When it comes to our political class, I think the best maxim to remember is that if you see their lips moving, you know that they are lying. Problem is that their contempt for us is sometimes hard to fully appreciate as is clear in the news that was reported the other day.
You will remember the favourable headlines such as “MP’s choose sub-inflation pay rise” which greeted the decision taken in Parliament following a call by Commons leader Harriet Harman for “discipline”. Our ever so modest MP’s voted themselves a mere 1.9% pay increase even though the..ahem..Independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) had recommended a 2.56% salary rise from £60,277 to £61,820. How more responsible could our elected representatives be?
Quite a lot as it happens. You see along with the 1.9% increase in salary, they also voted themselves another £12 million in a year to further gild their already gold-plated pension scheme and also insisted that expense claims WITHOUT receipts be accepted.
Funny old world, isn’t it? The pigs plunge their snouts in the trough and yet it is presented to us as modesty incarnate!
Hat-tip to Disinterring Bad News.
Britain has the whiff of the Weimar Republic,the distinct odour of putrefaction emanating from the body politic that presages the shit hitting the fan.
Peter,
You;re quite right. A decadent political class and a Vichy media.
David,
The problem is the political class and the media,especially the BBC are so very incestuous. Former BBC employees becoming Labour Ministers,James Purnell springs to mind,bode ill for democracy.
There seems to be a regular traffic between the BBC and the Labour Party.
Peter: “There seems to a regular traffic between the BBC and the Labour Party” – they are in fact one and the same thing, the BBC is to the Labour Party what the IRA was to Sinn Fein.
Conspiracy theorists?
“There seems to be a regular traffic between the BBC and the Labour Party.”
You have no proof of that Peter.
Whilst the BBC does have bias, its not a totally state subservent organisation, it has a fair share of investigative journalists, they did investigate the sexing up of the WMD issue, and put themselves on the line for. To say it is totally incesteous is an overstatement.
As for the ‘vichy’ comment from David Vance, why doesn’t he go outright and call them all appeasers.
When you get to know the man you’ll se his flaws – of which we in Northern Ireland know there are many!
HMR&C will not accept expense claims without a receipt so how can MPs get away with it?
Come on BBC, let’s see you campaign for more equality between MPs and Joe Public!
Hannah,
Interesting to hear you allege that there is “no proof” of traffic between the BBC and government. I refer you to the move by the BBC’s Chief political correspondent in Northern Ireland – Stephen Grimason, to head up the communications end of the Vichy Stormont administration.
I am delighted you know of my many flaws, but at least in my defence I am not an apologist for a devolved Assembly filled with a bizarre mix of terrorists and venal politicians.
You’ll do well to keep up with me.
“Conspiracy theorists?
“There seems to be a regular traffic between the BBC and the Labour Party.”
You have no proof of that Peter.
But there is proof, check out BBC Young Pioneers.I’m not going to do it for you since you are probably an “investigative journalist”,investigate.
‘”There seems to be a regular traffic between the BBC and the Labour Party.”
‘You have no proof of that Peter.’
Off the top of me head…
Martin Sixsmith, Ed Richards, Lance Price, Clarence Mitchell, James Purnell, John Birt, Bill Bush, Tom Kelly, Ben Bradshaw.
All of the above made the switch from the BBC to positions in the Labour government.
There are others – Polly, Jackie and Andy, Kirsty, Gavyn and Sue, Greg – who are steeped in the Labour Party; and many others who are supporters of, and spouses, lovers and drinking-partners, of Labour MPs.
Is this proof that there is an inherent pro-Labour bias in the BBC’s output? Not necessarily.
What is does show, however, is that the relationship between the media and the political classes is just a little bit incestuous.
huh David Vance you have named this post well, indeed you are spinning a tale of no substance.
Stephen Grimason was BBC’s NI political editor who then CHANGED jobs to work for the Executive’s information service. To paraphrase you ‘Geddit?’
A man changing jobs from the BBC is to be held against his former employer to accuse them of bias? On that basis how do we evaluate you, a wannabe but failed politician?
I’m no apologist for terrorists, theStormont executive is the elected legal governing body in Northern Ireland, and some of us are glad to see peace.
Keep up with you. I don’t need to I know what you are going to say before you you say it, and usually its on the BBC. Ironic isn’t it?
Hannah,
The irony is that the BBC Chief’s political editor becomes propagands chief for the NI Government and you see no issues here.
As to your acceptance of democratically elected terrorists, fine. I’m sure Hamas would appreciate your support.
The BBC relies on moral relativists to sustain itself and you fit the bill.
No – I see no issues in a man changing his career, and as to the elected terrorists slur, I voted for Dr Paisley! No Peter Robinson if I am to be precise.
Moral realitivist!!
Spin!
“Stephen Grimason was
“””BBC’s NI political editor who then CHANGED jobs to work for the Executive’s information service.”””
To paraphrase you ‘Geddit?'”
Geddit?
Hi Hannah,
Glad to see another anonymous lefty BBC apologist clawing their way onto the forum being all indignant and prickly.
Very brave of you to smear someone as being a “failed politician” when you yourself haven’t the courage to post your full identity.
Being a Beeboid I’m sure you’re doing your utmost to protect your own faults of which – by your nature of employment – there will be many.
The People’s Front of Judea | 27.01.08 – 10:04 pm
I think it’s fair enough of Hannah to raise Vance’s failed politician status if he’s going to write this:
When it comes to our political class, I think the best maxim to remember is that if you see their lips moving, you know that they are lying.
The result of David Vance’s own attempt to join the political class was that of the 70,000 + electorate of Upper Bann, a mere 1405 voted for him.
So let’s welcome the Screaming Lord Sutch of Northern Ireland politics to B-BBC. He’ll be in his element.
Oh God, true to form, Reith can’t resist joining in with the character assassination. The true colours of BBC employees shine through with the levels they will stoop to to protect their beloved paymasters like the slavvering swine they are.
Let’s just hope David Vance can’t shed some light onto who you really are Reith or what department you work in.
It would be deserved Karma indeed if someone should smear your own dubious character with some editorializing.
John Reith,
Thanks for the kind wishes. Looking forward to educating you.
“The People’s Front of Judea:
Hi Hannah,
Glad to see another anonymous lefty BBC apologist clawing their way onto the forum being all indignant and prickly.”
Oh the irony.
Failed politician
Don’t the real failed politicians become EU Commissioners?
Off the top of me head…
Martin Sixsmith, Ed Richards, Lance Price, Clarence Mitchell, James Purnell, John Birt, Bill Bush, Tom Kelly, Ben Bradshaw.
All of the above made the switch from the BBC to positions in the Labour government.
There are others – Polly, Jackie and Andy, Kirsty, Gavyn and Sue, Greg – who are steeped in the Labour Party; and many others who are supporters of, and spouses, lovers and drinking-partners, of Labour MPs.
Now can any of the Beeboid loafers commenting on this blog find an equivalent number of people who left al-Beeb and went to work for the Conservative party? Surely if there’s no bias in Beeboid-land you’ll have no difficulty?
Anonymous:
Reith has gone through this before on this blog with a similarly long list of conservative ex-BBC people. I’ve struggled to find the relevant link with the search engine here or Google but one of the moderators should be able to dig it up. If I find it in the meantime, I’ll post it.
Peter re Weimar: GMTA. Have been saying so for years.
Hannah, I do call the BBC appeasers and have done so for a long time. What I call the paper laughingly known as ‘Independent’ won’t bear repeating on a family-oriented blog.