how whatever the policy happens to be is making the Tories more right wing than Michael Howard. It is a disgrace. This morning they wheeled out John Hutton to slag off Redwood’s report, without even carrying any information about the report itself or indeed any comment from John Redwood or any other Tory.
Meanwhile, in Tory plan for red tape ‘tax cut’, Biased BBC reader Towcestrian notes there are three ‘pull-quotes’ highlighted in the story – all of them quotes from Labour and the TUC.
- “Cameron is letting the old guard sing the old tunes again”, Cabinet Minister Andy Burnham
- “The Conservative Party will put itself on the side of bad employers and undercut the good who are happy to obey these legal minimum standards”, TUC
- “If these reports are true the Conservative Party will put themselves on the side of bad employers”, TUC Spokesman
– the last pair of which appear to be two versions of the same quote – probably some Beeboid trying to spin it different ways, forgetting to get rid of one of them.
Biased BBC reader Tubby Round has spotted the BBC trotting out John Redwood’s cringeworthy first attempt at singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau in Welsh from waaay back in 1993 as suitable library footage for their reports today on policy announcements – a clip that is getting a bit hackneyed even for satirical programmes like Have I Got News For You, let alone for BBC News. By the same standard, every mention of Lord Pillock, sorry, Kinnock, would be accompanied by footage of him falling in the sea at Brighton and audio of his intemperate outburst, as Leader of the Opposition, at James Naughtie that was so scandalously hushed up by the BBC at the time.
Good old unbiased impartial BBC.
They did the same trick with the “pull-quotes” for the Dispatches story. There were two, the first was:
To try and demonise the efforts of these people by taking their comments out of context was shocking
Abu Usamah
Green Lane Mosque preacher
The second:
In this case we have been dealing with a heavily-edited television programme
Bethan David, CPS lawyer
But Channel’s 4’s very vigorous reaction which appeared in the story, which basically blew these people out the water by calling their bluff, was not featured as an enboldened quote.
They’ve always done this. Even in the days of Brian Redhead, I remember fulminating at the way news was announced. Basically, it goes a bit like: “The sun will always shine … pause … says Labour” and “The TORIES claim the sun may shine sometimes”. Let’s face it though, it’s been a wonderfully successful 20 years for the BBC. They set out to, and succeeded, in persuading the nation of the virtues of socialist statism.
Back more directly to the point at hand, it is entirely in keeping with their view of the world. They hate any mention of reduced state spending or control and so – not accidentally or reflexively but quite deliberately in my view – set out to demonise any mention of it.
It is a disgrace and they should be closed down as soon as possible.
Speaking of `Have I Got News Four You`, I remember Kinnock being absolutely ripped to shreds when he made his appearance as a presenter.
Great stuff.
Agreed,John Backhouse, but I think the headlines about “the right” capturing the Tory Party (which is the party of the right – duh – about time they captured slithery Dave) will sneak around and nip them hard in the bottom.
These “the right have captured the Tory Party!” alarmist headlines are being met with a warm welcome among commentators on The Telegraph.
There is probably no way of doing it, but it ought to be a legal requirement that when the BBC refers to ‘left’ or ‘right’ in British politics, it should be required to use a qualifier. For example, ‘the Left’ is socialism and fascism. ‘The right’ is freedom, capitalism and non-interference by government.
The BBC conflates fascism with ‘the right’, when actually, fascism is one of their own, on the left. Hitler was a leftie. Like Kinnock, Foot, Blair, Brown. The Soviet Union. Dangerous promoters of a vicious, destructive philosophy.
How can they get away with pretending Hitler was on the right? It is just so totally surreal.
Am I the only one who came away from that article the first time thinking that what Redwood was proposing would reduce tax revenue? Passages such as:
“But this directly undermines the spending pledges Cameron has been making.”
and
“The Tories once again claim to be able to cut taxes while pretending that no-one will have to pay”
don’t make any sense whatsoever. Nothing that is being proposed will reduce the exchequer’s income. Admittedly both of these are quotes of other people, but why does the BBC leave these incorrect statements completely unclarified? When you combine this with their decision to actually describe the deregulations plans as a “tax cut” in the title, one is forced to conclude that whoever wrote the article is either completely incompetent or deliberately biased.
I think some of the clowns at the BBC really believe that ALL tax goes on “schools’n’hospitals” and that all money going to such institutions is paid to “selfless teachers” and “angelic nurses”.
Remember, it’s a small workd at the BBC and a cloying one. The peer pressure to conform to the group mindset is incredible. I think this is one of the most sad things about the BBC because it COULD have been a real place for thought and new ideas. But it ain’t.
I think Verity’s right about the BBC (and left in general) saying that anything slightly mean is “right wing”. Again, gives the stupid and ignorant mindset away from the start.
Down with ’em all!
According to a summary in today’s newspapers, one of the main recommendations in the Redwood report is: “BBC stopped from using ‘poll tax’ licence fee to compete unfairly.”
I wonder if this could have any bearing on the BBC’s attempt to rubbish the report, as soon as it appeared?
crossbow, which paper did you read that in?
Good on John Redwood! That is excellent news if it’s true.
Today programme : They had Norman Lamont on (Friday I think) to talk about the fall in stock markets and explain the credit squeeze because of potential bad debts.
Halfway through the interview they introduce the totally unrelated
“of course you had your own exposure to market turmoil on Black Wednesday back in 1992”
to be helpful.
Quite right D Burbage. And evey Labour guest is asked about Denis Healey’s IMF loan, are they? No, of course not.
why aren’t the BBC showing Brown’s nose picking? whenever he’s mentioned (or at all even)
The BBC also didn’t seem to notice Brown losing more than was lost on Black Wednesday by selling our gold for Euros for no particularly good reason.
In answer to Tomski and others above, there is an advance list of Redwood’s proposals on page 2 of today’s Daily Mail. The report itself is due to be released on Friday of this week.
However, given the viciousness of the BBC’s usual response when its monopoly of the TV licence revenue is even questioned, let us hope that the Tories do not lose their nerve between now and then.
Let us also hope that the next proper Conservative government abolishes the licence fee altogether, and lets the BBC sink or swim.
Does anyone know the source of the BBC story on the Redwood report? Seeing as it’s not being officially released until Friday which party wanted the early coverage? Were the BBC following a Conservative party press release, or, as I suspect, was it a ‘spoiler’ Labour leak – forcing the Tories to react? It would be very interesting to know. If the latter, then it clearly shows up the BBC simply playing the government’s tune for them. It would also show how the BBC give stories top billing when it’s a Labour party source. The usual fate of Tory party press releases is the BBC bin.
Surprise surprise! The story on the BBC web site has changed. No longer does it have three critical “side quotes”, one from a Labour minister and two from the TUC, we now have one from Redwood himself, one from the TUC, and one from the BBC political correspondent — although the last one is hardly neutral in tone; “The proposals give Labour plenty of ammunition for an attack” is basically another way of saying “these proposals are rubbish”.
News sniffer details the changes here;
http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/60017/diff/3/4
I am reminded of the recent nasty bit of racial politics aimed at Boris Johnson’s mayoral bid by the “black” MPs, which later became ‘Labour MPs’ in the BBC article, but only after the nasty little racial political smear by Labour and the BBC had done its intended job. This proposal by Redwood has received the same BBC smear treatment, only to be quietly corrected a few days later so the BBC can plead “What, not us guv!”
There’s an interesting contrast to Redwood’s red tape proposals and the proposals floated in 2005 by none other than Gordon Brown. No critical side quotes by the TUC there, and no snide little comments by supposedly impartial BBC journalists.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4574229.stm
Brown pledges law to cut red tape
Chancellor Gordon Brown has
promised to bring in new laws to cut
the burden of red tape on business.
I think Mr Redwood decided it was time someone frightened the horses.
The sovietesque gee-gees at the Beeb are astir. How amusing. Commentators at The Telegraph and on the many rightist British blogs are quite chipper. It must be painful for the Beeb. Never mind, they have a gift horse – they have Karl Rove to kick around for a day or two.