108 Responses to OPEN THREAD

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  1. phoebe says:
    July 4, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    I wonder if the BBC will be reporting of events in Birmingham today? http://lionheartuk.blogspot.com/2009/07/2-fronts-against-islamic-extremists.html

       1 likes

  3. pounce_uk says:
    July 4, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    Anybody else watched that 5 minute interview by the bBC on Tony (I ruined British Industry) Benn.

    Esp the part where Tony (We sold weapons to Saddam- Name them then) Benn says that he joined the Home Guard at the age of 16 and was trained as a Terrorist.

    Eh no bBC, you see the Home Guard was a uniformed service and thus part of the British armed forces.

    By claiming he was trained as a terrorist all Tony(I hate myself, but love my money more) Benn gives the bBC the chance to legitimise the Taliban/Hamas/Hezb-allah.

    Oh and Tony, if by chance you do see this post. Please please name me one weapon sold by the UK to Saddam?

       1 likes

  4. xlr says:
    July 4, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    'BBC getting tough on Licence fee dodgers it appears'.

    fcuk em, is my considered opinion

       1 likes

  5. Martin says:
    July 4, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    I thought Benn personally defeated Hitler? He's always wanking on about it.

    Oh hang on he was stationed in South Africa and spent his time sun bathing.

       1 likes

  6. piggy kosher says:
    July 4, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    Sad old sinister fart has watched a couple of documentaries about the "stay behind parties", nominally attached to the H.G and written himself into the narrative.
    You morally blind, foolish old man.

       1 likes

  7. piggy kosher says:
    July 4, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    Even Mr. Benn is in awe of Churchill, "He got us through the war" is equivalent to Tony running up the white flag. I think T.B is aware of his absurd contradictions sometimes.

       1 likes

  8. pounce_uk says:
    July 5, 2009 at 12:05 am

    I'm not sure and cannot find the bBC article but I'm sure I read an something about forced marrages in the Uk on Al beeb. They quoted details about how anybody can get forced to man the man of their nightmares and wouldn't point in a certain direction.
    Asian news has an article on the same subject and publishes these figures;
    Latest 2009 figures show that the majority of reportings to the FMU involve families of Pakistani (70 per cent), and Bangladeshi (11 per cent) origin, with smaller percentages of those of Indian, Middle Eastern, European and African origin.
    http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/1123853_reports_of_forced_marriages_on_the_increase

    Seems the bBC have good reason for not telling you just who is behind the vast majority of arm bending…or should that be throat sliting

       1 likes

  9. AndrewSouthLondon says:
    July 5, 2009 at 6:13 am

    Tony Benn is living proof that there is no relationship between having "intelligence" and knowing the "truth". His head is so far up his arse he's gone round up himself twice.

       1 likes

  10. 1327 says:
    July 5, 2009 at 7:59 am

    That generation of the Political class do seem to make some odd claims about their wartime service. I remember reading when Edward Heath died that he said he had been badly affected by being the officer in charge of a firing squad in WW2. However I have never been able to verify this or find any record of any British firing squad in WW2.

       1 likes

  11. Anonymous says:
    July 5, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Only one Corporal Josef Jakobs ,15th August 1941 in the tower of London and he was a German!

       1 likes

  12. George R says:
    July 5, 2009 at 10:26 am

    The BBC is sycophantic in its reporting of Labour's alarming policy of promoting homosexuality, like in yesterday's reporting of the pro-homosexual parade.

    Here are two thoughtful, critical articles on Labour's statist actions to get all public bodies to PROMOTE 'equality' and 'diversity':

    1.) Observer' –

    "Equality for some" (by Harry Phibbs).

    [Extract]:

    "However, neither is the bill ['Equality Bill'] a simple 'tidying up exercise'. Among other things it will impose a duty on all public bodies to promote equality and diversity. Not merely to practise equality, but actively to promote it. And not just to promote equality in terms of gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, but also economic outcomes.

    "The bill requires that 'tackling socio-economic disadvantage and narrowing gaps in outcomes for people from different backgrounds is a core function of key public services'.

    "This doesn't seem a terribly democratic approach, does it? Whatever the views of the local councillors that are elected, the local council will have a legal obligation to promote equality.

    "The start of all this came when the Tories banned councils from promoting homosexuality with Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act. Critics said this was a matter that should be left to local councillors. Labour repealed the ban. But now Labour is effectively imposing an obligation to promote homosexuality. It reminds me of Bob Hope's joke: 'In California homosexuality is legal – I'm getting out before they make it compulsory.'

    "With a statutory requirement on councils to promote 'Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender culture, what will this mean in practice? An excuse for councils to employ LGBT Officers spending their time attending LGBT Conferences discussing LGBT Issues with LGBT Officers from other councils? Then writing long impenetrable reports nobody reads?"

    2.) 'Telegraph':

    "Gordon Brown's 'fairness' is not the kind of fairness most people want" (by Janet Daley).

    Commenting on a new Joseph Rowntree Foundation report and its findings, Janet Daley says:

    [Extract]-

    "In practical political terms, these findings are a bombshell. What they do to the argument of the traditional Left (currently embodied in Harriet Harman's Equality Bill, which reverberates with a vindictive, levelling fervour worthy of Pol Pot) is scarcely more tumultuous than their effect on discourse right across the party spectrum. In a speech for the Fabian Society that was published last week but strangely never delivered, John Denham, the Communities Secretary, tried rather bravely to address the salient point. This research, he (would have) said, 'sounds the death knell for the purely needs-based approach' to inequality which has dominated Left-liberal thinking since the 1960s."

       1 likes

  13. Craig says:
    July 5, 2009 at 10:56 am

    'Marr' wasn't as bad as usual today, if only because old jug-ears gave John Major a good run and let him talk without too many interruptions.

    That said Marr 'balanced' this by an even longer & only slightly less gentle interiew with Labour's foreign secretary David Miliband.

    And, being 'the Andrew Marr Show', 'balance' toppled into outright bias by the third political guest being yet another Labour MP, former minister John Hutton. He was on to review the papers & was tested no harder than Miliband.

    The other guest was Martina Navratilova, who is ultra-liberal in her politics (and showed it) & some Kenyan singers who sang at the inauguration of the One. (If Marr had been there, he'd have wet himself).

    So same old same old after all.

    * * * * * *

    P.S. Thanks for all the kind words and advice many of you have given me. I have set up a blog (as North Northwester and others suggested), & am trying to get my head round it. I don't want it to be just a list of statistics. (And I can't work out how to copy-and-paste onto Google blogger, which is a bit of a bugger). Anyhow, thanks again.

    http://beebbiascraig.blogspot.com/

    * * * * * *

    PPS. Word verification is bringing up "calotory". Would that be John Bercow, or Nicholas Soames?

       1 likes

  14. George R says:
    July 5, 2009 at 11:40 am

    BBC continues (as Labour's 'Equality Bill' demands) to promote homosexuality:

    "Pride marchers enjoy" [Labour?] party parade"

    ('Politics' page).

    Unlike BBC, 'Cranmer' has a critical review of it all:

    "Gay Gordon, Camp David and Gay Shame "

    [Extract]:

    "It has been handbags at dawn in the pursuit of the ‘gay vote’. In the pink corner are the acolytes of Gordon Brown (Ben Bradshaw and Chris Bryant), and in the pink corner are the aides-de-camp of David Cameron (Iain Dale and Alan Duncan). The fact that both corners are pink is simply to make then indistinguishable in their expression of ‘Gay Pride’ – they are united by their sexual orientation, but divided in their politics. In just about every other walk of life, homosexuals are united in overcoming social segregation: their sexuality is fundamental and underpins their group polarisation. And, as with all tribal separations, it informs their economic decisions, their evaluations of their neighbours, even decisions about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear and where to live. The separation is both physical and psychological, especially as suspicion surrounds non-members of the group.

    "But when it comes to politics, there are deeper tribal loyalties.

    "And so we witness the unseemly posturing of ‘Gay Gordon and Camp David’ – one of the best sound-bite headlines of recent years: it encapsulates perfectly the absurdity of the obsession as each bends over backwards to embrace the pink wings and fluffy hats, fighting like cats to lead the gay procession from Neverland to Sodom. There are accusations of hypocrisy, inconsistency, 'homophobia', lying and deception. Not to mention the ignoring of tradition, authority, science and nature.

    " But the battle in the political realm is really a consequence of that in the spiritual. " ('Cranmer'.)

       1 likes

  15. JohnA says:
    July 5, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    Craig

    Your new site looks good.

    Can I go back to the measures of bias.

    Anyone can understand the Interruption Coefficient – the more the interruptions, the more prima facie aggressive is the interview.

    But the other Coefficient does not looks so straightforward – namely, the number of questions.

    And I am not clear how you combine the two. And could people argue that there is no clear reason to combine the two.

    On the K.I.S.S principle, the easier it is for people to understand your results, the clearer are the indications of bias.

       1 likes

  16. Anonymous says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    I've only recently discovered this blog from a link on Guido, and it's a real eye-opener. I'd like to pose a question – WHY is the BBC so biased? You'd think there must be at least SOME producers / editors or presenters with views other than those of New Labour to provide some balance. And I'm NOT looking for a right-leaning BBC, I want a neutral BBC that the Charter should provide us with. The political interview interruption ratio is very revealing. How has this incredible bias become established and what can we do about it?

       1 likes

  17. DB says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Unsurprisingly, Up All Night's Cash Peters has blog post up which repeats the latest batch of unfounded internet rumours about Sarah Palin.

    I've left the following message, which is "awaiting moderation":

    LA Times:

    Reporting from Washington — A day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation: a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges.
    Despite rumors of a looming controversy after the Republican governor's surprise announcement Friday that she would leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity.
    "There is absolutely no truth to those rumors that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her," Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. "It's just not true." He added that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments for any kind of inquiry.
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-palin5-2009jul05,0,7018263.story

    In the past year Palin has won 15 different bogus ethics complaints filed against her. She and her family have endured more intense scrutiny and more vilification than any other politician I can think of. The hatred the left has for her borders on the insane, and you've been an eager participant in that unhinged baying chorus during your appearances on the supposedly impartial BBC. Perhaps you could repeat the allegations you've made in your blog on this week’s Up All Night as I believe it's easier to sue people in Britain. Alternatively, you could shove some of your raw vegetables up your well-slackened butthole and see if the resultant psychic awakening cures you of your extreme case of Palin Derangement Syndrome.

       1 likes

  18. DB says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    Sorry – link to above Cash Peters blog.

       1 likes

  19. GCooper says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:38 pm

    Welcome on board, Anon 2.10 (please pick a name, it makes life so much less confusing).

    I can't speak for anyone else, but there seems to me no absolute single cause for the Left-liberal domination of the BBC.

    However, a root around in our education system will reveal one prime candidate – the ruthless political indoctrination that passes for degree courses in the 'soft' arts subjects which most BBC types undergo as a prerequisite of employment.

    If, as sometimes happens, a braincell or two fires after leaving university, the wavering Beeboid is soon snapped back into line by the peer pressure of all the 'cool' people she or he works alongside in the media.

    Being on the Right, or even just not going along with Leftist notions generally, is a one-way ticket to social disapproval in the media – if not actual unemployment.

    If we want to stop this bias, we need to investigate what is being taught in our schools and universities and by whom.

       1 likes

  20. JohnA says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    Anon 2.10

    For the generality of reporters and editors, the power of "groupthink" tends to prevent any thinking or presentation outside the narrow lib/left area. Occasionally a broadcaster can break free – John Ware for example – but he has to achieve considerable seniority to get that freedom to set his own targets. And even he can get shunted into late-hours nil-audience timeslots.

    Another example perhaps is Rod Liddle, ex-Editor of Today. He chose not to stay at the BBC, although he was obviously doing well for his age.

    You maybe need to follow the link at the foot of this website to the views of Sir Antony Jay who worked for many years in current affairs at the BBC.

       1 likes

  21. Craig says:
    July 5, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    JohnA

    Thank you. Yes, the Questions-based Coefficient is the one I have doubts about too. The Interruption Coefficient is very easy to understand & hard to argue against as a measure of the force of an interview and, therefore, as an indicator of bias.

    The Questions Coefficient was introduced after a John Humphrys interview with Nick Griffin of the BNP brought about a low coefficient of 0.5, despite a blitzkrieg of questions from Humphrys. I was looking for a measure than might suggest where the power lay in the interview – though, on consideration, the fact that Griffin was angry and gave short answers might suggest that he had some power too! That was an unusual interview though – very hostile, but with very few interruptions.

    Do you think it best just to stick to the Interruption Coefficient?

    I've been toying with the thought myself of keeping the number of questions as a side-measure to put the results in context (whenever necessary) instead of including it in the main measure. My spreadsheets can be easily amended – as can my blog!

    I want to make this idea as simple and defendable as I can, according to K.I.S.S. principles. I want to give Beeboids nowhere to hide!

    What do you recommend?

       1 likes

  22. AndrewSouthLondon says:
    July 5, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    Anonymous 2:01

    If you place most of your recruitment ads in the left wing media ie The Guardian, over 40 years you end up with an organisation that is a vipers nest of like-thinking from top to bottom

    Once critical mass is established, everyone knows what line to take, what is "acceptable" what will terminate your career rapidly.

    Sneering left wing comedians like Brigstocke still cracking anti-Bush anti-Palin anti-Thatch' anti-Tory jokes natch'while an audience of college kids and teachers whoops with laughter. Its called "comedy"

    There is no room for neutrality or balance in BBC-land, let alone "right wing" opinion. They all believe the left are right, because everyone they know or work with or are married to agrees with them.

    That's why it is not possible to reform them. Which is why they have to go.

       1 likes

  23. DB says:
    July 5, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    Cash Peters has now removed the false allegations against Palin from his blog and replaced them with my comment. Heh!

       1 likes

  24. Craig says:
    July 5, 2009 at 3:40 pm

    DB

    Result! Good man!

       1 likes

  25. John Bosworth says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    DB: Because of your posting I decided to spend a few minutes this Sunday morning looking at Cash Peters' website. Here is a man who is a legend in his own mind. He is the author, he says, of four – count them – four fab books:

    Well, a quick browse of Amazon.com reveals their huge popularity and demand for them. For sale on Amazon are:
    "The Tell Tale Alphabet" (9 copies @ $2.49)
    "The Most Dangerous Destination" (7 copies @ $9.22)
    "Naked in Dangerous Places" (36 copies @ $6.99)
    and the saddest one of of all: "Gullible’s Travels". You can buy one of 45 copies on sale in Amazon from one cent – upwards. Upwards to what? Six cents?

    Mr Peter's my space page has all of 28 members and I cannot confirm anywhere his claim that he contributed to either the "Two Ronnies" or "The News Huddlines". I suggest his contributions were “newslines’ (one line jokes) sent in on spec. This minor contribution to satire has been inflated into a major comedy script-writing career. (All searches for "Cash Peters" have the words "Two Ronnies" and "News Huddlines" in the first few words.)

    Peters has a number of failed projects in his wake and his gig in the middle of the night on R5 appears to be the only job of any significance he's had – if that’s what you call “significance”. I suspect from his ill-disciplined appearances on the radio, that Peter's is incapable of joined-up thought. Also from his blog I see his fascination with Sarah Palin goes back a long way.

    How does the BBC allow such a person – hired I suspect because his camp delivery is somehow confused with wit – to express second-hand waspish political opinions usually cribbed from the tabloids? Answers on a postcard please…

       1 likes

  26. Robert S. McNamara says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Nicely done, DB. DB stands for dogs bollocks, right? If not, it really should.

       1 likes

  27. JohnA says:
    July 5, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    Craig

    I think you should really concentrate on the Interruption Coefficient – it can easily be seen as a proxy for hostility. You do not have to say it is a DIRECT measure of hostility – just a common-sense indication of whether the politician being interviewed is being trated "nicely".

    There might be the odd aberration – but that is smoothed over by you monitoring such a large number of interviews, and covering what appears to be all the main BBC news progs.

    But maybe you could add in a side-figure of total number-of-questions asked per minute. Because fewer questions usually means that the guy being interviewed is being given the floor.

       1 likes

  28. Craig says:
    July 5, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    JohnA,

    Yes, I will go with the basic Interruption Coefficient. The results on my spreadsheet are not vastly different, & the impact of this measure will be all the stronger for its simplicity. And, in truth, my qualms about the Questions Coefficient (which, unlike the Interruption Coefficient, unfortunately came out of my own head) were growing daily.

    Good idea about the questions-per-minute figure. My calculator (if not my brain) can cope with working out averages!

       1 likes

  29. 1327 says:
    July 5, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    >Only one Corporal Josef Jakobs
    >,15th August 1941 in the tower of
    >London and he was a German!

    Thanks for that. From what I can find on the Internet Heath claims to have executed a Pole for rape in September 1945. I suppose its possible this took place in occupied Germany but can't see why they would want a British army firing squad.

    I remember when this story emerged in the late 90's and was amazed no journalists investigated it further.

       1 likes

  30. DB says:
    July 5, 2009 at 6:43 pm

    @ John Bosworth. Nice profile there John. I notice that among his list of achievements "either alone or jointly with others" Peters includes two Sony Awards. I've had a number of emails read out by Simon Mayo – does that mean I can make the same the claim?

    "hired I suspect because his camp delivery is somehow confused with wit"

    I think you nail it there, coupled with the fact that the targets for most of his bitchy observations are conservative Americans. A right-leaning correspondent attacking leftie media types wouldn't last more than a week. Rhod would make sure of that.

    And thanks to Craig and RSM (even though I may have to change my name now that Mr McNamara has blown my cover.)

    And good luck with the new blog, Craig.

       1 likes

  31. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 5, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    Craig

    Keep up the good work – maybe your blog should be linked to from here.

    I was thinking of doing the same type of thing with the BBC on "Global Warming" but with a 100% bias there really wouldn't be much to say.

       1 likes

  32. George R says:
    July 5, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    Melanie Phillips:

    "Hooray! The Tories are backing marriage – but they're wrong to pretend all relationships are equal."

    [Extract]:

    "But how sad that gay activists are now perpetrating a mirror image of the intolerance once shown to them.

    "Shouldn't the Tories be defending Christians, the bedrock faith beneath the values of this country, against such bullying?

    "It will take great courage to tackle the causes of family breakdown. Even now, the progressive establishment is determined to bury the truth.

    "A two-part programme for the BBC by the respected journalist John Ware about 'The Death Of Respect', which identifies family breakdown as an important reason for the rise of aggression, incivility and crime, has been moved by channel controllers from a prime 9pm slot to the 'graveyard' 11.20pm time because it is considered to be 'too dark'.

    "The real reason is surely that its message runs counter to the libertine 'group-think' of progressive opinion.

    "That's why such circles will try to paint the Tories as heartless and bigoted over their attempt to promote marriage.

    "David Cameron should hurl that insult straight back. It's those who have destroyed marriage and with it the lifechances of countless children, not to mention the health and welfare of abandoned women and men, who are the truly heartless and bigoted." ('Mail'.)

       1 likes

  33. George R says:
    July 5, 2009 at 11:46 pm

    BBC presents D.Miliband's garbled nonsense on Labour as 're-invention':

    "Miliband urges Labour reinvention"

    ('Politics' page.)

       1 likes

  34. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 8:09 am

    BBC 'pro-bono' report:

    "UK to spend £1bn on 'war' nations" ('Politics' page.)

    While many British people are now unemployed or working for reduced pay, it is still the norm that aid is still given to 'developing countries', on the presumption, not evidence, that such aid is effective.

    But is it effective?:

    BBC 'Viewpoint' article ('Science' page, 11/9/05):

    "Hardly anyone opposes the idea that first-world countries should assist developing countries, if that assistance helps countries to develop. The question is: does it?

    "I am afraid it does not." (F.Erixon.)

    AND:

    'Grandioseparlor.com':

    "IMF: Foreign Aid Does Not Work"

    "The rug just got pulled under Bono and all other aid proponents.

    "Aid to poor countries has little effect on economic growth, and policies that rely on such claims should be reexamined.

    "IMF 'We find little evidence of a robust positive correlation between aid and growth,' says IMF economists, There is 'little evidence that aid works better in better policy or institutional environments, or that certain kinds of aid work better than others.'

    "This statement is long over due, way too long!" (18/7/07.)

       1 likes

  35. Anonymous says:
    July 6, 2009 at 10:41 am

    Let's play spot the difference:

    BBC: "Scores killed in China protests"

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8135203.stm

    Telegraph: "China riots: 140 killed as Muslim region erupts"

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5755782/China-riots-140-killed-and-816-injured.html

       1 likes

  36. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    While BBC applauds Labour's car scrappage scheme (which benfits mainly foreign car manufacturers)

    BBC report:

    "Scrappage scheme helps car orders"

    ('Businees' page.)

    BUT the BBC ignores this:

    -'classiccars weekly' –

    "Petition To Scrap the Scrappage!"

    "We, the undersigned, call upon the government not to implement a ‘scrappage’ scheme as currently being lobbied for by the motor industry and the Retail Motor Industry Federation, for the following reasons:

    "*A scrappage scheme will lead to the early and unnecessary demise of a large number of historically significant classic cars which are collectable now or likely to become so in future.
    *"A scrappage scheme will not achieve the claimed environmental benefits as it will encourage wasteful unnecessary scrapping of perfectly viable motor cars, many of which have lower environmental impacts in use than a lot of new cars. Continued use of cars like this that have already been manufactured has a far lower environmental impact than the unnecessary scrapping of such vehicles and their replacement with newly-manufactured ones.
    *"A scrappage scheme takes no account of the massive environmental impact of manufacture in terms of sourcing and processing raw materials, transportation, assembly and distribution, and the impact of wasteful scrapping.
    *"Scrappage schemes targets the wrong cars. Only people who can afford to replace their old car with a new or nearly new one can benefit from it. These are also the people who are most likely to maintain an older car properly, and well maintained cars have the lowest environmental impact. Badly maintained cars owned by people who will never buy a new or nearly-new replacement will not be affected.
    *"The cost of the scheme will be enormous, and the money will not be directed to where it is most needed. While there is undoubtedly a good case for supporting the motor industry, this should be done openly, not in a round-about way that is designed to look like it is environmentally-friendly, but is actually encouraging wasteful built-in obsolescence."

    (Petition for signing at link.)

       1 likes

  37. will2001 says:
    July 6, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    R4 "Today" 0838

    The UK is to rethink its aid and development priorities and target money at security and job creation rather than traditional aid areas like health and education. International development correspondent David Loyn reports on the the change in priorities expected in the government White Paper, also thought to provide aid for fragile countries that have recently emerged from conflict.

    2 way with Humphrys. We could have been saved licence fee money by the ministry putting up a press officer, as Loyn merely put the government line (with mild scepticism expressed by Humphrys).

       1 likes

  39. Craig says:
    July 6, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    Chuffer;

    I were surprised to.
    And on top off that, gratuitous hyph-ens: commas sprinked, around like confetti, colons where commas should be,; thats the B.BC all over. There literacy are not all it cracked up too be these days

       1 likes

  40. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    'Press Gazette':

    "58% of BBC management say no to Salford move"

    By Jenny Williams .

    "Almost 60 per cent of the BBC middle management due to move to Salford in 2011 have said they are not willing to relocate.

    "A second round of voting last week resulted in a 42 per cent acceptance rate. It follows an earlier ballot which found that 15 out of 32 senior managers were willing to make the move to the north-west in two years' time.

    "An estimated 1,400 roles are expected to relocate from London to the new MediaCity complex in Salford. A further 800 staff from BBC Manchester are also due to move to the new offices.

    "The departments that are due to move include BBC Radio FiveLive, BBC Sports, Children’s and parts of the Future Media and Technology team.

    "BBC North director Peter Salmon said: 'While the overall percentage is high for a relocation of this size, I do understand that some people are not able to join us, and I completely sympathise with those colleagues for whom it has not been possible.'

    "The BBC said it would make 'extensive efforts' to redeploy members of staff that are not able to make the move. If redeployment is not possible then redundancy might be offered.

    "The final round of voting – among less senior staff – is due to take place by 30 September. The relocation is scheduled between April and December 2011."

       1 likes

  41. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    There is no reference to Islam in this BBC report on Uighurs of China:

    "Scores killed in China protests"

    ('Asia-Pacific' page.)

    IN CONTRAST,

    'atlas shrugs' has:

    "Deadly rioting by Chinese Muslims in China, 140 dead"

    [Extract]:

    "Remember the Chinese Muslims (Uighurs) whom Obama released from GITMO to the beautiful pink beaches of Bermuda (on your dime)? Here are pictures of the Chinese Muslims in Bermuda, on your dime. Their 'brothers' in China are violently rioting and destroying.

    "Excerpts:

    "Hundreds of rioters have been arrested, the official Xinhua news agency reported, after rock-throwing Uighur people took to the streets of the regional capital on Sunday, some burning and smashing vehicles and confronting ranks of anti-riot police."

    "hmmm -rock throwing, car burning, … just like muslims in 'Palestine', Paris, Pakistan, India."

       1 likes

  42. adam says:
    July 6, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    old holborn is going on about the BBCs anti christian gcse web content

       1 likes

  43. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    The BBC apparently has political sympathy for the Chinese Muslim Uighers, who use violence.

    According to 'The First Post':

    "Ethnic tensions stem partly from the fact that a flood of Han Chinese immigration into Xinjiang has made the Uighurs a minority in their own province, and from perceived discrimination."

    So, the BBC expresses political sympathy to Chinese Muslim Uighers who are concerned about becoming a minority in their own province, because of a 'flood' of Han Chinese immigration.

    BUT, the BBC expresses NO political sympathy to British non-Muslim whites who are concerned about becoming a minority in their own provinces, because of a 'flood' of e.g. immigrants from Islamic countries.

       1 likes

  44. DB says:
    July 6, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    My comment under Justin Webb's latest sneering criticisms of Palin and the Republican Party:

    I've just been reading an article in today's New York Post about the least popular governor in America. On this person's watch the state senate has become a nasty, factional place where thuggish bodyguards roam. Attempts have been made to bar journalists from covering senate affairs. A mass firing of state employees on racial grounds has caused huge uproar. The governor is openly mocked even by fellow party members. Anarchy and chaos are the order of the day at the state Capitol, and the state itself is on the brink of ruin.

    And where is this? New York. If you’re wondering why you haven't heard about it on the BBC let me give you a couple of hints. Governor David Paterson is a Democrat, and he's black.

       1 likes

  45. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 6, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    George R 7:13 PM, July 06, 2009

    My thoughts exactly – but I doubt the BBC would see it that way.

       1 likes

  46. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 8:07 pm

    BBC's simplistic assessment of Labour's mass immigration 'controls':

    "Brown and Sarkozy in pre-G8 talks" ('politics' page).

    [Extract]:

    "Under a deal agreed at the summit, the UK will provide £15m to pay for new technology to search vehicles and goods approaching its borders.

    "There are estimated to be about 1,000 migrants in makeshift camps in Calais, most hoping to enter Britain illegally.

    "A pilot scheme will be conducted out at Calais before being rolled out to cover Boulogne, Dunkirk and the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

    "In the House of Commons, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: 'The investment will be made on the understanding that the French will, in return, effect significant returns of illegal migrants from northern French regions.'

    Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the French had promised to step up removal flights and pledged that 'these changes will further strengthen the ring of steel that protects Britain'."

    Woolas having a laugh: 'ring of steel that protects Britain'.

    'Sky News' (10/4/09):-

    "An estimated 10,000 Pakistani nationals have been granted student visas since April 2008.

    "But it is thought a significant number were based on the applicant attending a college or university that does not exist.

    "The problem has been described by Government Minister Phil Woolas as 'the biggest loophole' in the UK's immigration system."

    'Migrationwatch':

    "Surge in Remittances Points to Sharp Rise in Illegal Immigrants from Pakistan."

    [Opening Extract]:-

    "The number of illegal immigrants from Pakistan in the UK could be as high as 200,000 according to a new report out today which has compared official statistics on the number of Pakistani born workers with a dramatic increase in the level of remittances being sent to that country." ('Migrationwatch'.)

    And then there will be the extra stream of millions of Muslims from Turkey who will soon get British passports when Labour's pro-active campaign to get 75 million Muslim Turks into the EU succeeds in the very near future. Will this Labour (and Tory and Lib Dem) policy be in the election manifesto of each of those parties? Of course not.

       1 likes

  47. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    To which event will the BBC devote the more time, resources and emotion on 7/7?:
    EITHER –
    A.)the remembrance of the 52 people murdered by Islamic jihadists in London;
    OR
    B.)the funeral of an American pop star ?

    Check it out tomorrow.

       1 likes

  48. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 6, 2009 at 10:06 pm

    Not BBC but this struck me how all left wing governments try to avoid answering questions they don't want to hear. And this chap Robert Gibbs is very nauseating he could be a Labour politician.

       1 likes

  49. George R says:
    July 6, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    From 'The Times', July 7, 2009:-

    "BBC to cut programme budget to fill £2bn black hole in pension fund."

       1 likes

  50. Anonymous says:
    July 6, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    This story (down the page a bit entitled "Influential Jews, Bernie Ecclestone and the BBC") is a bloody outrage. Where does the BBC dig up these bigoted (in the fashionable sense) ignoramuses (producers)?

       1 likes

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