Anyone know why Bill Cash MP has been splashed all over the BBC website frontpage for most of the day? As someone who gets most of his news online, I have to say I wonder. I can’t see it now but I am certain earlier today that there was a reference to him as an “arch-Eurosceptic”. I know many might just be happy to see an MP in the stocks for a day, but the way all this has been conducted very much suggests to me a studied campaign. Yes, this originated from the Telegraph, but the BBC has very much played ball- very much the old footballing one-two. Yes, there is an extremely serious point about MPs’ abuse, but there was also (as with most jobs) a legitimate need for an expenses program in pursuit of the goals of the job (ie. constiuency representation). Not defending MPs who trough here, but raising the question about the legitimacy of this broad based campaign against MPs, and asking cui bono? It certainly might seem a matter of luck whether an MP is targeted or not (disturbing enough, as it’s so inefficient)- but the BBC has seemed determined to focus on backbench Tory MPs- Cash, Kirkbride, McKenzie; seems to me Blears, Smith, Balls and what’serface have got off more than lightly… given their frontbench Government status and all.
So I would raise a question about which discredited and miserably failed party stands to gain from spreading the blame across the whole House of Commons for the indulgence combined with ineffectiveness of the chamber and its leadership during the last ten years (plus)?
Well we all know why the BBC would splash Bill Cash all over the place.
Funny how this is not prominent in fact I don’t even think the BBC have mentioned it..
“Rosie Winterton, the pensions minister, submitted claims for “soundproofing” the bedroom of her London home and received thousands of pounds for gardening and decorating. “
“MPs who stand down after expenses revelations should not be entitled to large tax free pay-offs, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8074151.stm
This is the same person who:
“Mr Clegg claimed stamp duty, land registry and legal costs – worth £9,244.50 – on the purchase of his constituency home in 2005. Mr Clegg went on to spend £2,600 on a new kitchen, £5,857.63 on decorating and £760 for the repair of a garden path. His home phone bill included four calls to Colombia, three calls to Vietnam and 21 calls to Belgium.”.
But this is not mentioned in the BBC article – I wonder why?
Also has anyone noticed that Gordon Brown has disappeared?
Well Morley has now resigned. Lets see if the BBC concentrates on him.
Anyone else noticed though that in Labour areas there are no real campaigns to get corrupt Labour MPs to stand down?
As I’ve always thought in Labour areas they vote for a paedophile if he had a red rosette on.
I agree. I have the displeasure of watching BBC News when I am in the gym in the morning at 0630. (the other options are GMTV, Skysports or a music channel). Anyway, as I was plodding away on the treadmill thinking about how much I could drink this weekend, it struck me the number of times the BBC mentioned euro-sceptic Tory MP Bill Cash.
To be fair, when the presenters were questioning Andrew Pierce (Pearce?) they did bring up why cabinet ministers seemed to be getting away with the media attention.
However, if say Ken Clarke replaced Bill Cash, would they say, arch-europhile Tory MP? Probably not. Also, why wasnt Rosie Winterton mentioned? Or Margaret Hodge? Not once did they mention a Labour MP apart from Morley which everyone knew about anyway. What about Brown? Where has he gone? What about Darling? Hoon?
Complaint I have made to the BBC …..
As someone who can remember back to the 80s and 90s when the BBC went large in its left wing bias on the then Conservative Government and when every Tory sleaze story was covered in forensic detail it comes as no surprise to me that the BBC is at it again with the expenses scandal. In my opinion this is the story the BBC has been waiting for to take the heat of the BBC’s chums in the Labour Government after twelve years of sleaze that make the Tory’s look like choirboys. On Wednesday on the radio four PM at 5pm Julie Kirkbride was the lead story for over ten minutes solid with a small part at the end about four Labour MPs having to face a so called “Star Chamber”, this to me shows a distinct lack of balance and to my mind is not an isolated incident with every BBC news item in the last week or so that I have listened to or watched leading always with the Tory miscreant first then the poor Labour sod who is not really at fault it was the system you see. The sooner a new Government gets in and privatises the BBC thus removing the threat of prison to those including myself who are forced to pay the extortionate licence fee the better. As someone who has read Robin Aitkens book “Can we trust the BBC?” I would say definitely not. I could go on and on about what I see as BBC bias be it refusing to call Terrorists murderers Terrorists (especially those that did so much damage to my country but are now feted as statesmen by the BBC) or its blind acceptance of the new religion of man made global warming and other fashionable causes but that’s for another day. Can you please tell me who to write to get a refund on my licence please and if that’s not possible as a loyal “licence fee” payer I demand an answer to my complaint.
I know the BBC is bias… but tonight I couldn’t believe my ears. Not pretense but advocacy from a journalist. Thanks to Sky+ I rewound it and took a transcript:
19:07 BBC News Channel : Elliot Morley meeting local Labour Party officials
Live Link: Scunthorpe
Chris Butler, BBC: (discussing Michael Taylor’s petition to oust Labour MP)
“Do you yourself have any political affiliations because this is something that is really going to damage the Labour Party here”
Michael Taylor:
“None whatsoever. The Labour Party has a long long history in Scunthorpe, and you know don’t get me wrong I know Mr Morley has done a lot of hard work in the constituency over the year.”
Chris Butler, BBC: (interjecting)
“He has been a good MP!”
Michael Taylor:
He has been like (sic) a good MP, he has been very successful like politically and he has, you know, made in it in the upper echelons of Gordon Brown’s close knit team.”
How can Chris Butler or the BBC News producer defend such blatant bias?
Does someone have a BBC News email I can send my complaint to?
Thanks
Ryan
This is the link to make a complaint
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/
Ryan, that’s consistent with what I see on the BBC website, where they have now turned over to Morley:
“will not stand for re-election over his involvement in the expenses claims scandal”
So he’s only “involved” in the “scandal”- not claiming for a non-existent mortgate like a genuinely culpable fraudster. He announces it himself; he is not sacked. Furthermore, it’s 9pm on Friday evening UK time. Only few geeky-types checking in on the news ;-). It’ll be gone long before the bigger numbers of visitors click on tomorrow…
Labour was going to be trashed anyway come the election. However this corruption of MPs across the board, and the BBC focussing on the Conservatives, hurts the Conservatives more then Labour, even though Labour has been in charge of the whole system. The BBC know this, and they will play it for its worth.
Thanks to all of you, I now feel a bit happier. You've inspired me to complain myself.
In fact, I'm in the mood to be a right pain in the Beeboid Empire's bloated backside.
I've sent them this little message:
"Why is the BBC ignoring the Telegraph's revelations about pensions minister Rosie Winterton & concentrating its attention on Conservative backbencher Bill Cash? I can find no mention of Miss Winterton’s claims on BBC online, whereas Mr Cash’s claims are featured prominently. She is a serving Labour minister, he is only a Conservative backbencher. This is pro-Labour bias. How can you justify this?"
I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed over the last few days by the scale – and the blatancy – of BBC bias over this issue & got lost trying to find how to complain
on their website. So thanks Gary. I will put that address in my favourites.
Almost all of our politicians are corrupt.
People who are dumb enough to support a political party (and if you loyally support any political party you are obviously an imbecile) can’t stomach the notion of there not being “goodies” and “baddies”.
There is no difference between the Conservatives and Labour; they are both parties now populated by career politicians and who believe in nothing except lining their own pockets or those of their wealthy friends.
One party wants to give taxpayers money to the public sector, the other wants to give taxpayers money to private corporations. Either way the voters get screwed.
In the age of the internet there is no need for parliament anyhow; knock that building down and have an online parliament and thus MPs will not be able to claim expenses. This will save the taxpayer alot of money.
You and I cannot claim expenses for our jobs etc, why should MPs be able to?
Hmm am very suspicious about this. Sounds like a nudge towards a UKIP move either co-ordinating him strolling the path or the DT placing the paving stones from an inside tip. Or the DT making mischief.
Or it may be just bollox…life will tell us all.
Why has the BBC ignored two senior Labour Peers booted out of the Lords for offering to take cash for laws?
Complaints to the BBC – its enough to make you weep!
“COMPLAINTS TO THE BBC: APRIL 2009
The BBC answered over 23,500 complaints from the audience during April 2009. These ranged
from a small number of complaints about potentially serious breaches of editorial guidelines through
to a much larger collection of views about programme content.
The main issues were as follows:
Complaints were received from people who were disappointed that a character, Danielle, was killed
off in the episode of EastEnders broadcast on 5 April.
We received complaints that personal comments made about winning jockey of the Grand National
during our live coverage were inappropriate.
Some viewers of Question Time were unhappy with comments made by one of the panellists about
the Welsh, Scottish and Irish nations during a discussion on whether there should be a national day
for England.
Some people were offended by the comments made by Jonathan Ross on his BBC Radio 2
programme (transmitted 18/04/09) regarding the Ofcom ruling on the calls to Andrew Sachs.
Complaints were received from viewers who felt images of a horse being slaughtered on Horse
People with Alexandra Tolstoy were too graphic.
The BBC’s responses to some recent issues can be read at http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints“
I despair.
BBC bias caught in action. On BBC News 24 a fat ugly female beeboid was interviewing some bloke about getting Elliot Morley to stand down. Female beeboid spits “have you got any political affiliations?”
Now can ANYONE remember a beeboid asking any of the ‘get Julie Kirkbride out’ lot if THEY had any political affiliations?
Nope, neither can I.
Matthew Parris, along with SirMikeWhiteLiberal and Steve Richards, has been leading the Political Class’s desperate cavalry charge against the Expenses story. Matthew wants us to get things in proportion & concentrate only on the most extreme cases.
Parris was on ‘Today’ this morning, discussing the issue with Andrew Pierce of the ‘Telegraph’. John Humphrys was clearly more sympathetic to Parris, using hyperbole, interruptions and an exasperated tone against Pierce and being much kinder to Parris.
Then along comes Nick ‘Toenails’ Robinson, who said he has “a lot of sympathy for Matthew Parris’s concern”.
Robinson, incidentally, then tells us that he’s just been down to Newark, a Conservative-held constituency, where he has been trying to persuade Patrick Mercer’s voters not to vote for him. That may sound like an outrageous claim on my part, but listen to what he says & that’s exactly what Robinson has been doing.
Why go to a Conservative-held constituency anyway?
Finally, guess what example Humphrys used to introduce this item:
“Why are voters equally agitated about MPs who claimed for buying duck houses as those who "flip" their properties to make a profit?”
Gary,
Tried the link to send in a complaint, surprise, surprise, it did not work.
Perhaps it was because it was entitled “Apology to Muslim council”. B*****ds.
Derek
Same old same old today. The Daily Telegraph has a number of Labour MPs in the spotlight and a couple of Tories. Yet both R2 & R4 are concentrating on the Tories with no mention of any of the Labour fiddlers.
There's no point complaining to the BBC as they never listen so, who has the power to take action against this bias?
Cattle Prod
I scanned the Telegraph at my supermarket this morning and yes – most of the naughty MPs named today were Labour, not Tory.
That once more is the opposite of what the BBC has been giving us – along with their soft-playing the appalling 21% poll support for Brown, the lowest ever, plus the 62% thinking Brown is most damaged by the scandal as against 6% for Cameron.
Plus the poll suggesting that Labour is trailing UKIP for the elections next week – so could be pushed into 4th place.
It’s “cui bono” – double dative.
And on it goes…
First question on Radio 4’s 'Any Questions?' was "My MP is Anthony Steen. Why should I have to put up with him for another year?".
As the programme was broadcast from Tory Steen’s constituency the question is understandable.
The issue of BBC bias comes because questions on 'Any Questions?' are chosen in advance by the programme’s makers. The BBC chose this question, placed it first & then the younger Dimblebore put it straight off to Conservative spokesman Dominic Grieve. This was clearly a BBC ambush designed to cause Grieve the maximum embarrassment.
This morning’s ‘Today’ sent a reporter to the constituency of Conservative backbencher Stephen Crabb (who?) to discuss the public’s attitude to expenses.
In ‘The Report’ (Radio 4, Thursday) Simon Cox chose to illustrate the public’s attitude to the expenses crisis by visiting Conservative Michael Gove’s constituency.
Is there a pattern here?
Calm down everyone.
Why is Bill Cash an MP when he is a single issue politician? An open primary would probably send him packing and install a Tory candidate who would want to represent his constituents and not use Parliament to propound his own nutty perspective.
He is – according to John Major – a bastard.