BBC AND MCALPINE

Interesting article here on the BBC and how it has handled Savile and now McAlpine.

Worse still, just as this scandal began to die down, Newsnight has embroiled itself in a sexual abuse scandal.

Last week the show ran a segment that featured allegations that a well-known Conservative British politician had been a part of notorious pedophile network that operated in Wales in the 1970s. The segment didn’t name the politician — apparently out of legal fears — but the name of the suspect soon spread online.

On the surface of it, it looked like Newsnight’s attempt to remind the British public that they were the most important TV news show in the UK — and unafraid to ask serious questions about the British establishment. However, the show set off a storm of speculation that even British Prime Minister David Cameron had to admit verged on a “witch hunt”.

The scandal gained another dimension today when The Guardian announced that the man many had assumed was at the heart of the scandal — former Margaret Thatcher aide Lord (Alistair) McAlpine — was innocent of these and had been the victim of mistaken identity.

Lord McAlpine, who now lives in Italy, has apparently had throngs of reporters outside his villa for weeks, and has been forced to leave his home because of the media frenzy. He has now issued a lengthy statement that goes into some detail in its denial of the accusations, and his lawyer has told the BBC that they are considering legal action against the BBC as well as a number of Twitter users who had named him.

The man who accused McAlpine has now apologized for inferring the Lord was involved, and conceded it was a case of mistaken identity.

For the BBC, and Newsnight in particular, this was a big chance at redemption. And, rightly or wrongly, it looks like the show was rushed. It really appears that the BBC blew it.

 

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153 Responses to BBC AND MCALPINE

  1. Alan says:

    Yep, the BBC have just woken up to what they have done….as Roger Laughton said…they need a lawyer not a media commentator like him.

    How long can Newsnight last, how long can the BBC last if it goes on like this?

       61 likes

    • Chop says:

      One sneaky b*stards name seems to have been left out of all this…

      TOM WATSON.

      Wasn’t it the flabby joweled one who got this particular ball rolling with his little hissy fit in the commons?

         50 likes

      • Chop says:

        My bad, just read the previous thread, and his flabby features are all over it.

        😉

           15 likes

        • Frank Words says:

          Yes Watson deserves to be dragged through the mud.

          When he sounded off about phone hacking it was a vendetta against Murdoch. He had no interest in what went on at the Mirror Group.

          When he sounded off about a paedophile ring it was about North Wales because “Tories” were involved. Was he interested in other child care home scandals? Apparently not.

          It is also a case for outrage when a local authority fails to listen to abuse allegations relating to homes they are responsible for. And if they cover it up, and intimidate social workers and victims…….

          Remember Islington. Remember Margaret Hodge.

          Perhaps Philip Davies can mention that one in the house.

          I fear it s too much to hope that the whole scandal that relates to so many care homes across the country will get a proper invstigation. Too many of the rich and powerful are getting protected.

             39 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      What they need is one thing.
      What they will do is another.
      I’m going for lashing out as they only know how.
      ‘”There are no short cuts,” BBC Director General George Entwistle told reporters today.’
      Just…ToryCutzzzz!?

         13 likes

    • FrankFisher says:

      This is 1989 – the soviets crumbling, from the inside out. The BBC and their pals are trying to build this into a narrative of incompetence rather than intentional propaganda and cover-up – to do that they are sacrificing newsnight and the DG. Anything will be sacrificed to save the core – but it will not wash.

      This rotten, evil, edifice must fall.

      I’m pleased to think that all over England people must have sat listening to the DG over their breakfast, horrified. Horrified. Realising suddenly that for their whole lives, people like that have been lying to them, about EVERYTHING. And they trusted them.

      No more. When trust goes, everything else follows.

      Bye bye BBC.

         25 likes

  2. uncle bup says:

    Sweet Jesus the BBC is a paralytic drunk ‘taking the width of the pavement’ on the way home, molesting a slapper here, puking up a dodgy kebab there, collapsing in the gutter somewhere else, before creating a breach of the peace, assaulting a WPC and getting banged up for the night.

    With McAlpine calling Carter Ruck, George Monbiore deleting his Mcalpine tweets left right and centre, what price Gameshow Nikk’s career with his,

    ‘yer ave only gorragoogle ‘Thatcher and paedophile’.

    Hmm not feeling quite so pleased with yourself now mate, eh.

    And as for Jonathan Dimbleby on Any Private Sector Employees In This Audience Tonight No Thought Not with his blinding argument,

    ‘Perhaps the criticism that Newsnight received for discussing Conservative Party figures and paedophilia means they may have been right to not broadcast the feature on Jimmy Savile’.

    David, chum. was it painful having your brain surgically removed and replaced with 10 pounds of elephant dung?

       63 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      Jonathan even – though same difference. They merge into one utter idiot.

         35 likes

    • Phil Ford says:

      “…Sweet Jesus the BBC is a paralytic drunk ‘taking the width of the pavement’ on the way home, molesting a slapper here, puking up a dodgy kebab there, collapsing in the gutter somewhere else, before creating a breach of the peace, assaulting a WPC and getting banged up for the night.”

      Lol. The BBC and ‘journalistic standards’..? I don’t believe they have ever actually been introduced to each other. I’m getting in the popcorn. This is going to be fun.

         45 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      left right and centre
      In the wonderful world of balance, that is of course, ‘left, left and left of centre’.

         19 likes

  3. Bodo says:

    So after a week of BBC headlines full of allegations of child abuse against “leading Tory politician of the Thatcher era’, it now turns out that they are totally false.
    The BBC obviously didn’t take even the most rudimentary steps to verify the abuse story before broadcast. Whatever happened to the so-called “watertight oversight” and the dual sources that is supposed to be in place.

    This looks like it has been nothing more than a calculated smear against the tories and an attempt to divert attention from the BBC savile scandal.

    The Tories need a rottweiler backbencher to grab hold of this story and punish the BBC. Heads should roll.If they don’t crucify the BBC over this then they don’t deserve to be in power.

       74 likes

    • ltwf1964 says:

      it appears McAlpine has the bbc is his sights for legal action and has the pockets to fund it

      let’s hope he tears them a new one

         67 likes

      • Rufus McDufus says:

        What’s so hilarious is that when Lord McAlpine gets all litigious on the BBC’s ass and wins millions in compensation, you and I will be paying the bill.

           23 likes

    • Amounderness Lad says:

      Typical bBBC, when you hear something which suits your agenda don’t bother checking the facts just push the story as hard as possible and hope that the truth is swamped by the propaganda.

         27 likes

    • Craig King says:

      Entwistle seems to not have a grip at all. He needs to bugger off (geddit ).

         7 likes

      • london calling says:

        Pattens head should be on the plate first. As Chairman, he has about as much grip as wet elastoplast. What is Patten for, apart from eating lunch?

           13 likes

  4. Rufus McDufus says:

    What a complete f**k up by Newsnight.
    The lead story on the the BBC news website at the moment is ‘Man sorry over Tory abuse claims’. I’m almost feeling sorry for Mr Messham as it seems he is a fairly vulnerable guy who has been coerced into making a false identification of a top political figure purely for the BBC’s own advantage. What this story with its flimsy evidence actually gave us, the public and our public interest, I have no idea. The only conclusion I can make is that it was agenda driven.

       64 likes

    • Anders says:

      And they’re still using the word “Tory” just so we don’t forget that they are all evil…

         10 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      I also sympathise with Mr Messham if he suffered the abuse as a child which he claims. However, we should not rule out the possibility at this stage he was complicit in the agenda. When you hear the words ‘Tory government’ spoken in a Scouse accent, alarm bells start to ring.

         4 likes

    • Simon says:

      Messham did say his abuser was dead. It would not have taken long for the BBC to establish that Lord McAlpine is alive.

         5 likes

  5. John Gilmour says:

    Before this ‘apology’, I had my doubts about all this but are we seriously expected to believe that Steve Messham, who has lived with the memories and pain of this abuse for so many years, has only now looked at a photograph of Lord McAlpine and decided that this was not the man who raped him? What utter nonsense. The man has been got at, threatened or bought off. UNLESS (and I hope this is the case) he is clever enough to realise that people will see that this ‘apology’ is so ridiculously transparent that it will add ‘grist to the mill’ and increase the suspicion

       14 likes

    • Demon says:

      Well done for proving that if enough mud is thrown some will stick.

      I’m guessing someone led him to believe it was McAlpine, possibly only recently, and now he has seen the picture he knows he was wrong. He is quite determined to tell his story so your suggestion that he was “bought off” is frankly ridiculous and not worthy of a 10 year old.

         36 likes

      • Sid Deeky says:

        Two points stood out for me from the start, which seemed as if the interviewee may have been ‘fed’ some of the stuff we heard.
        Claims were made that politicians were turning up at the home in Porsches and Rolls Royces.
        I doubt that any ‘distinguished’ politician would drive a Porsche, they are more of a rich young man’s chav mobile.
        Also, I find it hard to believe that these unfortunate, and maybe not very well educated boys, could quickly identify government ministers by name.

           25 likes

        • Rufus McDufus says:

          Especially such a ‘high profile’ face as Lord McAlpine’s who most people would struggle to identify even now after all this negative press.

             15 likes

  6. Tommy Atkins says:

    This beggars belief.
    Power corrupts.
    Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

    ps
    And what the f was Cameroon doing launching 2 major enquiries, rather than making just 1 phone call?

       16 likes

    • #88 says:

      Yes! Some people were saying last week that no further inquiries were necessary.

      But rewind for a minute. Imagine how the left, the BBC, the odious Watson would have reacted if Cameron had refused. They would have gone for him en masse, be calling for his head and we wouldn’t have heard the last of it.
      I think that DC has handled this well, particularly his ambushing by Gordon the Gopher

         32 likes

  7. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    Even the Grauniad has deserted the bBBC.
    Giving those criticised a right of reply is a staple of journalism – and required by broadcasting regulations. Ofcom’s broadcasting code, which regulates the BBC when it comes to fairness and privacy, says that if a programme “alleges wrongdoing or incompetence or makes other significant allegations [against an individual], those concerned should normally be given an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond”.

    The BBC’s editorial guideline, section 6, on fairness, contributors and consent, states: “When our output contains allegations of wrongdoing, iniquity or incompetence or lays out a strong and damaging critique of an individual or organisation, those criticised should normally have a right of reply, unless there is an editorial justification to proceed without it.”

       42 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘bureau’s Angus Stickler, a former BBC journalist, had persuaded Newsnight to put out the film he was preparing.’
      That persuasion being… ‘guys… mad not to, eh?’
      No wonder the Newsnight interactive pages seem to see most staff pretty keen to stay over in America, where the ‘real’ news is.

         10 likes

  8. Teddy Bear says:

    I like the way this is developing, and with the latest attempt by the BBC to redeem itself following Savile, to show itself as fearless in the eyes of its usual ignorant public, it might have made itself more of a cropper.
    Perhaps enough for the government to have a real weapon to end the funding of this monstrosity.

    This might be 9/11 (UK Style) for the BBC :roll

       37 likes

  9. +james says:

    The BBC is in serious trouble here. We have had a week of “Thatcher, Paedo” on the BBC News, radio and TV.

    Now thanks to the Guardian of all papers we now know the allegations were false. McAlpine will probably sue the BBC, as they targeted him even though they did not name him. The Conservatives should now have a public inquiry on the Newsnight programme, to find out if this story was only used to smear the Conservative Party.

    The BBC is supposed to be impartial, if the Guardian can get it right and check the history and facts. Why can’t the BBC?

       56 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      I was trying to weigh up yesterday which has been the most heard soundbite on the BBC this week, ‘Senior Tory politician from the Thatcher era’ or ‘Former oil executive and Old Etonian’. I think it was the former, but they were both spawned from the same agenda-driven, Leftist mindset that riddles the BBC like rampaging dry rot.

         12 likes

  10. PhilO'TheWisp says:

    Good evening Mr Prole. Are you watching Newsnight right now, or lying down in a darkened room? Just asking out of concern for you.

       21 likes

  11. George R says:

    ‘Daily Mail’ -front-page headline for Saturday:-

    “Tory peer to sue BBC over child abuse slur.”

       30 likes

  12. Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

    Well the SHTF all right.
    Fullsome apologies and navel gazing on newsnight right now.
    I wonder if the INBBC will now stop joyfully announcing the words ” senior tory of the Thatcher era” with such heartfelt relish. That was their over-riding motivation in this issue.

       40 likes

    • joshaw says:

      Exactly. They’re so obsessed with smearing Thatcher by implication that all common sense went out of the window.

         15 likes

  13. Rufus McDufus says:

    BBC ‘apologises unreservedly’ for the Newnight programme featuring these false allegations.

    Not. Good. Enough.

       38 likes

  14. eddy says:

    Newsnight opens with a report about itself. There follows a TV roadcrash (Esther Rantzen as expert witness, seriously?) I think we are gonna need a bigger thread….

       26 likes

    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

      The INBBC are giving St Esther of rancid every opportunity to rehabilitate herself after that dumb admission that of course she knew all those rumours about St Jimmy, but did sweet FA about it.

         33 likes

  15. Redwhiteandblue says:

    This is one of the worst cock-ups in modern journalism. In the Waterhouse Report three paragraphs were devoted to the unreliability of “Witness B” (as he was known), and revealing that the CPS had deemed him unfit to testify in criminal trials. This is the witness Newsnight relied on for their report. They deserve everything coming their way.

       48 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Let me see if I understand this correctly. First they spike a story because, they say, there wasn’t enough evidence to suit the lawyers and mandarins, and get their asses handed to them over it. Now, having learned their lesson after, oh, minutes of reflection and self-recrimination before dinner and a couple bottles of comfort plonk, they run with a story where there was even less evidence as the one before, and get their asses handed to them.

      No wonder they’re all trying to stab each other in the back. The place is run by spoiled children with clipboards, who seem to have created the most poisonous atmosphere imaginable, and the news/creative production people who work for them have egos the size of Escape to the Country houses. There are intelligent, talented people there, even some with integrity, but what a waste.

      Mark Thompson’s and Helen Boaden’s legacy. At your expense. Proper shareholders wouldn’t put up with it.

         45 likes

      • Wild says:

        It is actually quite sad. In a single generation the Left have destroyed the BBC. It is hard to believe that its reputation can ever be restored.

        To give a trivial example. On QI tonight Stephen Fry described Rupert Murdoch as sub-human.

        Now you may or may not approve of Rupert Murdoch (or the Daily Mail or George Osbourne to take the last couple of episodes) but can you imagine an old style BBC presenter such as Robert Robinson interjecting such crude partisan views into a quiz show?

        Standards? There is only one standard in the BBC these days – correct Party thinking. It is the conformity of one Party State. Absolute conformity to the views and interests of the (largely corrupt) Leftist elite that run institutions such as the BBC these days.

           71 likes

        • Rufus McDufus says:

          Very good comment. I say this as a (previously) left- wing supporter of many years.
          Even I’ve had enough. It’s a sorry situation the BBC has got into.

             36 likes

        • Reed says:

          The reason so many of them seem to think they can pollute any programme of which they are a part was articulated by Savile – “They can’t touch me, I’m too important to the corporation”. It’s their over inflated opinion of their worth that produces this arrogant, self-centred and disrespectful partisanship. Mr. Fry seems to be increasingly the greatest purveyor of this mindset, but there are so many others. This is why I no longer watch QI, a programme I once thoroughly enjoyed. It’s stocked full of all the usual suspects, and has become increasingly smug and boorish in the last couple of series. Its a shame, as it was the only comedy panel show that was deviod of the usual charmless sneering exhibited by most others.

             29 likes

          • Beeboidal says:

            BBC Memo to Mr Fry:

            Stephen

            re Rupert Murdoch

            Loved the sub-human bit, but we/re ramping up use of the ‘c’ at the moment. Could you have got ‘sub-human c**t’ in there somehow?

               12 likes

          • johnnythefish says:

            Spot on, Reed.

               2 likes

        • pacificrising says:

          The hacking scandal is like nothing compared the Savile scandal.

          The phone hacking resulted in Murdoch closing the News of the World, but what action will be taken over the BBC scandal(s)? A couple of minor heads will roll perhaps?

          End the license fee.

             10 likes

      • Redwhiteandblue says:

        I find it difficult to disagree with a syllable of this assessment.

           17 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        ‘The place is run by spoiled children’
        Make that ‘market rate, genetically impartial spoilt children’.
        Drs. Will & Cleo Scezandymanus from Oslo and their various elder female relatives stumbling across BBC critical sites better watch out, as I suspect there’ll be a few new recruits to the lower basement call centre roster soon.
        Though this thread may remain mercifully clear.
        Please, just, no one make a ‘I see the BBC hasn’t…’ claim!

           4 likes

        • ltwf1964 says:

          Drs. Will & Cleo Scezandymanus

          now where have they go to?

          no snide remarks,no trolling,nothing

          has shame finally registered?

          probably not…….bbc don’t really do shame-just blame redistribution

             8 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      RedWhiteandBlue taking the same line as Nicked: ‘editorial cock-up’.

      Hmmm……let’s see what line the BBC take in the coming weeks.

         2 likes

  16. George R says:

    Close down ‘Newsnight’ now.

    “BBC apologises for Newsnight child abuse report”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20277732

       13 likes

  17. Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

    Panorama team on full alert I reckon.
    All leave cancelled, man the desks guys, our arch enemies at newsnight are down and almost out. Time for another special investigation?
    Sharpen those Pencils, as Jonesy said, they don’t like it up ’em!

       23 likes

  18. PhilO'TheWisp says:

    Headline for Helen Boaden tomorrow. “Gotcha!”

       19 likes

    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

      That headline didnt make the front of the Daily Mirror: Full page epitaph to Bill tarmy on there instead of any BBC troubles.

         17 likes

  19. Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

    Toenails was boasting a couple of days ago ( This Morning I think) that he was privy to the name of the senior tory under suspicion. I wonder if he’s so brave to say any more about it now?

       43 likes

  20. Mike says:

    So determined were the BBC to get the pressure off themselves from letting Saville rape girls with their full knowledge they made up a totally false story about a Tory to try and smear them. This disgusting biased cesspit of an organisation is beyond repair and shut be shut down immediately. Patton should resign immediately if he has a shred of decency-oh I forgot he hasn’t. BBC =utter scum

       57 likes

    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

      ” Patton should resign”
      fatty must wish he’d stayed in HK huh?
      what’s gonna be HIS solution then?
      Time for that ITV hackette to doorstep him again!!

         22 likes

    • Rufus McDufus says:

      He should resign but it is ironic that he is the only (ex) Tory involved in the whole affair. I’m sure there are other people keeping their heads beneath the parapet who are equally deserving of censure.

         11 likes

  21. Grandad says:

    YOO HOO, Dez, Nicked, where are yoooou??
    Come on out dears,
    We won’t hurt you, promise,
    Just say you’re sorry like good boys
    And we’ll forget all about it.
    THWACK ! ! ! !
    BAMM,
    CRUNCH,
    BOOM….

       26 likes

  22. TPO says:

    I feel a “disturbing relish” coming on.

       16 likes

  23. +james says:

    Come to think of it this is worse than phone hacking.

       31 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Yes, it makes one wonder what would have happened if Savile or any of the rest of them had their way with (insert demagoguing celeb here)’s adolescent daughter.

         16 likes

      • Jonathan Wilson says:

        Or granddaughter, re JR&RB…. When I first heard about it I was quite shocked, a poor sweet young granddaughter of a much loved character…. then found out that she was not so young, not so innocent, a member of a group called the satanic sluts and oft seen wearing very little or various bondage guises…. a hugely different slant on things. That said, look at how quickly heads rolled “its an honest cop guv” style, so different to the systemic cover up over savile… even going so far as to produce tributes for him as they hadn’t been caught out… yet!

           1 likes

    • eddy says:

      “Phone hacking” – when you buy a phone, don’t read the manual that the PIN is set to 1234 on your voice mail by default but then get an enquiry and the right to compensation because you’re a celebrity dumb-ass that can’t use technology. The magic word here is “hacking” which immediately makes the establishment luddites fear they are about to face the next French Revolution.

         29 likes

      • MD says:

        Absolutely, there was never any hacking required. Why has no one ever blamed the phone companies for delivering such a vulnerable system?

           14 likes

  24. Tommy Atkins says:

    meanwhile over at the BBC web site
    “BBC apology for Newsnight report”
    which is a change from
    “Man sorry for allegation”
    (or something like that a few hours ago)

    funny though, you can’t comment on that particular story. How do they decide that?

       25 likes

  25. George R says:

    ‘Guardian’:-

    “BBC’s reputation under threat from Newsnight’s McAlpine error.
    “George Entwistle who was once Newsnight’s editor watched the programme being forced into another humiliating climbdown”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/09/bbc-newsnight-mcalpine-george-entwistle?

       15 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘BBC’s reputation under threat’
      Interesting spin.
      It’s that different time thing again.
      The BBC’s reputation is dead, mate.
      As a parrot.
      So no ‘decisive’ action is going to save it.
      And necrophilia seems to have already been trialled by staff.

         12 likes

  26. George R says:

    ‘Guardian’ again:

    “BBC suspends Newsnight investigations after false Tory peer abuse claim.
    “Corporation apologises unreservedly for broadcasting report which carried erroneous claims by abuse victim.”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/09/bbc-newsnight-investigations-tory-peer?

       8 likes

    • Jonathan Wilson says:

      The thing is though… the gran is still associating Tories, thatcher and alpine by headline even if it includes “false” its still a “mud sticks” fait accompli

         3 likes

  27. As I See It says:

    Senior Tory from Thatcher era involved in BBC Newsnight scandal – Lord Patten!

       41 likes

  28. Roland Deschain says:

    What struck me on the news at ten tonight was that the victim, on being shown a picture of Lord McAlpine, conceded it was a case of mistaken identity. The BBC broadcast these allegations and never thought to ask that themselves? Wouldn’t that be a fairly basic piece of fact checking before making insinuations?

       42 likes

    • Reed says:

      This was the very point made by a journalist with the FT on Sky News tonight. He said that if he, or any other journalist, had produced a report containing such serious allegations about an individual without even showing a photo of the accused to the victim to verify the identity he would fully expect that journalist to be sacked.

      Notice that when the sh!t hits the fan the big names at Newsnight are suddenly not on duty, presumably being protected from the splatter by their bosses.

         21 likes

      • Rufus McDufus says:

        The BBC seems to be above the laws that get applied so vigorously to other media organisations.

           12 likes

  29. Framer says:

    The Newsnight show wasn’t ‘rushed.’ Some high-ups were offered by the ‘Bureau of Investigative Journalism’, (a strange ‘free’ press beast that nests in City University), a remake of an earlier set of allegations on the Welsh boys home scandal of the 1980s.
    There was absolutely nothing new in what was reported. What there was was a 20-year old allegation about ‘top Tory paedophiles escaping justice’ that had not passed muster at the judicial enquiry.
    The alternative explanation is that Newsnight went looking for this piece, something even more devastating.
    Either way, no proper journalism occurred and the BBC editors, who must surely have been of great seniority, let it through, or commissioned it, in the belief that to protect the BBC they must use the nuclear option of taking out the Conservative government.
    They have lost.
    A terrible retribution is just about to begin.

       44 likes

    • It's all too much says:

      “in the belief that to protect the BBC they must use the nuclear option of taking out the Conservative government.”

      Exactly.

      They wanted to execute a coup by ‘journalism’.

         21 likes

  30. As I See It says:

    Ah BBC Newsnight.

    The Editor “steps aside”.

    Now an “immediate pause” to all investigations.

    And so the Beeb wait with bated breath, obviously hoping this will all just blow over.

    Come on everyone, for goodness sake don’t let them off the hook!

       33 likes

    • Corran Horn says:

      My whole point of view on this makes me want to quote Bomber Harris; “They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.” And I can only hope it is one strong enough to scour away the rancid stain on this land that is the BBC.

         21 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Admiral Yamamoto also springs to mind.
        For balance.

           7 likes

        • Corran Horn says:

          I picked Bomber Harris because he’s one of the great British leaders of WW2 that the left just can’t stand and I like to look at this scandal the BBC have brought apon themselves as the karmic payback they deserve for all the times they have denigrated the name of this land and the people that’s helped to keep it free.

          As for Admiral Yamamoto If you mean this quote;

          “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

          All I can say is I agree with the sentiment and hope it is true, I’m just not sure the British people are the same anymore. It use to be that we would sit back and put up with things for so long and then when things got to a head we would actually get up and do something about it and actually send shock waves down the halls of power,, now I just feel that as long as they have their Jeramy Kyle, their gyro cheque, their booze and fags a large section of the British people will continue to let themselves be shafted by those we ask to run our nation for us and those we are told have impartiality in their DNA.

             7 likes

      • Reed says:

        There’s really only one way to clean out BBC HQ…

           6 likes

  31. Welsh Chris H says:

    Is it wrong that I am enjoying this? Anyway must go, the microwave is beeping as my popcorn is ready!

       22 likes

  32. chrisH says:

    Good times indeed sir.
    The BBC are found with their pants down, and I hope that MacAlpine cleans them out…if he wants a fighting fund, he only needs to ask.
    Meanwhile tonight the BBC seem to think that their “promotion” of Children in Need will raise money…are these charities thick?
    Anybody wanting Saviles bling round their necks has got to be barking…anybody reckoning on the power of the BBC to get them some money clearly does not know how toxic, any link to children will be for them.

       22 likes

  33. Demon says:

    Has anyone at the BBC bothered to think of the effect this will have on catching genuine paedophiles? This will stop some genuine victims from pursuing their case in case it unravels like this one. The BBC’s Mission Statement = Always push the left-wing agenda before consideration of the vulnerable and victims.

       38 likes

    • Frank Words says:

      A very good point and I think the answer is no.

      The same could be said of Tom Watson.

      Perhaps the BBC and Fatso can be destoyed by the same fiasco.

         31 likes

  34. David Brims says:

    I think we need another enquiry into the enquiry that’s enquiring into the enquiry into Newsnight.

    You gotta laugh, haven’t you ?

       19 likes

  35. David Brims says:

    As Private Frazer from Dad’s Army said ” We’re doomed, ”

       5 likes

  36. jarwill101 says:

    Despite enjoying the undeniably pleasant smell of the BBC’s self-immolation, we shouldn’t forget that there’s still something very unpleasant in the Establishment’s woodshed:
    ‘…paedophiles are an infinitesimal minority of the UK population, but there is something about their warped control mechanisms that seems inevitably to deliver them into positions where they can have the power to indulge their fantasies with impunity.
    This is the real paedophile threat: not braindead Labour’s 12 million workers being vetted, not Savile the demonic disc-jockey, & not the BBC alone.’

    Further reading: http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/opinion-we-should-be-applauding-schofield-not-gagging-him/

       3 likes

  37. Llew says:

    Also shows just how easily and quickly the BBC follows everything that Labour tells them.

       22 likes

  38. Beness says:

    They just could not help themselves, they thought they could smear the tories so went all out to get them as they do at every oportunity.

       23 likes

  39. Reed says:

    I wonder if he’s changed his tune…

       4 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Now seems a good time to dust off the Downfall caption machine too.

         5 likes

    • David Brims says:

      I found that intolerable to my soul, I switched it off after 20 seconds.

         6 likes

    • Beness says:

      i don’t recall seeing some of them programes since the 70’s. Jackanory, bagpuss, Mr benn. are they still going in a new format?

         4 likes

      • David Brims says:

        Bagpuss and Mr Benn are probably the only ones at the BBC who were not molested by Savile.

           7 likes

        • Reed says:

          …the sadness in Bagpuss’s eyes tell a different tale…and as for poor Emily…

             8 likes

          • chrisH says:

            And how did Pudsey get that eye of his poked out?
            Not another victim of the Savile cigar , I hope…wonder if Scooby Doo are available to investigate?
            They`d do a far better job than any BBC Current Affairs Omnishambles currently riding the rickshaw at the BBC ,anyway!

               3 likes

  40. David Brims says:

    There’s nothing more BBC journalists love than BBC journalists talking about the BBC.

    Meanwhile in the real world, no one gives a shit.

       12 likes

  41. Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

    BBC Breakfast has been wall to wall navel gazing, with interviews, much discussion.
    No-one able to see an elephant in the room. The fact was it was those evil Tories they were after. They weren’t ever going to let a few facts get in the way.
    They still dont see that elephant (or just wont see it).
    Any mention about other abuse scandals? islington perhaps? Rochdale? Nahhh……nothing.

       27 likes

  42. Jim Dandy says:

    Truly catastrophic for the BBC. If you remember, last Friday they were trailing that the person’s name was to be exposed. But then, presumably after an intense period of scrutiny (legal and journalistic) they went ahead, but without naming names. And now it transpires they were wrong.

    This is tabloid journalism stuff. Disgraceful.

       21 likes

    • Wild says:

      “This is tabloid journalism stuff”

      The tabloids have far higher standards than the BBC.

      The BBC is not a liberal institution, and has not been for many years. It is no credit to you that you deny what everybody can see with their own eyes.

         2 likes

    • Jonathan Wilson says:

      That said… their hand was rather forced by the twattering post, had they not gone to air they would have been covering up again… and that said, serves them right if they commision reports by the left leaning ‘Bureau of Investigative Journalism’ hoisted by petard.

         1 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      The BBC will be proud of you, Jim, keep up the narrative (along with Nicked) and soon the Beeb will have ‘learned its lessons and moved on’.

         1 likes

  43. Marshyman says:

    “Thatcher, Tory, Paedophile”,”Thatcher, Tory, Paedophile”,”Thatcher, Tory, Paedophile”
    They have loved it. From Newsnight, 5 live and the BBC newsrooms in general.
    Campbell and Derbyshire had at least 4 hours drumming this message in to a wide audience over two days last week.
    These guys need to be held accountable as well.
    Was it because we have some Bi-elections coming up…nothing on several Labour MP’s facing expenses trials…
    Have you noticed the link with Thatcher is no longer mentioned in any of the apologies….

    It’s a sad day for “Auntie”, her children are running amock
    MM

       18 likes

  44. Jim Dandy says:

    Entwhistle is getting hammered on Today by Humphries. He’s just said he should resign. Good on him and on Eddie Mair last night.

    The DG is I fear a bit if a lightweight. Not the one to clean out the stables.

       9 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      Clean out the stables of what, exactly, Jim?

         5 likes

    • Frank Words says:

      You’d need to be Hercules to clean out this stable.

         5 likes

    • chrisH says:

      What was the point of Rupert Murdochs News of the World exposing all those paedophiles, if the bloody BBC only goes on to give them their own TV shows?
      Did James Murdoch ever tell the BBC/Guardian elites that they would miss them when they had gone?…for without Ruperts wise counsel the BBC have gone to hell, via all that pot they`d gone to first.
      Entwhistle might have made a good fudge monitor in an Ealing comedy, but he`s no Gunner Graham is he?…heck, he`s no Dan Quayle even!
      Taxi for Paxo, Wark, Esler and Maitlis please at reception…and they are to share it to Oblivion…and we do not expect to receive a bill for it either!

         3 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      The DG is I fear a bit if a lightweight. Not the one to clean out the stables.

      This is why the BBC should be broken up COMPLETELY as a public funded organisation. The BBC has not had any DG able and willing enough to ‘clean out their stables, this is why they’re promoted to the job in the first place. They simply look at the strategy that enables themselves to continue their bias in defiance of any genuine complaint.

      An example is Thompson. He declared that he saw a massive left wing bias at the BBC 30 years ago. Yet he did NOTHING to address it, and can’t point to any steps that were taken since then to address it.

      NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE!

         5 likes

  45. ltwf1964 says:

    any truth in the rumour that the bbc got their information for the “story” from that well established and ultra reliable news source “twitter”

       9 likes

    • ltwf1964 says:

      Entwhistle is on bbc tv now

      utterly disgraceful attempt to pass the buck onto the victim…….they broadcast the lies without even showing him a photo to ensure they were talking about the right man

      “critics are saying” he’s a total arsehole

         13 likes

  46. ltwf1964 says:

    all in all,I never laughed so many since i were a children :):):)

       6 likes

  47. Reed says:

    After the BBC’s lingering obsession with all things hacking…and the glee with which they reported the closure of NOTW…and the smugness that they greated the story of the evil Murdoch’s failure to secure Sky News, there must be a few smiling faces at Newscorp this weekend…and I wouldn’t blame them.

    Aunty has been stripped bare, and it’s not a pretty sight. Children, cover your eyes.

       15 likes

  48. David Brims says:

    George Bentwhistle on BBC Radio 5 this morning, doing a very good impression of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.

    ” I know nothing.”

    Yeah, right. It was like pulling teeth.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6EaoPMANQM

       5 likes

  49. Guest Who says:

    I have just heard on SKY that the market rate talent that is Uncurious ‘I knew nothing, nothing’ George has opted not for ‘Lessons still be Learned (Again)’, but has plumped for ‘Unacceptable’ (Again).
    The Politico-media Thesaurus of Hole Escaping Platitudes is indeed a thin one at top level.
    Still, he has told us that neither he nor Newsnight is going anywhere.
    Maybe best not to make that a factual news item on the BBC as, well, these have a habit of sliding off the rails.
    Speaking of SKY, I heard this on their paper review, where the topic was ‘stereotypes’.
    Ironic given the format of a bloke in a suit who tends to be a bit earthy and a not uneasy-on-the-eye batty if inbred Notting Hillbillette totty who comes out with bright-eyed gems like ‘it’s not Newsnight’s fault… they didn’t name names!’.
    To which the assembled studio hosts and guests politely pointed out that they also didn’t check source stories, and didn’t mention it to the boss (again, apparently) and how again, did twitter ‘find out’.
    To the latter, the tweet by the Newsnight co-production team may have a clue there for ‘investigative reporters’ elsewhere.
    Quaintly, having dropped the BBC in it, the huge response so far is calling a halt to working with them (again).
    Oh, and another (internal) executive report has been commissioned (again).

       10 likes

    • Reed says:

      ‘Lessons still be Learned (Again)’

      Yes – next time we’ll smear those Tories much more effectively, just in time for the next election.

         14 likes

  50. David Brims says:

    Yet again the BBC blew it BIG TIME.

    Why didn’t Paxman and Kirsty Squawk not present Newsnight last night, instead of running and hiding ?

    They got a fall guy Eddie Mair, a smug creep instead.

    I also loved the way they tried to wriggle out of it and pass the buck and blame the internet and Twitter.

    It was Newsnight that said ” a conservative, high up in the party, an aide to Thatcher who was a child molester.”

       18 likes

    • Reed says:

      Quite – rather narrowing the field, if anyone was interested in searching for possible names.

         6 likes

      • Stewart S says:

        The unheard of staffer on the panel
        of experts pulled him up on the twitter excuse and quite sternly
        I dont suppose he will (unheard of staffer) be becoming a household name any time soon

           3 likes