96 Responses to OPEN THREAD

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  1. JohnA says:
    July 17, 2009 at 11:52 am

    Gordon Bennett – are there no limits to the BBC's obsession about the Palestinians ?

    First item on "You and Yours" was about the labelling of produce from the West Bank. Should it be labeeled West Bank if it comes from Israeli settlements there ?

    Cue Katie Adler, BBC Jerusalem, to put the boot into Israel –illegal..human rights organisations…yada yada yada. "Israel took the West Bank in 1967"

    Adler did NOT say why the West Bank was "taken". Did not see fit to mention the small fact of an all-out Arab war against Israel. Once again, denial of context. Adler did not mention that the legality of settlements is a matter of dispute, etc etc.

    The cue a sanctimonious guy from Oxfam. More stuff to suggest that the settlements are utterly illegal, nay evil !

    Short piece from an Israeli guy on behalf of the settlers and how many Palestinians are employed by Israeli farmers – and how he wished that palestinian agriculture was more effective.

    All this is tied up with the NGOs lobbying No 10 and DEFRA about the correct labelling of produce on supermarket shelves.

    Why is Oxfam, a charity, leading the fight for boycotts of produce from Israeli farmers ? More to the point, why is it that the BBC gives so much free access to the airwaves by all these political pressure groups – from ONE SIDE ? The You and Yours piece lasted 15 minutes, for goodness sake !

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  2. deegee says:
    July 17, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    It's an OK picture but a bit weak to be THE BIG PICTURE However as an example of BBC mindset the caption is superb. A Palestinian refugee sells headscarves in al-Baqa refugee camp in Jordan, 15 July 2009 (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

    The seller may well be technically a refugee because, as opposed to every other refugee in the world, Palestinian refugee status is passed down from generation to generation and al-Baqa may well be a refugee camp as UNWRA defines it as such, although only 17% of registered refugees in Jordan live in camps.

    Captioning the picture 'teenage seller in al-Baqa, Jordan arranges scarfs and sunglasses' just doesn't have that BBC ring to it.

    BTW Mohammad Abu Ghosh, the AP photographer, is credited for this photo. Abu Ghosh is an Israeli Arab village that militarily aided the Israelis in 1948. Its inhabitants did not become refugeess.

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  3. Anonymous says:
    July 17, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    That's a dead link there deegee

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  5. deegee says:
    July 17, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    Continuing with pictures

    Interesting photograph illustrates Ultra-Orthodox Jews visit Hamas, which is little more than a Hamas press release. Neturei Karta are nut-cases and the visit is a non-story.

    The picture was either Photoshopped or possibly photographed in front of a poster of the al Aqsa mosque. The angles, focus and most importantly lighting show it is an unacknowledged montage.

    How does this fit with BBC guidelines?
    Digital manipulation
    The ability to digitally create, manipulate and copy audio-visual material, including still photographs, video and documents poses ethical dilemmas and creates the potential for hoaxing.
    We should ensure that any digital manipulation, including the use of CGI or other production techniques to create scenes or characters, does not distort the meaning of events, alter the impact of genuine material or otherwise seriously mislead our audiences.

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  6. George R says:
    July 17, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    BBC headline:

    "Jail for 'suicide vest' student"

    ('UK' page).

    Accurate, non-BBC headline:

    using vocubulary banned at BBC-

    "UK: Islamic jihadist jailed".

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  7. cassandra says:
    July 17, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    The beeboid just love their trendy political ideas just as they love their trendy food, this time its Japanese sushi that gets the full treatment.
    The trendy chattering classes love sushi, most people however find it disgusting, raw fish rolled in rice yum yum yum says the beeboid, everyone should be eating it!
    The claim is its much healthier and better for you etc no mention of the Jap factory ships that scrape the oceans bare of course, no mention of the fleets whale killing factory ships that accompany the ocean strip mining fleets, oooh no comrade that would spoil the narrative!
    Que beeboid twat saying that western fast food is full of ingredients that should be banned(says who?) and how unhealthy it is.
    To most normal people sushi is disgusting and a bit like chewing the dogs used rubber ball and has all the flavour of that implement, the phrase 'gag a maggot' springs to mind, but that doesnt enter the mind of the trendy beeboid does it?

    Meanwhile back at the ranch'N'stuff, the beeboid collective is wetting its panties about how the bailed out banks are starting to show positive balance sheets again, grrreeeennn shoooots yah?
    Er…hmmmm…the fact that trillions of borrowed taxslave cash has been injected into these banks isnt considered at all, of course the bailed out banks are doing well now, if you had a shed load of someone elses money put into your bank then you would be in credit wouldnt you?
    Trillions$$$$$ of taxslave cash in one end of the bankster blackhole and the beeboids get exited that a few billion(minus expenses)appear out the other side!
    The fact that the average taxmuppet will be in debt to the forth generation isnt even consisdered FFS. As long as the banksters get their losses replaced and their bonus gravytrain keeps rolling, the political commissars keep getting their cushy payoff nonjobs and their brown envelopes keep rolling in then everyones happy(except for the prole scum of course).
    Where else in the world does rank hypocrisy and stunning ignorance mixed and matched with equal childish prejudice and arrogance hold such power and influence?

    To the annon beeboid loon I would only say that your time in the sun is coming to an end, ha ha ha ccouldnt happen to a nicer bunch of parasites!

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  8. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 17, 2009 at 9:18 pm

    "How do you become educated without going to school or even university? "

    Do you mean today, or the time when education meant absorbing knowledge and the ability to reason?

    I would be relucted to call most of todays education as "education" rather indoctrination at worst or "prizes for all" regardless of ability at best.

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  9. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 17, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Today, in the North East of England we have had rain for 24 hours non-stop. Where I live there are major floods and roads are blocked. Somehow it didn't make the news headlines on the BBC PM programme. Is this because we have no resident beeboids up here? If they are reluctant to move to Salford just think how many BBC staff would strike at the prospect of moving north of the Tees (which incidently is seen as part of Scotland by the BBC weathermen)

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  10. cassandra says:
    July 18, 2009 at 4:30 am

    I note that Richard Dannat the outgoing head of the UK armed forces is being touted as some kind of whistle blowing peoples hero by the BBC, that in itself raises questions doesnt it?

    Dannat isnt quite the heroic rebel he makes himself out to be, funny how his 'demands' coincide exactly with what the newlabour is going to supply to the troops anyway, how convenient is that?

    You may remember Dannat from such fiascos as FRES,pinzgauer vector,husky,A400M,type 45'destroyers',Jackals and future lynx failures of such epic proportions that would do a carry on farce justice!
    The cheapest ammo availible? yeah give it to the tommies itll do for them, aircover? who needs it eh?
    Iraq our biggest and most crushing defeat EVER on Dannats watch, all those dead and maimed tommies and for what?
    Tactical and strategic blunders on a scale not seen since Norman Wisdom went to war!

    Dannat retires after serving his political masters and looks forward to several highly paid directorships of the very firms involved in the above procurement disasters while the maimed tommies can look forward to being spied on by stasi state informers to see if they are really maimed and desrve therir pittance, funny that that eh?
    Did Dannat kick up a fuss about our wounded tommies being dumped in NHS hospitals and prey to islamists who abused them and spat in their food?
    Did Dannat kick up a fuss about Browns craven cowardice regarding Iraq?

    Oooh yes folks, Dannat is saying exactly what Brown wants said and no more, Dannat is being used as a political tool and he knows it too, his words bear the hallmarks of a political scheme!

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  11. cassandra says:
    July 18, 2009 at 4:57 am

    Just an add on thought, If Dannat was saying something that Brown didnt want saying does anyone think that the BBC would be airing it so freely?

    The fact that the BBC is peddling his faux rebel without a clue routine is all the proof we need that something aint quite right!

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  12. Craig says:
    July 18, 2009 at 7:13 am

    "JohnA said…
    Gordon Bennett – are there no limits to the BBC's obsession about the Palestinians?"

    Here are just a selection of articles from the BBC News Website – covering just this month! – which backs up your point. 'Obsession' is indeed the word:

    17 Jul 2009 Ultra-orthodox Jews visit Hamas
    Four members of a group of ultra-orthodox Jews opposed to the existence of Israel visit Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

    17 Jul 2009 Breathing life back into Nablus
    You may be able to see Jerusalem from the West Bank but it doesn't mean it is an easy job delivering goods across the border.

    15 Jul 2009 Israel soldiers speak out on Gaza
    A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's offensive in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians.

    15 Jul 2009 Israel soldiers on Gaza: Excerpts
    Excepts from the testimonies gathered by the Israeli activist group Breaking the Silence, describing abuses committed during the Israeli operation in Gaza in January.

    15 Jul 2009 Breaking silence on Gaza abuses
    A report by a group of Israeli ex-military activists lends credibility to widespread claims that the laws of war were breached in Gaza.

    15 Jul 2009 Advert 'implied Gaza in Israel'
    Complaints that a tourism advert showed the Palestinian territories as an undisputed part of Israel are upheld by an advertising watchdog.

    13 Jul 2009 Row over 'standard' Hebrew signs
    Israeli transport chiefs spark Arab anger with a plan to replace traditional Arabic names on signposts with Hebrew versions.

    13 Jul 2009 UK cuts Israel weapons contracts
    The UK revokes five export licences to Israel's navy because of the country's actions during its recent operation in Gaza.

    9 Jul 2009 Water shortages plague West Bank
    A West Bank mother blames dirty water for her son's illness as Palestinians and the World Bank say Israel takes most of the precious resource.

    8 Jul 2009 'Law must thwart' Israeli barrier
    International aid group Oxfam demands the "triumph of the rule of law" over Israel's barrier inside the West Bank.

    8 Jul 2009 UN Gaza inquiry wraps up hearings
    A UN war crimes investigator says Gaza testimonies have been "difficult to hear" after four days of public hearings.

    7 Jul 2009 Gaza conflict: Views on Hamas
    Six months after the Israeli operation in Gaza, three Gazans affected by the conflict give their views on Hamas's standing in Gaza.

    7 Jul 2009 Israel deports Gaza campaigners
    Israel has deported eight pro-Palestinian activists detained at sea while trying to bring relief aid to Gaza last week.

    6 Jul 2009 NI Nobel winner is being deported
    Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Maguire is to be deported from Israel, after she was arrested on board a ship to Gaza.

    3 Jul 2009 Gaza girl killed in border clash
    A 17-year-old Palestinian girl has been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire in a clash with Palestinian militants near the border.

    3 Jul 2009 Cancer trauma inspires Palestinian film
    A new Palestinian animated film tells of a woman's struggle to get treatment for cancer and shows the good and bad on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide.

    3 Jul 2009 Campaigner tells of Israel arrest
    Veteran Northern Ireland human rights campaigner Mairead Maguire speaks about her arrest by Israeli special forces.

    2 Jul 2009 Amnesty details Gaza 'war crimes'
    Amnesty International accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes in a detailed report on the January conflict in Gaza.

    1 Jul 2009 Israel to raise foot shot charges
    Israel's top court orders stronger charges against two soldiers over the shooting of a bound Palestinian in the West Bank.

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  13. Craig says:
    July 18, 2009 at 8:16 am

    Dhimmi alert! 'PM's coverage of the story of Isa Ibrahim – the 20-year-old Muslim convert convicted for plotting a terrorist attack on a Bristol shopping centre – shows up a couple of things about BBC bias.

    The reporter Alison Harper went to considerable pains to paint the Muslim community as a whole in the best possible light:

    "He was actually alerted to the police by the Muslim community."

    "But it was the tip-off from the Muslim community which made the difference."

    Alison Harper then discussed Ibrahim's "difficult teenage life" & turned to Dr. Jonathan Githens-Mazer, "a terrorist expert at Exeter University," who "actually believes that Ibrahim's troubled teenage years made him more vulnerable to extremist views". (Poor lamb! This brings a tear to my eyes.) Githens-Mazer then blaaaed a bit of psychobabble in support of this view.

    Githens-Mazer is typical of the sort of 'expert' the BBC call on in these sort of cases. Githens-Mazer writes for the 'Guardian', published a paper called "Myths, Memories and Symbols of the Urban Umma" and co-authorised another report called "The demonisation of British Islamism".

    Al-Beeb indeed.

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  14. JohnA says:
    July 18, 2009 at 11:29 am

    Craig

    OK, so someone in the Muslim community blew the whistle to Old Bill about the young jihadist.

    But who radicalised him in the first place ? The Quakers ?

    That "expert" sounds typical of the BBC method of seeking utterly biased "independent" comments.
    ……………….
    re. your earlier post – you show very clearly the drip-drip-drip BBC method of demonising Israel and promoting the paslestinian cause. Very few of th9ose stories are of any significance – there must be hundreds of other Middle east stories that were just as worthy of the BBC's attention.

    But no – their OBSESSION – and the bias among some of their journalists that amounts to a zealous effort to do continual damage – means that the BBC's Middle East page is tw-thirds concentrated on Israel/Palestine.

    I think PounceUK put up a screenshot at another website demonstrating that Israel stories crowd most everything else off the BBC Middle East page. often stories and links are left up way past their sell-by date – if they were ever real stories in the first place.

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  15. Craig says:
    July 18, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    JohnA,

    And on it goes…

    18 Jul 2009 Palestinians in pastry record bid
    Bakers in the West Bank city of Nablus try to set a record for the world's biggest kunafa – a local sweet pastry story

    The closing paragraphs of which read, "Occupying Israeli forces have only recently eased restrictions on the city, imposed for the past nine years.
    "Although Israel has praised recent Palestinian efforts, it continues to carry out raids in Palestinian towns."

    OBSESSED!!!!

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  16. TPO says:
    July 18, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    The British Museum and Labour/BBC are going into partnership to "change our perceptions" as to how we view history.

    British Museum and BBC reveal history of the world in 100 objects.
    ….. Specifically it will emphasise objects. Using things that human beings have made, it will set out a world story that probes into the neglected corners of history and allows Africa, the Americas and Asia parity with the much more familiar chronology of Western Europe….. .

    http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article6718556.ece

    I feel a serious bit of socialist revisionism coming here.
    So along with inventing fire, the wheel, astronomy and crêpe suzettes, Mohammed also invented the electric light bulb.
    Clever people these muslims, when they're not blowing up people.

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  17. deegee says:
    July 18, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    It's a colour piece, light as puff pastry but the BBC can't help itself but insert its message of poor Palestinians even in a feel good piece.

    Palestinians in pastry record bid

    Bakers in the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus have attempted to set a record for the world's biggest kunafa – a local sweet pastry.

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  18. deegee says:
    July 18, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    Craig 6:59 PM, July 18, 2009
    SNAP I didn't catch your comment before writing my comment 🙁

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  19. deegee says:
    July 18, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    To JohnA 12:29 PM, July 18, 2009

    The BBC is undoubtedly obsessed with Israel but there are also practical considerations. The BBC stations most of its Middle East correspondents in Israel/Palestine and on occasion flies them to other countries. That practically guarantees the bulk of stories will come from this area.

    In addition other countries as Syria refuse to admit correspondents except under supervision i.e. censorship or as Lebanon can be extremely dangerous. That practically guarantees that few stories will come from these countries.

    I'm no sure from whom I have stolen this quote but it seems appropriate. If one part of town suffers serious crime but reporters are too intimidated to report on it and another part of time has a shoplifting problem but many reporters, the second area will be reported as if it is the crime capital of the world.

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  20. JohnA says:
    July 18, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    deegee

    Of course, one BBC reporter visited Saudi. Got shot for his pains !

    Jeremy Bowen is full-time Middle east editor. When did he last report from Saudi ?

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  21. George R says:
    July 18, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Mandela, Mandela, Mandela.

    The BBC's black political message: 'May the British people glory in the achievements of black South Africa, on glorious Mandela Day'

    "This day is called the feast of Mandela:
    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
    Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
    And rouse him at the name of Mandela.
    He that shall live this day, and see old age,
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
    And say 'To-morrow is Saint Mandela:'

    {Apologies to the Bard, and Henry V.)

    The BBC avoids the truth about the massive undemocratic failures of black South Africa, and the treatment of whites and other minorities seems to be studiously avoided.

    But we should all join in the BBC's Dianafication of Mandela! As you repeat it often enough, BBC…

    E.g., BBC's so-called 'News front page' today: two eulogising Mandela entries…

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  22. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 18, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    "The BBC's creepy coverage of Sir Edward and Lady Downes's joint suicide"
    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100003190/the-bbcs-creepy-coverage-of-sir-edward-and-lady-downess-joint-suicide/

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  23. Mailman says:
    July 19, 2009 at 7:20 am

    JohnA,

    You are mistaken, Bowen is the full time Gaza editor.

    Mailman

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  24. George R says:
    July 19, 2009 at 7:58 am

    Miv Tucker 8:44 am 'Keep it in family' thread, above:

    Yes, that's the staff of life to the BBC: kneading Israel.

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  25. AndrewSouthLondon says:
    July 19, 2009 at 7:59 am

    Now here is a film the bBBC would love to have screened – direct from Halalwood:

    http://sweetness-light.com/archive/hamas-movie-celebrates-a-terrorist

    Made for such a small sum too, not much more than the BBC Trusts taxi bills

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  26. Ron Todd says:
    July 19, 2009 at 9:42 am

    On the Andrew Marr prog and on the big question the introduction of sex education for very young school childen was raised.

    On neither programme was it suggested that this might be part of the liberals attempt to push the idea that all types of relation ship are equal.

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  27. George R says:
    July 19, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Even more Mandela, Mandela, Mandela today, and the smiley faces of all BBC presenters at the mention of his name.
    Oh, things are wonderful in South Africa! … Are they?

    A recent view by Peter Hitchens on South Africa, just before the election of JACOB ZUMA the President of the ANC, as President of South Africa:

    "He has four wives and he faced 783 counts of corruption: PETER HITCHENS on South Africa's next president"
    ('Daily Mail' 22nd April 2009.)

    [Extract]:

    "This fast-approaching catastrophe is a source of shame and apprehension to millions of honest people, white and black, in South Africa itself.
    "It is also a tragedy for Africa as a whole, a continent hungry for any reason to hope. And it is grave news for the civilised world, which needs no more failed states.
    "Yet I can promise you I will be accused of alarmism and pessimism for saying so, and quite possibly of 'racism' too.
    "Why? All the soppy admirers of Nelson Mandela – especially the BBC – gave the new South Africa a free pass when apartheid ended 15 years ago.
    "They wanted to believe this complicated and important nation had become a sort of heaven on Earth where all tears were dried and all problems solved.
    Mr Mandela himself, personally decent but politically ineffectual and naive, served as both figurehead and figleaf for the new order. The world ignored or forgave his continuing friendships with the world's worst despots, and the fraudulent bungling that surrounded him.
    "Now, looking frail, bemused and ancient, he recently had to be helped on to the stage by his suspect would-be successor, to endorse the grotesque rabble who seek to succeed him.

    "Once, South Africa dominated the nightly news for weeks on end. Now the liberal media barely mention it. Why not? Because post-apartheid South Africa is a failure.
    "You don't hear about the terrifying crime. You don't hear about the pestilence of corruption, or the absurd purchase of needless submarines and aircraft for a country with no serious enemies except its own elite.
    "There is a little about AIDS, but nothing like as much as there should be, given the acres of graves that commemorate the government's moronic policies, of denial and folk remedies (including beetroot).
    "Violent xenophobic rage against uncontrolled mass immigration was played down both in South Africa and abroad because it did not fit the smiley picture beloved by the Mandela worshippers. And little is said about the unstoppable spread of shanty towns, far outstripping state attempts to build proper houses for the poor.
    Electricity blackouts – the invariable sign of a country on the slide – are now frequent. The ill-run nuclear power station inherited from the apartheid regime's atom bomb." (Peter Hitchens.)

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1165473/He-wives-faced-783-corruption-charges-PETER-HITCHENS-South-Africas-president.html#ixzz0Li1esVWs

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  28. Red Avenger says:
    July 19, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Ireland-Palestine: one struggle.

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  29. will2001 says:
    July 19, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    Re previous B-BBC topic WICCAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY?
    Rod Liddle writes a sympathetic piece in the Sunday Times

    The first problem, though, is that Thought for the Day is secular already. God is almost never allowed to poke His nose into a broadcast and when He does His appearance is heralded with apologies and embarrassment. He does no smiting, He is never angry, no matter what issue comes before Him. The God you hear in Thought for the Day has been created by BBC producers and made in their image — a slightly disappointed but nonetheless benevolent middle-aged man of confused sexuality who wishes that everybody might live together peaceably in a warm and caring multicultural society, m’kay? A middle-aged man not terribly convinced as to whether he exists or not.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rod_liddle/article6719013.ece

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  30. mickfly says:
    July 19, 2009 at 2:47 pm

    If you read the posts from 'Atlas shrugged' in the voice of Stewie from the Family Guy cartoon they make perfect sense.
    Well, not really, but it works for me.

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  31. piggy kosher says:
    July 19, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    Will2000:
    Excellent piece. Jawah is no longer allowed to smite so freely, due to ElfNsayftee legislation.

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  32. mickfly says:
    July 19, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Already been linked by 'AndrewSouthlondon'
    but worth another plug.

    http://sweetness-light.com/archive/hamas-movie-celebrates-a-terrorist

    "Akel, 23 at the time, was known as "the ghost" for his many disguises, including dressing up as a Jewish settler with a skullcap. In the early 1990s, he topped Israel’s wanted list for his suspected role in killing 11 Israeli soldiers, an Israeli civilian and four Palestinian informers in a series of attacks."

    Which line in the above, would the BBC change?
    Answer: None, it will never see the light of day on the Beeb.

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  33. Ian says:
    July 19, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    Red Avenger said…

    "Ireland-Palestine: one struggle".

    OT-OH loony alert!!

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  34. George R says:
    July 19, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    BBC's idea of debate on education: give only one side –

    "School charity or class war?"

    (so-called 'education' page.)

    For ALTERNATIVE view, which the BBC censors:

    From The Sunday Times July 19, 2009:

    "This looks like revenge on good schools"

    "We are at the fag end of a Labour government but its desire to settle old class scores is apparently undiminished. Labour hates independent schools and grammar schools, both of which provide educational excellence. Now it appears determined to have one final attempt at wrecking the country’s better schools.

    "Before Labour took office in 1997, thousands of pupils each year from poorer homes gained access to independent schools through the assisted places scheme. One of the first acts of the Blair government was to abolish that scheme. Now, operating through the Charity Commission, it is trying to force schools to offer more places to pupils from low-income households, this time getting the parents of independent school pupils to pay.

    "There is nothing wrong in principle with widening access to independent schools. Not only are their educational standards higher but in many subjects, including the sciences that are so essential to Britain’s economic future, they are the remaining standard-bearers. What is objectionable is the way it is being done, which is threatening to drive some independent schools out of existence.

    "The commission is threatening to end the 400-year tradition of charitable status for independent schools. Two small prep schools are being menaced with the loss of status unless they can demonstrate that they are operating for the public benefit.

    "These are not the Etons or Winchesters of the independent sector. They are schools of modest means where parents scrimp and save, out of taxed income, to give their children a better start. Charitable status reduces the tax bill of independent schools by £120m a year. Yet their existence benefits the taxpayer much more than that. If the 7% of pupils educated in the independent sector – 570,000 – were transferred into the state system, it would add £3 billion to the schools budget in England.

    "The commission is run by Dame Suzi Leather, a card-carrying member of the new Labour quangocracy. Described by the chief master of King Edward’s school in Birmingham as 'scary', she herself is the product of an expensive private education.

    "Dame Suzi protests she is not politically driven and is merely carrying out the will of parliament, via the Charities Act 2006, in assessing whether independent schools meet the public benefit test. That test, as interpreted by the commission, is there must be 'no unreasonable restrictions' on who can benefit.
    [..]

    "If you think that sounds sinister you would be right. It is also, according to Professor Peter Luxton, an expert on charity law, a misinterpretation of the Charities Act. That act, he says, did not change the fundamental principle, dating back to Tudor times, that education is a charitable purpose in law.

    "Dame Suzi and her commission claim to be acting for the public benefit. But their assault on the independent sector, if successful, will close schools, deprive children of a better education and damage this country. Let’s not forget that independent schools exist largely because the state has failed to deliver, despite Labour’s spending spree of the past decade."

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  35. DB says:
    July 19, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    Via this Newsbusters piece about Janeane Garofalo (yes, that's me with hat tip), a telling little exchange between Garofalo and Clive Anderson from Saturday's Loose Ends:

    GAROFALO: I worked at Air America Radio for 2 1/2 years, and, which was a radio station formed as an answer to all the rightwing radio that dominates.
    ANDERSON: How did it do, is it still going?
    GAROFALO: It's still going, I mean, it's had a lot of financial difficulties, and a lot of problems over the years. But that's just because of a poor business model. Yeah, it's still going.
    ANDERSON: But who'd have thought, a poor business model from a left-wing group? You should try a license fee, that seems to work well    .

    Anderson is spot on: the licence fee exists so that lefties don't have to worry about tedious things like the free market.

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  36. George R says:
    July 19, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    "BBC 'stockpiling' Tamilflu"

    'Telegraph'.

    [Extract]:

    "The BBC has come under fire for 'stockpiling' thousands of doses of the swine flu drug Tamiflu.

    "The Corporation says it bought up supplies for staff who may come into contact with the virus in the course of their work.

    "But it prompted an angry response from the Tories who say the authorities have warned against buying up stocks of the drug.
    Scottish Tory public health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: 'It is nothing short of disgraceful that a licence payer funded body is storing away an antiviral which is free on the NHS.'

    "About 4,000 doses of the Tamiflu drug have been bought by the corporation.

    "It is not for general use and can only be given to staff facing work related risks – not those coming into contact with the virus through friends or family.

    "A BBC spokeswoman said: 'We have a duty of care to protect staff who may come into contact with infection in the course of their work as far as reasonably practical.'

    "The BBC's supplies need to be distributed all around the world to ensure rapid access.

    "'We are not competing with the NHS for scarce vaccines – the UK has strong stocks of antiviral medicines,' the spokeswoman added.

    "'However, we would not expect the NHS to pay for our stocks of antiviral medicines in for example Hong Kong or South America.'

    "But Mr Carlaw says he now plans to write to BBC bosses to raise the issue.

    "'As reported on BBC news the Scottish Government advice is clear – they do not encourage anyone to stockpile Tamiflu,' he said.

    "'Do BBC executives not watch their own news bulletins? Those who are diagnosed as having H1N1 will receive the appropriate treatment on the NHS.

    "'There is no shortage of Tamiflu.

    "'People will understandably be very angry and I will be writing to the BBC to find out why it thinks this is an acceptable use of the licence fee which I and every other television owner is required to pay when on the other hand the BBC is complaining about a shortage of funds to sustain programming.'"

    Well, the BBC is a special organisation -special for troughing hypocrities: spending licencepayers' money on private medical treatment for themselves, while propagandising about the 'wonders' of the NHS.

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  37. adam says:
    July 19, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    this booktalk show on the credit crunch continues the theme of blaming free markets, capitalism and bankers.

    Includes a choice quote 20 minutes in from Peston, "I am a BBC journalist, its not my job to criticise politicians."

    has no such qualms with capitalism or bankers though.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lsz8k/BOOKtalk_The_Credit_Crunch/

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  38. will2001 says:
    July 19, 2009 at 9:48 pm

    The BBC, usually world experts on calling acts as being contrary to international law when performed by our troops or the Israelis, feel it necessary to qualify the accusation in this case,

    The US military has identified a man shown on a Taliban video as an American soldier captured in Afghanistan.,

    the BBC1 News bulletin telling us that the US military consider the action as being 'Against international law'

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8157795.stm

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  39. John Horne Tooke says:
    July 19, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    Don't think the BBC will mention any of these points in its love of Millibands "green policies".
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6719142.ece

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  40. George R says:
    July 20, 2009 at 6:34 am

    "Charities are being hijacked and turned into pawns in Labour's class war"

    (by Melanie Phillips, 'Daily Mail'.)

    [Extract]:

    "The Charity Commission was primed by Labour for this attack back in 2006. Dame Suzi Leather, an independent-school educated Labour career quangocrat (what else), was made its chairman specifically to lead the charge against the independent schools in the revolutionary cause of restructuring British society.

    "The weapon the Government gave her was a new charity law, brought in to enable the Government to attack its designated victims. For the first time, this law put the burden on charities to show they were delivering the 'public benefit' they had previously been assumed to embody.
    "This allowed the Commission to redefine the meaning of 'public benefit' as help for the poor. But the point of a charity may not necessarily be to help the poor. It may exist to benefit other causes.
    "Education has always been seen as a public benefit in itself. So independent schools were charities simply because they were delivering education, to the benefit of society as a whole.
    But the Labour Party has redefined education not as a good in itself but only insofar as it serves the agenda of 'equality'."

    And the BBC approves this. As shown is a one-sided, pro-Labour article:

    "School charity or class war?"

    (so-called 'education page.)

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  41. Peter says:
    July 20, 2009 at 6:42 am

    Some thread contributors have pondered Nick Robinson's often varied appearance in the blogging firmament, along with the topics he chooses and the way he 'interprets the events'.

    So I found this an 'interesting' view on how you take on board news and views vs. how you broadcast it without troublesome contrary opinion:

    The Blog Is Dead…..oh no it isn't, oh yes it is…

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/digitalrevolution/2009/07/the-blog-is-deadoh-no-it-isnt.shtml

    'Our own Nick Robinson has recently confessed that he's stopped reading the comments on his blog..'

    As the politicians some 'reporters' so like to wallow with, if you only set to transmit and never on receive, you might get unpleasant surprises if those you think are meekly absorbing your missives actually react to just being talked at as opposed to being engaged with.

    We seem to be at an odd stage where those who used to dominate the news agenda are not liking the erosion of their (often less than objective, or benign) influence, and are trying to get back to the 'good old ways'.

    Good luck with that.

    Peter:)

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  42. Anonymous says:
    July 20, 2009 at 7:11 am

    See today's Grauniad – quote from BBC's drama controller Ben Stephenson – "If we didn't all think differently, have different ideas of what works and what doesn't, wouldn't our lives, and more importantly, our TV screens be less interesting? We need to foster peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, stubborn-mindedness, left-of-centre thinking."

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  43. Anonymous says:
    July 20, 2009 at 8:33 am

    BBC headline: Brown aide reveals PM slur anger

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8158483.stm

    Damian McBride has given his first post resignation interview to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire. No doubt he believes that the BBC will offer a sympathetic platform for him to rebuild his reputation and no doubt his career, and whilst the interview itself has still to be aired [10:00 AM 5 Live] the first signs are that the BBC has indeed treated him with kid gloves…

    For example, in the interview McBride claims: when he spoke to the prime minister about the messages Mr Brown "immediately agreed" he had to go.

    Put simply this is a lie – and the BBC must know it’s a lie – when the story broke, Downing Street arranged a spoiler story with the Daily Telegraph [FACT!] they also briefed political correspondents, inc. the BBC’s own Nick Robinson that this was a storm in a tea-cup and not a resignation issue; I can even remember toenails reporting the GVN’s line. So Brown’s initial reaction had been to try and save his friend.

    We are also told that the interview with reveal that “former government ministers, such as North Tyneside MP Stephen Byers” had launched “vitriolic briefings against Mr Brown. Mr McBride, who had a reputation for staunchly defending his boss, admits it was part of his job to respond to those attacks”.

    Again – a clear distortion of the truth – it is widely acknowledged in media circles, that McBride was something of a political bruiser who regularly initiated briefings against ministers, political opponents (and sometimes members of the public) he was not – as this report implies – some innocent defender of the PM, who only reacted to unwarranted political attacks on Brown.

    So the question is – why have the BBC allowed themselves to be used by McBride in this way? By all means report his comments, but they should be accompanied by an appropriate health warning – or at the very least, they could point out to their readers the obvious inconsistencies in McBride’s testimony.

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  44. DB says:
    July 20, 2009 at 8:45 am

    Anonymous @ 8:11

    Re the quote from Ben Stephenson (one for the Biased BBC sidebar, surely) – here's the link.

    An open admission from the BBC's head of drama that the BBC's agenda is to promote left-wing ideology.

    Right of centre writers and film makers need not apply.

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  45. Fages says:
    July 20, 2009 at 9:39 am

    I notice the BBC headline about the rise in AIDS amongst Gay men in Africa. This story is laced with beeboid leftwing drivel:

    According to the report it's all the fault of discrimination against Gays which leads to risky sexual practices.

    And also the fault of religious, cultural and political discrimination.

    There you have it, it's nothing to do with the irrisponsible and down right disgusting habits of some members of the African Gay community then. IT'S OUR FAULT.

    Where the hell do they find this crap?

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  46. frankos says:
    July 20, 2009 at 11:07 am

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8058601.stm

    Its amazing that the BBC don't note the irony that this government can't get enough helicopter pilots to Afghanistan, but can get one on the moon.

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