177 Responses to Open Thread

  1. Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

    “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.”

    The BBC’s obituary of Daphne Oxenford, presenter of Listen with Mother, back in the days when children had fathers as well, and the BBC had a good reputation.

       22 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      Bad taste alert: it says “She touched so many people through her life…”

      Not another one!

         14 likes

    • Albaman says:

      “When children had fathers as well……….” As well has what………….. mothers? Perhaps you can point me in the direction of a child who does not have a father.

         6 likes

      • Mat says:

        They are not to be called fathers any more the are now non fixed gender specific parenting units with on going cultural sensitivity re education training and required sexual preference neutral!

           17 likes

      • pah says:

        Scott? :p

           4 likes

      • deegee says:

        Children without fathers? Or male role model, father figures because biology is not the issue. Plenty!

        In Oxenford’s prime single parents were a disgrace to be hidden not a lifestyle choice. Think of John Lennon who grew up thinking his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his sister. There was/is even a word for children conceived out of wedlock – illegitimate. How negative is that?

        I can’t speak to minority populations in Britain, especially the Blacks but the US figures for Children in single-parent families by race show that 67% of Black or Afro American are in that position, so I would be surprised (and delighted) if the British figures were much better. The American total is 35% in single-parent homes 7 in every 20 children.

        Add to that modern no fault divorce laws and widowhood. In all four examples the single parent is most likely to be a woman who may not have a man acting as a father. I hope I have pointed you, Albaman, to children without fathers in the sense Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling meant.

        BTW take a peek at Single parents fulfilling dual gender roles. It’s only a piece in a student newspaper but could you imagine one like it in the 1950s? The world has changed.

           4 likes

        • Albaman says:

          “In Oxenford’s prime single parents were a disgrace to be hidden not a lifestyle choice. “………………. Born in 1919 she would gave been in her “prime” from around 1949. At this time there were a lot of single mothers in the UK known as “war widows”.

             4 likes

            • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

              The shocking impacts of the fatherless culture, espoused especially by chavs and black ‘communities’ are given in http://www.civitas.org.uk/pubs/experiments.php/
              The extensive data behind the following summary statements are all detailed in the report.

              How does the Fatherless Family Affect Adults, Children and Society?
              Lone mothers
              – Are poorer
              – Are more likely to suffer from stress, depression, and other emotional and psychological problems
              – Have more health problems
              – May have more problems interacting with their children
              Non-resident biological fathers
              – Are at risk of losing contact with their children
              – Are more likely to have health problems and engage in high-risk behaviour
              Children living without their biological fathers
              – Are more likely to live in poverty and deprivation
              – Have more trouble in school
              – Tend to have more trouble getting along with others
              – Have higher risk of health problems
              – Are at greater risk of suffering physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.
              – Are more likely to run away from home
              Teenagers living without their biological fathers
              – Are more likely to experience problems with sexual health
              – Are more likely to become teenage parents
              – Are more likely to offend
              – Are more likely to smoke
              – Are more likely to drink alcohol
              – Are more likely to take drugs
              – Are more likely to play truant from school
              – Are more likely to be excluded from school
              -Are more likely to leave school at 16
              – Are more likely to have adjustment problems
              Young adults who grew up not living with their biological fathers
              – Are less likely to attain qualifications
              – Are more likely to experience unemployment
              – Are more likely to have low incomes
              – Are more likely be on income support
              – Are more likely to experience homelessness
              – Are more likely to be caught offending and go to jail
              – Are more likely to suffer from long term emotional and psychological problems
              – Are more likely to develop health problems
              – Tend to enter partnerships earlier and more often as a cohabitation
              – Are more likely to divorce or dissolve their cohabiting unions
              – Are more likely to have children outside marriage or outside any partnership

              Effects on the Social Fabric
              – Increased crime and violence
              – Decreased community ties
              – A growing ‘divorce culture’
              – Cycle of fatherlessness
              – Dependence on state welfare

                 17 likes

              • pah says:

                Which explains why the Frankfurt School graduates promote single parenthood as a lifestyle choice.

                One more nail …

                   9 likes

          • David Preiser (USA) says:

            No especially different or massively influential societal circumstances, then? And the “prime” years begin rather earlier than age 30, don’t you think?

               2 likes

      • Pedantry rules ok in Scotland says:

        Get yourself along to any youth club, you’ll find plenty of fatherless children there, not to mention schools.

           3 likes

  2. David Preiser (USA) says:

    The body count for the Nobel Peace Laureate-in-Chief continues to grow by the day. I eagerly await one of the BBC’s favorite edgy comedians to make a joke about it, or for a black President to be portrayed as a warmonger in some BBC drama or comedy sketch. Maybe they’ll work something into Dr. Who like they did the Belgrano? Perhaps Hugh Dennis will make a wisecrack about it during one of the improvised moments of a future “Outnumbered” episode, like he does about Blair?

    I mean, there’s no institutional bias preventing this, is there?

       42 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      whoa…they had the Belgrano in Dr. Who? I’m assuming this was 20 years ago when this story still had some legs?

         5 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Nope, it was in 2005. The BBC was proud enough to run a special article about it.

        There was also a clear reference to Bush and Blair and Iraq.

        Actress Penelope Wilton plays the Prime Minister in the hour-long show.

        In one scene she says of the US president: “He is not my boss and he is certainly not turning this into a war.”

        Decision condemned

        A later scene echoes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s decision to sink the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict in 1982.

        Wilton’s Prime Minister orders the destruction of a retreating alien spaceship, a decision condemned by the Doctor.

        “She does that very easy speech about not listening to the American president but at the end she’s out of her depth and she does the wrong thing,” said Mr Davies.

        The destruction of the “retreating” alien ship precipitated the Thatcher proxy’s downfall in a later episode.

           32 likes

        • Span Ows says:

          Bloody hell…well it puts this in context then:

          “Doctor Who star David Tennant ‘backs Gordon Brown'”

          Then goes on to say “I would rather have a prime minister who is the cleverest person in the room, than a prime minister who looks good in a suit.”

          Oh dear, taken in by Brown. Given that this was in 2010 it pretty much shows Tennant as a complete cretin.

             57 likes

          • David Preiser (USA) says:

            After the alien ship was destroyed on her order, Tennant’s flaring nostrils ranted at her about being a very dangerous woman. It couldn’t have been more obvious.

               34 likes

          • Louis Robinson says:

            Span Owls, to rephrase: I would rather have a commentator who is the cleverest person in the room than a commentator who speaks other people’s lines.

            Seriously though, actors need to work. In order to get work they have to be part of a gang. That gang has its own rules.

            David Tennant is a member of that gang. He best known as “Dr Who”, a fictional creation by someone much cleverer than him. Much the same as, say, Johnny Weismuller was best known as Tarzan.

            David Tennant is simply ticking the boxes of political theatrical correctness in order to stay in work, remain one of the gang and earn the respect of Vanessa Redgrave. It’s called self-deception.

            So chill out, folks. These are actors! They are not important. As one award winning drama BBC producer told me one day in the privacy of her office: “Actors? Don’t worry about them. They’re just lumps of meat.”

            Some of my best friends are actors – but they don’t take themselves so seriously.

               28 likes

            • Pounce says:

              I stopped watching Doctor Who in the 70s . The bBC hasn’t had a clue about Sci-fi since Blake 7.

              Which kind of explain why we have just enjoyed watching the first series of ‘Game of thrones’ over the festive period on BR.

                 14 likes

            • David Preiser (USA) says:

              Unfortunately, actors and celebs have far more public influence than they deserve. Just like high-profile Beeboids use their public status to earn astronomical speaking engagement fees and publish books, celebs use their public status to push political agendas. Sadly, it can be very effective, and they know it. They even use their Hollywood power to get propaganda films made on pet issues (like Matt Damon’s recent anti-fracking film). A twisted take on the meme “With great power comes great responsibility”.

              It’s a serious concern.

                 28 likes

              • Louis Robinson says:

                I do agree, David. But the question remains: how do we combat the cult of celebrity? My method of brushing it aside with disdain may not be the way, but neither is giving these nonentities credibility by actually listening to them. I wish I knew the correct approach.

                   12 likes

                • David Preiser (USA) says:

                  I suppose a combination of boycotts – hit them in the wallet, where it hurts – of their work, combined with some good old-fashioned Alinsky tactics might help. But that requires a lot of group efforts.

                  If any of them suffered professionally for this kind of thing the way they make people who express non-Left opinions suffer, it might help.

                     15 likes

              • Guest Who says:

                True. But the response to the smug, inevitable to-camera emoting after the latest gun tragedy (and I don’t mean ‘The One’ having a bad taste moment capturing the worst one of his life, for subsequent release) in the form of that YouTube mocking Foxx & Co saying ‘enough’ intercutting with them blowing away anyone they can point an AK at has rather highlighted the airhead nature of most with a screen in font of them scrolling what to say from the puppet masters in the edit suite.

                   8 likes

              • The General says:

                Saw an interview with Billy Connolly last night. As typical of these multi millionaire hypocrites he was taking with disdain about “middle class who probably wore dressing gowns when they were children” and then in the next breath, about himself sipping champagne while lunching at the Savoy and boasting about his houses in London, Los Angeles and Malta.
                Those “middle class” he so despises probably have to maintain their hated “middle class” existence on a weekly income that is almost certainly less than the cost of his Savoy lunch. The majority of these leftie hypocrites lived a working class life for the first 18 – 20 years of their lives and for the next 50 years a life of luxury and excess. If they were genuine about their working class origins and ethos, why do they need the trappings and life style of extreme wealth ?

                   37 likes

                • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

                  Ah yes, that all feeling, sympathetic guy who was able to crack jokes about Ken Bigley in his repartee? What a total cnut, i wonder if they have forgoven him in liverpool?

                     5 likes

          • Reed says:

            He just another standard leftie luvvie, with all the attendant self-righteousness…

            He then went on to urge fellow actors to vote likewise.

            “It’s weird that you can work in the arts – which tends to be about empathy and understanding and, hopefully, feeling some kind of sympathy for your fellow man – and vote Tory.

            “I find that inconceivable,” Tennant added.

            Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/01/10/david-tennant-is-terrified-of-tory-leader-david-cameron-91466-25562956/#ixzz2H4TSAIk6

            Inconceivable, that someone might think for themselves and vote accordingly. Smug prat.

               34 likes

          • Mavis Ramsbottom says:

            i’m sure David Tennant will re-distribute his wealth to benefit the poor

               7 likes

    • If you lived here... says:

      … then you’d have seen Charlie Brooker do just that on BBC Two in his review of the Year.

         6 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        You’re half right about that, sort of. Brooker made no mention of how it doesn’t jibe with the Nobel Peace Prize, which is what I’m talking about. But you should be very proud of that rather large split hair in any event. Don’t let the details bother you. That along with ending of the animated opening sequence of Have I Got News For You makes two jokes about Him done on the BBC in four years. In stark contrast to the constant gags about George Bush, which we still hear every now and then.

           24 likes

    • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

      Has the winner of the (premature) Nobel Peace Prize ordered more murders than Osama bin Laden? The figures must be close by now.

         9 likes

      • wallygreeninker says:

        This illegal killing bit has always struck me as a bit of a canard. It’s been considered legitimate to assassinate members of the opposing command structure in war, at least since the days of Heydrich and Yamamoto – the Brits even had a crack at Rommel. There may be constitutional complications if it involves killing a US citizen, but if he is also an enemy combatant it can hardly be considered an outrageous breach of the law.

           5 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      No, but one is sure a forthcoming drama in the works involving a barking plasticised tinpot 3rd world hellhole Lady President concocting a distracting Armageddon to boost a variety of ideological or ratings-addicted Elliot Carvers ambitions to advise the correct fuse settings to kill UK service personnel better.
      Or, maybe, a variation on that.

         7 likes

  3. Pounce says:

    The bBC, Its leftwing mindset that doing anything about immigration,can only be classed as racism and half the story.
    Capita tells departed migrants to leave UK
    Foreign workers have been told to leave the country by a firm working for the Home Office, even though they went back to India four years ago. Thirty-one migrants who have previously left the UK were incorrectly told to leave by Capita this week.

    The bBC makes a huge song and dance about how the company brought into help clear the backlog of immigrants who no longer have a remit to remain in the UK are contacting people who have left (Nothing there about how the UK alone out of nearly all the worlds countries does not keep records on who comes and goes across our borders) Oh how they revel in the way of the leftwing so called political elite (Who look down at anybody who hasn’t read Marx , had a cock up their arse and has a tramp stamp done to say so) about how Capita are getting things wrong I quote from the bBC article:

    Earlier this week, BBC News revealed that people with valid visas were being contacted in error and told to leave the UK.Among those contacted by text and email were a woman with a UK passport, and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK business. Migrants are contacted by text message, telephone or email. The standard text message reads: “Message from the UK Border Agency. You are required to leave the UK as you no longer have the right to remain.” It then advises people to contact the agency.
    The message being presented by the bBC, is how can we be employing people who don’t know what the Bobby Moore is.

    And here is what the bbC doesn’t want you to know in its half a story article:

       18 likes

    • Pounce says:

      Immigrants wrongly told to leave UK due to inaccurate data
      Some migrants have been accidentally contacted by Capita and told to leave the UK as a result of inaccurate data used in a government push to remove thousands of illegal immigrants. But the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has reassured legitimate migrants that if they mistakenly receive the message, which comes via email, text or phone call, they need only contact the UKBA.According to a National Audit Office (NAO) report in 2011, there were as many as 181,000 illegal immigrants in the UK because their work visas had expired and the current immigration system lacks a process to ensure they leave UK shores. The UKBA contracted Capita in September 2012 to help it track down illegal immigrants. According to reports, Capita is now contacting people when data shows they should no longer be in the UK. But inaccurate data means some people are being told to leave despite having the right to stay…
      And here’s something which rubbishes the bBC so called ‘trouble at mill’ article, but which if they had included clears everything up
      Capita said in a statement: “The UK Border Agency has contracted the support of Capita to contact individuals (using letters, email, SMS and outbound telephone contact) whose records show that they have no valid right to be in the UK. In a small number of cases this might include individuals who are now here legally.
      “Capita has been instructed to contact individuals direct, regardless of their legal representation, as many of the details the UK Border Agency has on file may be inaccurate and out of date given the age of the cases.”

      The bBC, the so called impartial news agency telling half a story in which to score cheap political points.

         20 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Weird how Capita is taking primary blame. Or is the BBC subtly hinting that Capita is a flawed organization, explaining why they also hassle people who don’t have a TV? Shifting blame from the government office for giving them erroneous data is no different from shifting blame away from the BBC for sending them after people who don’t watch TV.

           19 likes

  4. Pounce says:

    Questions the bBC isn’t asking
    Nato deploying Patriot missiles to Turkey-Syria border
    Nato has begun to deploy Patriot missiles to Turkey to help Turkish troops repel attacks by missiles or aircraft from neighbouring Syria. The US European Command said its troops and equipment had started arriving in southern Turkey, and more would arrive in the coming days. Germany and the Netherlands are preparing to ship their Patriot batteries early next week.The six battery units are scheduled to be operational by the end of January. Nato approved the deployment of the surface-to-air missiles early last month, after a request from Turkey, amid “grave concerns” that Syria could use chemical weapons.

    So the blood thirsty Turks who have no problem washing the blood of its own off their hands (Be they Nuns,writers Kurds or even soldiers) are demanding that NATO defend them from the 3rd rate army to the south who have lobbed a couple of mortar shells across the border by accident and to do so they request 6 Patriot Batteries and the bBC is OK with this. You know that bBC which shits a right brick when the little Jewish Nation to the south responds not to a couple of Mortar shells, nor tens of Mortar shells. Instead the Jews have to deal with thousands of military grade Rockets, but according to the so called defence (And Middle Eastern) experts at the bBC, Israel has no right to defend itself from the thousands of rockets which rain down on it.

    So the question the bBC is asking is why is NATO sending 6 Patriot batteries to Turkey when it would be better off sending the surplus C-RAM the Americans have left over from Iraq. I mean all the Syrians have sent over is Mortar shells why would they want to send chemical warheads on missiles over? Unless of course NATO is going to start a bombing campaign. The thing is the bBC has no problem asking questions about military intentions (Bomb Alley,Goose Green 1982, Iraq before 2003 and the Taliban to this day) yet for some strange reason they are remaining stum.

    The bBC, which emplys the most inept defence experts going (Just look at Frank Gardner, what a dick)

       21 likes

    • Pounce says:

      And here’s something else the bBC isn’t mentioning:
      59% of Germans oppose deploying German Patriot missiles in Turkey
      Fifty-nine percent of Germans oppose deploying German Patriot missiles in Turkey, according to a public-opinion poll published last week by Infratest Dimap. . . .

      The bBC has no problem telling me when the world is against: Iraq, Afganstan, Mohammed Cartoons, Teddy Bears or even when Israel swats a few terrorists. But for some strange reason it remains silent.

         16 likes

    • Dave s says:

      I am glad you highlighted this. It makes no sense. Syria cannot threaten Turkey so what is the reason?
      Something to do with the Russians maybe?
      Perhaps the Russians rightly annoyed about Libya have decided to put the boot into Nato’s desire for Syrian regime change

         11 likes

      • Pounce says:

        Dave S writes:
        “Something to do with the Russians maybe?

        Funny you should mention that as duty rumour has it the Russians are manning the anti-aircraft batteries that Russia has handed over this past year this past year. The thing is, not only does Moscow require Assad to remain in power, but they really need to send the message to its arms customers (And its future customers) that its weapons work. After the debarkle of Iraq 1991,Chechnya 1995, Afghanistan 2001, Iraq 2003 the Russians have lost arms sales to everybody else. Oh they have tried like renaming the T72 as the T90, but the fact remains it is still a T72 and it burns better than a slice of toast in a cheap Asda toaster when hit.) The Russians really do require some good press.

           10 likes

  5. It’s been around for a few days now but haven’t seen it commented on on this site:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20878006

    Another example of the headline not quite being the story and even then a story full peddling a narrative it knows not to be true

    You can’t lift a ban that didn’t exist. There was no ban. There were restrictions of “dual use” materials i.e. where they could be used for miliatry purposes against the state of Israel. The restrictions in place were meant that items that where could be proven to be desginated for PA approved construction projects then they would be allowed in.

    But the BBC keeps mentioning these points. Restrictions are not a ban so why keep using this word in this story?

    Probably because it allows them to push the “punishment” of Gazans and create the notion of Israel not doing enough to enable the rebuilding of the Gaza strip. Which brings us back nicely to poor impoverished Gaza

    Of course there’s something about this notion of Gaza as an undeveloped, impoverished shanty town narrative on the BBC.

    Oh – it doesn’t stack up and they know it:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19913897

    This is that building boom that’s going on in Gaza which as the report above points out is contributing to a few well connected people clearing $2m a month. Not bad and although it’s not mentioned in the report, Hamas isn’t doing badly out of it either as they control most of the tunnels and tax the throughput of those tunnels.

    Ahh the stench of corruption. In fact as the report also says – the blockade suits certain people because it keeps them in a nice little business.

    Once again we see that Gaza or Palestine is like a weeping sore that suits people to keep picking at the scab to stop it from ever healing.

       20 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      The BBC has to report it this way because not only do they have a perpetual black & white, David vs. Goliath view of the situation, but they’re deathly afraid of being accused of pro-Zionist bias. They get complaints from both sides, you know. Their timidity leads to biased reporting.

         12 likes

  6. Edited Highlights says:

    ‘Labour plans pension tax raid’

    ‘Help Long-term jobless – Labour’

    Same news story, but 2 different headlines. Guess which one was on the BBC? It’s like listening to the PR & communications wing of the Labour Party.

       42 likes

  7. Alex Feltham says:

    The BBC has been salivating over the gun control opportunities for Obama in the wake of Sandy Hook.

    Strangely enough they haven’t used the photo the White House released showing the One’s reaction to the news of the tragedy.

    Maybe it was even too creepy for convinced Obamatons.

    See:”Obama Worsgips Obama” for more on this sick spectacle at:

    http://john-moloney.blogspot.com/

       22 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Nothing staged, really. There’s always a Boswell on hand to capture every moment of His time among us. Actually, it’s the same for all Presidents. The BBC played other footage displaying His compassion, though, so no need to push this one photo. Perhaps some Beeboids tweeted it?

      The “worst day” line was vomit-worthy. More people died from Hurricane Sandy than at Sandy Hook, businesses were destroyed, homes lost, lives changed forever, tens of billions of dollars in damage. Four Americans were deliberately allowed to die in Libya on His watch, but He saw that as merely “sub-optimal”.

         23 likes

  8. George R says:

    INBBC fails to reveal it has a technical agreement with Islamic Al Jazeera TV, owned by Qatar, in this biased, pro-Qatar report which makes no reference to Al Jazeera’s Islamic agenda.

    INBBC:-

    “Al Jazeera targets US expansion after buying Current TV”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20896484

    ‘Jihadwatch’:-

    “Robert Spencer: Unholy Alliance Comes Out of the Shadows and Into Your Living Room”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/robert-spencer-unholy-alliance-comes-out-of-the-shadows-and-into-your-living-room.html

    Of course, INBBC, via its Islamic staff, often commissions Al Jazeera Islamic staff to put out Islamic propaganda for Islam (by the likes of Rageh Omaar) on INBBC TV channels, paid for by British INBBC licencepayers.

    An apology is due from INBBC to the following effect:

    ‘INBBC has to make clear that it has a technical relationship with the Qatar TV Islamic propaganda TV station, al Jazeera.’

       8 likes

    • George R says:

      “BBC in news deal with Arabic TV” (i.e. with ‘Al Jazeera TV’)
      -an INBBC report of ten years ago-

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2668007.stm

         2 likes

      • Pounce says:

        Sorry George but you are wrong, please allow me to correct you:
        “BBC in deal with Islam”

        Pounce the ex Muslim with a glass of Havana Club and coke (Actually my second) Similar to Morgan spice.

           14 likes

        • Noggin says:

          in “deal” with islam 😀
          like that, (crosses fingers) they are
          mind you al jazeera s taken over al gore s “current tv” too
          (just take out the – rre – and get an honest opinion on gore and his channel)

             6 likes

  9. royoftherovers says:

    how can the bbc ask for us to fund it when it is so biased in its views ,its about time this or any government gave us a choice.
    write to your MP and ask do you think it is right that we have to be made to pay the tv licence fee by law.If they are not accountable to the paying public,then they lose that right.
    If your MP doesn’t reply or give the right answer then post on this site so we can all see……

       21 likes

  10. Alex says:

    Tonight I set a personal, and perhaps a world record, for the least time for tuning into the BBC. I turned it on, saw Harriet Harmen’s irritating face and immediately turned off. Was probably one thousandth of a nano-second in duration. Pretty pleased with myself.

       43 likes

    • jimbola says:

      Sounds reminiscent of the Hazel Blears effect. [shudder]

         25 likes

      • Alex says:

        God, I forgot about that insufferable woman. Being a socialist is infuriating enough… Being both a woman and a lefty is truly revolting, especially when one has a permanent superficial grin on one’s boat race!

           26 likes

        • Frank Words says:

          Ah Hazel Blears. The toxic chipmunk.

          But let us not forget Caroline Flint, Angela Eagle, Margaret Tax Planner Hodge, Mrs Balls…..

             25 likes

        • Doyle says:

          I voted for Blears way back in 1992 when she stood in Bury South. Arrrrrrrrghhhh. In mitigation I was 18.

             5 likes

      • Cosmo says:

        To be fair to Blears she did ban several hate preachers from entering the country. But labour must learn that tokenism just does not work. You cannot demand respect. Harperson is truly dodgy her only raison detre is gender war.

           8 likes

  11. Chilli says:

    Can anyone explain why the BBC is leading with Labour’s press release about ‘training’ the long term unemployed by raising taxes on the evil rich? I don’t recall any Tory press releases being elevated to top news item during 13 years of Labour rule. Is this seriously the most important news item in the World today? Last I heard there was 50,000 dead in Syria but the BBC rarely mention it. Strange when they had daily reports from Gaza (only once the israeli’s started firing back) with <120 dead. I'm starting to see a pattern here about what qualifiies as BBC news.

       39 likes

    • chrisH says:

      And today, Chilli, the BBC led on Labours call to legislate against obesity….no, don`t ask me…but it was described as a novel solution or such like.
      As if Labour did(or do) nothing else , other than call for legislation or inquiries…keeps their wives in work, and stops them all from thinking of anything other than to finish the f***ing they gave to this country from 1997-2010.
      And THIS heads the 8am and 9am bulletins?…as if the BBC were anything other than Pravda for the Poltroons of Browns chamber pot.

         11 likes

  12. chrisH says:

    Pride myself these days on not listening to the bloody BBC,…although I did get a bit of the World at One…which will entali a baptismal font this Sunday.
    As if that will spare me the BBCs casual prejudices eh?
    Witness “Last Word” this afternoon on Radio 4
    (Fri 4/1/13@4pm).
    Apparently twenty mins are due to ex-BBC employees, whereas Schwartzkopf is only due a brief mention, seeing as his 1991 jaunt through the dunes of Iraq wasn`t too much to fuss about.
    Still-don`t recall the likes of Hanrahan, Simpson or whoever braving the landmines and Saddams Republican Guard at the time…hence the troops being sent in first.
    Still-that BBC rewriting of history continues…Saddam a pussycat, and the belliocose Bush playing tin soldiers in the sand…as opposed to those heroes Clinton and Blair, who were clearly REALLY brave eh?
    Who needs Pravda eh?

       18 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Not Blair. He was considered equally evil once he turned into Bush’s Poodle. If only he hadn’t been part of anything Bush did, he’d have reached the highest levels of the luvvie pantheon by now.

         18 likes

      • chrisH says:

        I don`t know David.
        An awful lot of luvvie interest over here, re his “prospects” of getting another feather bedded beano of impotence like his “E.U Peace Envoy, or what have you”.
        Blair is a “pin the tail on the donkey charlatan”…and as New Labor as they come-the BBC still love him, despite those visits to Crawford.

           16 likes

  13. chrisH says:

    Those culture wars continue-even at 1am in the morning on BBC4!
    So it is that I find myself watching a history of Top Of The Pops from 1978-and useful nonentities like Vi Albertine(The Slits-oh, those hit records!), and Jimmy Pursey( If the Kids are united…intro to a Nu Labor Conference…Q.E.D).
    What got me interested was the paean to Siouxie Sioux…her “empowerment for women” and the like…and there was me thinking that her “strong role model” for women hinged pretty much in her strutting behind the Sex Pistols when Bill Grundy interviewed them…and dressed in a Nazi uniform…and singing about chicken chow mein and the Chinese selling their daughters, of course!
    Nah-the BBC have the one version of punk…where Siouxie and Pursey are the “rebels” of punk, as opposed to the jokes that the rest of us knew them to be.
    Not the Oxbridge weekend rebels that now get to rewrite a version of history that`ll get to Jenni Murray or Ed Miliband for Monday.
    Pravda…means truth in Russian I believe?
    Ed Balls and Siouxie in their Nazi regalia…tomorrow belongs to them does it?

       22 likes

  14. AsISeeIt says:

    One tries to avoid it….but TV, Radio, BBC on-line…..

    Officially I suppose headlines are all supposed to be about empathy with the anger levelled against cut backs – but Beeb editors have at last had their fancy properly tickled by a surprise favourite story for the New Year.

    Gat Bishops, wheeeey!

    Cof E/BBC….

    Lads, please, for once, pop it back inside your cassocks/linen trousers.

       3 likes

    • The General says:

      Headlines play down reality and correct terminology. Instead of :-
      ” Gay clergy allowed to become Bishops but must agree to be celibate.”

      Why don’t they say :-
      ” Homosexual clergy allowed to become Bishops provided they do not sodomise their partners.”

         12 likes

      • Mark says:

        This could gives a whole new meaning to the lewd expression “Bashing the Bishop” !

           6 likes

  15. pah says:

    Prior to a lazy Saturday AM watching Helen Chamberlain on Sky I flicked over to BBC1 to avoid the World Wildlife Fund making fools of themselves in spandex.

    Lo and behold the BBC were doing Rugby results, wrong shaped ball but hey, worth a listen. Apparently ‘the Irish province’ Ulster had whupped the Scarlets.

    Funny that. I always thought Ulster was a British province and Ulster Rugby was a British rugby club, being based in belfast with a symbol of a Red hand on their badge and all that. Is this no longer true or just in BBC-land?

       15 likes

    • chrisH says:

      An interesting one, this isn`t it?
      Today were hamstrung in reporting the news that Cameron secured the G8 meeting for Fermanagh next year.
      Imagine if Blair had ever done this?
      Ah but, yeah but no but..
      Turns out that security might prove to be a problem-and isn`t it a bit…well, small and Oirish…to host all those important people and their entourages…so said the BBC this morning.
      Maybe if we tell them that it used to be IRA territory, and has an inbuilt catholic majority; then the BBC will revert to “charming bodhrain players in those fetching balaclavas” caricature of this county in-wait for it-Ulster!

         11 likes

      • chrisH says:

        As was the mournful agonising of some poppet this morning on Today, as she had to admit that Hugo Chavez isn`t in the pink at the minute!
        Oh God-surely the Venezuelans will settle for Cahavez on a life-support, and therefore NOT threaten the revolution that Castro may no longer want. None of that democratic fraud stuff that got Chavez voted in.
        Did Hugo not learn ANYTHING from Livingston as he brought Al-Magrabhis medical notes with him to Caracas in a carpet bag?
        So much for Castros NHS eh?…oh, Lord…Che posters at half-mast soon, Please God!

           12 likes

        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          The BBC is going to have some “Weekend at Bernie’s” moments if they’re not careful.

             6 likes

          • Mark says:

            They’ll be making the usual excuses for the tyrannical behaviour of a Leftist on the lines of ” … look how he reduced poverty …. free health …. free education …. “.

            But never mind the cosying up to the obnoxious Islamic Republic of Iran, as long as it spites the West.

            Venezuela is NOT Sweden !

               4 likes

            • David Preiser (USA) says:

              Floppy-hair Dudamel and “El Systema” will be championed by the Beeboids for years to come. Chavez’s support for FARC and other unpleasantness won’t get so much scrutiny.

                 3 likes

    • Albaman says:

      “I always thought Ulster was a British province………………….” Ulster could be considered to be a province of the United Kingdom but not of Britain – hence the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
      Ulster has always been one of the 4 provinces of Ireland although over time it has reduced from the original nine counties to the current six.
      http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/613323/Ulster
      Professional rugby in Ireland is split into 4 provinces, one of those being Ulster, whose territory is that of the original nine counties.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Rugby
      The Irish rugby team draws on Ulster players for their squad. (http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/10906.php)

         6 likes

      • pah says:

        But shirley? All Ireland is British as it is part of the British Isles – a geographic entity rather than a political one.

        The rugby team, Ulster Rugby seems to play in a league which includes Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Italian teams. But no English teams. Not knowing much about rugby I don’t know why. Is it like the Champions League?

        Then there’s the Ulster Ravens – just to confuse the issue.

        Either way, given all the kerfuffle in NI about whether Ulster is British or Irish, you’d think the BBC would be more circumspect with the term ‘Irish province’; especially when the team in question is based in Belfast.

        I suppose it depends on which side of the divide you are on?

           5 likes

  16. chrisH says:

    Who rattled Evans “Prince Albert this morning( more likely last night!) then?
    I half-heard some thoughful piece between Naughtie and some Yorkshire vicar about his wish that Christmas would last longer than twelve days…and so getting more in line with Eastern Christian timing etc.
    Agree or disagree-or don`t care?…fair enough, but Naughtie was courteous and the points were made…no complaints thus far.
    Why then does Davis pipe up petulantly once the interview is done ,that he himself slings out the tree on the 2nd Jan or what have you.
    1. Was he not listening to the vicar?…the height of rudeness to wilfully make his gay, atheist, metropolitan point before Naughties guest(not Evans!) had even left the room?
    2. Did he learn nothing?…daft question, but his wish to indulge his gay, metropolitan and atheist chums clearly trumped his urges to possibly learn something of why the Greeks do it one way-and we in the West another.
    3. Why continual “editorialising” , when it`s supposed to be a news programme?…why the perpetual “current affairs analysis” when it was once News…before the journalism of attachment era of Birt( Robin Aitkens book is an education!)

    Davis has done this before-Lord Young and “drug laws”…and his previous ignorance of HMRC being able to “sue” those who “forget” to give up their tax credits; just showed him climbing over the poor to raise his pole and rainbow flag upon their weary carcasses( oo er, of course!).
    The devil is in the detail-and these little Davis vignettes show him to be a vainglorious posturing phoney as a “presenter” of anything other than economics-and given Flanders standards, he can only be better( to singalong with Labour in 1997 eh?)
    Crap radio-about time one little Prince at the BBC was cut down to size eh?…did Hamza leave his letter opener I wonder?

       10 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      What does homosexuality have to do with his throwing the Christmas tree out on Jan 2? And I don’t think Davis’ atheist friends will be too impressed with him having a tree at all, never mind when he takes it down.

         8 likes

      • chrisH says:

        Of course it doesn`t David!
        It is just that the mans rudeness to Naughties guest tells me that he`s up too late, crotchety and ill-prepared for his job.
        That metrosexual lifestyle of his seems to be a problem-a bit wired on Saturday mornings maybe….I could just as easily have cited Sarah Montague being all breatless at the start of a recent Today programme lately at 6a.m…as if her nanny had let her down or something.
        It`s a louche dress-down culture that is metropolitan and contemptuous of the civilians like that Yorkshire vicar or a genteel old Tory like Lord Young..that is all I meant…OK sir?

           7 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      …and so getting more in line with Eastern Christian timing etc

      Not only Eastern: in Spain for instance tomorrow (Jan 6th) is Dia de los Reyes; the 12th day of Christmas when in the UK we traditionally take down all our decorations etc, was the day the 3 kings were meant to have shown up. On this day (in Spain) the main ‘big’ present is given to the children, rather than on 25th Dec.

         4 likes

  17. chrisH says:

    P.S
    Let no one think that I give Humphries an excuse to visit Greece to see how the Orthodox Church over there choose to celebrate Christmas until his house boy is able to tend the olives…he`d be booking his flights if he read this one!
    Luckily the old fool needs this in big black marker I`d expect…

       10 likes

  18. George R says:

    For Beeboids: Al Gore and Al Jazeera –

    By Bill O’Reilly, ‘Fox News’
    (two video clips):-

    1.)

    http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html

    2.)

    http://mediamatters.org/video/2013/01/04/oreilly-on-sale-of-current-tv-hosts-are-going-t/192048

       7 likes

  19. George R says:

    Beeboids oppose changes to child benefit system because of ‘administrative complexity,’ not because new system is fairer in being less generous to better-off parents.

       10 likes

  20. AsISeeIt says:

    Speaking of quaint vignettes that illustrate just where the modern BBC now stands….

    The first Saturday of the New Year, 2-2.30pm and terrestial TV put up their sports offerings.

    ITV: FA Cup battle between Brighton and Newcastle United.

    Channel 4: Jump Racing from Sandown Park

    BBC1: ……..?

    I flick channels and just catch some silly tart named Finola jogging across a wind swept and otherwise deserted field then slip on her arse in the mud – as commentator Brendon Foster that very moment assured me she was ‘running smoothly’. What on earth is going on?

    Of course this is the Great Edinburgh Cross Country.

    BBC, you remember those 2012 Olympics that went off quite well – now do us all a favour and let it go.

       14 likes

    • Albaman says:

      I am sure the Queen will respect your view that Holyrood Park, her Edinburgh “back garden”, is nothing more than a “wind swept and otherwise deserted field”.

      The “silly tart” is Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton a gold medallist at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships and the 2012 winner of the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country.

         4 likes

      • Mat says:

        oh now albemunt is all upset and stroppy as it seems he is trying to link a funny and personal outlook of dreary school sports day event as abuse on the nation of Scotland the monarchy and UK and Irish sport !

           9 likes

        • AsISeeIt says:

          Thank you Mat for some wit and perception. Meanwhile Albaman as you well know my point is that whilst ITV and Channel 4 bring us popular sports (popular with many including no doubt females, Scots, Irish, Royalty, homosexuals, recent immigrants, the disabled……) all BBC can come up with is some who-cares-what post-Olympic athletics afterglow with a potential viewership probably lower than that for hardcore Wagner opera on ice. Now that’s probably upset everyone everywhere.

             12 likes

  21. pounce says:

    Last night I mentioned how the bBC has a love affair with all things Pakistan here is what is currently being advertised on the bBC News Website:

    If u missed it, brilliant radio drama/doc on #salmantaseer & blasphemy #Pakistan by @owenbennettjone ow.ly/gxFCz @bbcworldservice— lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) January 4, 2013

    Never mind the love in for all things Pakistani , but when has text contractions become acceptable on the so called show case of British journalism

       2 likes

  22. pounce says:

    Ok. I have just posted an article and apparently I have been told I am under moderation.

    Somebody want to explain this?

       0 likes

  23. pounce says:

    Here’s a screen dump of my waiting to be moderated post.
    (If as I suspect there is a filter in place, any chance of knowing where the boundary’s are?)
    bbcbias.jpg

       2 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Somebody flagged it. There are vigilant guardians of righteousness hanging around the place, in case unapproved thought might spread.

         5 likes

      • Scott M says:

        This being a WordPress-driven blog, there is no “flagging” of inappropriate content unless the site administrators add one.

        By default, though, WP will hold comments for moderation if the number of links included exceeds a (configurable) number. That screen grab includes 6 hyperlinks, so I suspect that could have triggered the pre-moderation.

           6 likes

        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          Somebody can email the editor about it. Although in this case I was not paying attention and thought pounce was complaining about being moderated by the BBC (a natural assumption based on experience, but no excuse for me not being awake).

             1 likes

        • Pounce says:

          Scott Wrote:
          “That screen grab includes 6 hyperlinks, so I suspect that could have triggered the pre-moderation.”

          Many thanks Scott, that explains everything as I should have picked up the link angle.

          Apologies to all for my infantile outburst. On that note I shall retire to my Imelda May album playing in the background.

             5 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      My apologies, pounce. I thought you were complaining about BBC moderation. I didn’t even notice it was here. The preferences are set to hold off comments with five or more links, since that’s often a sign of spam. It’s a default, nothing personal. I just set it to 6.

      Your comment has been set free now.

         2 likes

  24. Teddy Bear says:

    As soon as I read this story today:
    ‘Macho’ BBC is accused of snubbing women experts: Research shows a disproportionate amount of male guests on flagship news shows

    I thought of this one from 2 months ago
    Newsnight bunnygirl: BBC news show snubs male economist of 54 but picks fashion blogger, 25, for debate about tax

    Apparently according to studies the BBC are inviting far more male experts on their news programmes than women.

    In an ideal world I would want the most expert person in the field being discussed to appear, regardless of gender. But the fact that the Novem,ber story above shows that when the BBC wants the story to be twisted to reflect the reality that they want to be perceived, they invited a woman who was far less expert than the man they turned down.

    I’m willing to make bets now, that following this study below being made public, the BBC will invite women guests who can be easily swayed when they want to make sure their own left wing agenda is dominant, and men who will be more forceful when they are already supportive of their agenda.

    The BBC will claim meantime that this represents ‘balance’.

       11 likes

  25. Teddy Bear says:

    With the BBC continually trying to present itself as concerned for the environment, thereby justifying their promotion of wind farms, you may wonder why you won’t find the following information available on their website.

    Wind farms vs wildlife
    The shocking environmental cost of renewable energy

       16 likes

  26. hothandsdave says:

    `East Ham indoor barbecue-clothes-drying poisons six people`

    Guess what details they’ve omitted?

    Guess why the fire chief has never seen anything like it before?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20911373

       10 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      That whole ‘unprecedented’ thing will need an entire Editorial Guideline chapter to itself.

         5 likes

  27. Guest Who says:

    As a bastion of coherence only the most ardent of supporters could love, the BBC does seem to be shaping up on the comedy front well, from the top sideways…
    http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/meeting-of-acting-minds.html?

       3 likes

  28. AsISeeIt says:

    Channel 4 tonight plays the dumbed-down point man to the BBC with an amusing show called

    Is Our Weather Getting Worse?

    With an editorial style that would be the envy of Ed Wood (Plan 9 From Outer Space)

    ‘….this sleepy Yorkshire village did not know what was about to hit it!’

    Channel 4 promised us a science bit at the top of the show – no sign yet.

    In the meantime Mr Shopkeeper Sir – give us a run through of your insurance claim. And do be careful not to stint on the extent of the damage.

    Worst weather on record? Oh if only our Victorian great grandparents had possessed mobile phone cameras! They too might have had a thing or two to put on their 24 hour rolling news.

       10 likes

    • Deborah says:

      AsIseeit – Mr D and I watched it too – able to pick as many holes in their arguments as in my crotcheting (a hobby preferable to watching the BBC).
      The flooding in West Yorkshire – what was the size of Hebden Bridge 200 years ago – and were the roads tarmacked? Might man-made towns have an effect on the floods.

      Then there was the professor who blamed more frequent weather ‘events’ on warmer temperatures. If that was the case wouldn’t the UK have more ‘events’ in the summer when it is a lot more than the 1 degree Celsius the proff was blaming for the event. The programme also kept claiming that x number of times in the last 10 years had been the hottest ever (tell that to Wattsupwiththat) and kept referring to the recent UK heatwaves (sorry but I cannot remember a hot summer since 1998). The voiceover then referred to the forecasts for a very cold winter (I went for a walk this morning without a coat) . The final roundup cited the increase in the number of hurricanes due to the climate change – well not according to the US National Hurricane Centre.
      http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml

      I know that this site is biased BBC – but I am sure that others will let AsIseeit and me have our Channel 4 rants.

         9 likes

      • pounce says:

        As a child I undertook one of my D of E stints around that area and what the bBC doesn’t mention is that HB is the convergent point for 5 valleys. Have a look on google maps and see just how steep the hills are. In fact Wiki has this to say about HB:
        The steep wet hills and access to major wool markets meant that Hebden Bridge was ideal for water powered weaving mills and the town developed during the 19th and 20th centuries; at one time Hebden was so well known for its clothing manufacture that it was known as “Trouser Town”. Drainage of the marshland which covered much of the Upper Calder Valley prior to the Industrial Revolution enabled construction of the road which runs through the valley.
        And:
        Because Hebden Bridge is in a valley, it has always had problems with flooding. These tend to affect the area between Hebden Water and the cinema on New Road, Brearley Fields in Mytholmroyd, and further up the valley at Callis Bridge by the sewage works and the old Aquaspersions factory. Flooding at Callis Bridge is so frequent that the level of the River Calder has been lowered and special perforated kerbstones fitted so that water can drain back into the river. Brearley is a flood plain but it is also the playing fields for Calder High School and a number of local football, rugby league and cricket teams.

        Now I knew all about this during the 70s. So when I hear that the UK media is using HB as an example of GW/CC then I know that they are talking pants.

           18 likes

        • Reed says:

          …speaking of ‘talking pants’ – conclusive proof of global warming…more persuasive than Al Gore’s cinematic effort, anyway…

          global-warming-undies.jpg

             12 likes

      • Old Goat says:

        Rant away – there isn’t much to choose between Channel 4 and the BBC for misinformed naffness – they are almost the same product (perhaps they are!).

           5 likes

  29. pounce says:

    The bBC headline reports that there are riots in across the water in Belfast and that shock horror..a few cars have been burnt.

    6 days ago there were riots in across the water in Paris and thousands of cars were burnt and the bBC reported..nothing.

    Had to laugh when some bloke was brought on to complain about how 3 children had been arrested. Spent 3 years in the province from 88-91 and rioting children were the norm. In fact when any got killed the media had a field day complaining about how poor innocent ***** had been shot dead by the security forces. (Always forgot to mention that they were shot dead during the very early hours of the morning during a riot)
    But those poor innocent children looked to the tri-colour as their flag of honour. But to the bBC when the flag is the Union flag then those who support it can only be deemed as..trouble makers.

       20 likes

    • chrisH says:

      Funnily enough , I heard John Sargeants programme about 40 years of EU membership this evening.
      It rather whizzed over Ian Paisleys point of order about the Union Jack being flown outside the EU Parliament, hence making him seem to be a bit of a weird one…such nitpicking and all that.
      Then the same contempt for the Union Jack crops up on the 9p.m news that followed Sargeants programme…and the riots that followed last night.
      Not that the BBC could ever get “the narrative”…even when it`s as coincidentally blindingly obvious as these two stories.
      Wonder what would happen if the EU flag was shown upside down, inside out or what have you…would we notice?…what if Belfast City Hall refused to fly it for more than 12 days in a year or whatever?…
      I want Beethovens 9th back-surely he`s got an estate who`ll sue for copyright violation and presumption…

         9 likes

      • AsISeeIt says:

        Am I being a bit naive here? Might the solution be to pop the Union Flag back up where it used to be? Or do we fear the nationalist backlash to that could be more violent still? Just asking. Like the BBC don’t.

           14 likes

        • Chilli says:

          o/t but I caught them briefly discussing this on the Sky News papers review. Some lefty guy with thick glasses commented that he “didn’t care what flag they were flying outside his town hall: EU, Jamaican, gay love” ; he couldn’t care less. In a weak attempt at providing some balance the news reader suggested that perhaps ‘it mattered more to some people’. I would have asked the little prick how he’d feel if they flew they swastika. But I got the impression he’d be down there saluting it so long as they were enforcing socialism at gun point.

             15 likes

  30. Dave s says:

    I am becoming ever more irritated by the dropping of the last consonant by interviewers -not all -but enough and by those interviewed who should know better.
    It is endemic. Particularly the letter T.
    Why do they do it. To sound like morons?
    Is it a generational thing?
    I suppose so and further evidence of how poorly educated our young people are.
    It is getting to the stage when foreigners speak our fine language better than the natives.

       10 likes

    • Joshaw says:

      Oh dear, now you’ve got me started.

      Whatever happened to “there are” as in “there are three of them”? All I hear is “there’s”.

      People setting such a poor example make it very difficult to teach grammar in any language because students have no understanding of the basics.

         5 likes

      • Old Goat says:

        Overuse of “fantastic”, “guys”, “absolutely” (often at the start of a sentence, and in answer to a question), Constant repetition of “um” at every opportunity (Evan Davis), and the interjection of “I mean” frequently, again often at the start of a sentence. Misuse and needless qualification of the word “unique” (like ‘very unique’, ‘really unique’ or ‘quite unique’).

        Whatever happened to received pronunciation?

        Whatever happened to the BBC?

           7 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          ‘Whatever happened to the BBC?’
          Maybe it’s the way it’s funded, and hence managed?
          ‘Misuse and needless qualification of the word “unique” (like ‘very unique’, ‘really unique’ or ‘quite unique’).’
          There’s no accounting f… actually… there’s simply no accounting.

             4 likes

  31. George R says:

    ARGENTINA.

    Beeboids support Pres Kirchner, and, of course, opposes ‘The Sun’
    (via Beeboid political proxies) for supporting the Falkland Islanders.

    “Falklands row: Sun places advert in Argentina newspaper”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20907312

    ‘The Sun’:-

    “Burn us Aires.
    Argies set fire to British flag and Sun ad”

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4727471/british-flag-burnt-in-buenos-aires-after-the-suns-warning.html

       8 likes

    • George R says:

      “WE GIVE £27M AID TO ARGENTINA”

      -‘Express’, (March 2012).

      http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/305304/We-give-27m-aid-to-Argentina/

         8 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Not so much condemnation from the BBC when the Guardian tried to interfere with the 2004 US election in Ohio, and appeared to encourage Bush’s assassination. Imagine that.

         10 likes

      • Span Ows says:

        I’d forgotten that: what would happen if a right wing paper or blog were to write “John Wilkes-Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr, where are you now that we need you?” now, with reference to Obama would hey get the same treatment as Charlie dickwad Brooker and the Guardian got? And would BBC repeat it word for word?

           5 likes

        • David Preiser (USA) says:

          They BBC would repeat it word for word, yes. But the serious scorn would be heaped upon whoever wrote it, and it would be all over their broadcasting for days on end. Shrill, aggressive tones from Today presenters, and the usual Radio 5 suspects would be all on the same side of righteousness. Not that there would be a directive sent down from the top to take a certain stance, like the BBC does with other issues (while claiming they don’t), because it’s not necessary when they all think the same way anyhow.

          Favorite edgy comedians can get laughs for suggesting that a bomb gets sent to George Bush (HIGNFY), or that a sniper assassinates him (Mock the Week) but none of them would dare say that about the current President. Not only wouldn’t it be allowed, but it wouldn’t even occur to any of them. They all love Him. Even Brooker would support Him over any Republican, drones or not.

             4 likes

  32. pounce says:

    Well the news is on and the bBC (Like most news agencies) likes to gravitate towards the latest big story. So after the mass shootings in America, we have been regaled to numerous shootings in the US.
    After the disgusting mass rape in India, the media has rape in that neck of the woods which is why tonight the bBC looked North to Nepal where apparently a woman was robbed (And raped??) by a policeman is what bBC news 24 had to report.
    But funny enough there is anotherr ape story that the bBC hasn’t bothered its arse in reporting. Want to guess which country it happened in?
    9-year-old girl gang raped in Pakistan
    Lahore, Jan 4: A nine-year-old girl was in a critical condition in hospital after being raped by three men in Pakistan’s Punjab province, police said. The girl was taken to a hospital in Bahawalpur after being raped on Wednesday. Doctors treating her said she was in a critical condition because of loss of blood and internal injuries. A medico-legal report confirmed the rape. Police registered a case against seven people for kidnap and rape. Five of them were named by the girl’s mother, The Express Tribune reported.

    The bBC and its continued whitewashing of Pakistani crimes

       23 likes

    • noggin says:

      “Five of them were named by the girl’s mother” !
      wonderful example of community cohesion,
      probably have all gone to the same madrassa, same mosque ….. family friends?, goodness, knowing what a retarded incest pit, the Pak is ….. relations?

      is there a possibility that maybe she may be not muslim at all? ie … “reportedly told police that she hesitated to inform law enforcers because the kidnappers threatened to kill her and the girl if the woman spoke to authorities”
      hmmm … sound like anything familiar from bradford or rochdale eh … or egypt, or india, or indonesia or or or ….

      after the bbcs blanket coverage of the instance in india
      ………………… sound of crickets! …………….
      beneath contempt

         10 likes

      • noggin says:

        actually i keyed this in to see if BBC could have missed it, seeing as they trawl RT, Assoc Press, US networks etc, every few minutes …

        about 40,300,000 results in (0.26 seconds)
        no … its deliberate 😀

           11 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      link is no good…

         0 likes

      • deegee says:

        Sorry. Try this: http://tinyurl.com/b2jzw3u
        1. Stop misreporting on Gaza.
        2. Stop calling Mahmoud Abbas a “moderate”.
        3. Call terrorists “terrorists,” not “militants”.
        4. Report accurately on the security barrier.
        5. Report that it is the Palestinian Arabs – not Israel – who refuse to negotiate peace.
        6. Report on the constant incitement to hatred of Jews and Israel in Palestinian media, schools and the public square.
        7. Report on the Jewish refugees from Arab lands.
        8. Shed the false narrative that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the heart of all the problems in the Middle East.
        9. Report on the real suffering of women, homosexuals, religious and ethnic minorities in Arab and Muslim countries.

        January 4, 2013 by Sarit Catz

        13 for ’13: New Year’s Resolutions We’d Like the Media to Make

        Every January, people around the world take stock of themselves and resolve to improve in the new year, vowing to break bad habits and form good ones. In 2013, CAMERA would like news media to do the same and we suggest the following 13 for ’13…

        New Year’s Resolutions We’d Like the Media to Make:

        1. Stop misreporting on Gaza.
        Gaza is not occupied, not a “prison camp” and the people are allowed to fish. The Palestinians in Gaza rank above average in the Arab world by all indicators: health care, immunizations, education, nutrition, longevity, and low childhood mortality. Israel withdrew every last soldier, civilian and interred body from Gaza in 2005, the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza is legal and Israel does not control all of Gaza’s borders – Gaza has a border with Egypt which Egypt controls. Hamas rules the Gaza Strip and responsibility for any suffering on the part of its residents lies primarily with the terrorist organization.

        2. Stop calling Mahmoud Abbas a “moderate”.
        Since succeeding Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president and leader of Fatah, Abbas almost invariably has been described as a “moderate.” This, despite the fact that Abbas, Arafat and a few colleagues founded Fatah in 1959 to “liberate” Israel, not the West Bank (then occupied by Jordan) or the Gaza Strip (then held by Egypt); that Abbas continues to incite his people against Israel; that he refuses to even negotiate with Israel; and that Abbas published his doctoral thesis as a book, “The Other Side: The Secret Relationship between Nazism and the Zionist Movement,” which denied the severity of the Holocaust and claimed “a secret relationship between Nazism and the Zionist movement.” His PA TV and other media outlets continue to praise terrorist killers as “heroes” and describe Israeli cities as part of “Palestine.” What is moderate about this?

        3. Call terrorists “terrorists,” not “militants”.
        Terrorism, defined by the U.S. Law Code, Title 22, Chapter 38, Paragraph 2656 f(d) and used in the State Department’s annual reports to Congress is “… premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents….” The Department of Defense definition recognizes that terrorism is a crime: “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological.” “Militant,” on the other hand, is undefined by American law and its consensus usage journalistically – militant unionist, militant environmentalist, militant vegetarian – is as an adjective. It suggests vehemence and persistence but not illegal violence. Farmers farm, lawyers practice law, and terrorists commit terrorism – they don’t advocate causes.

        4. Report accurately on the security barrier.
        The security fence is a nonviolent way to reduce terrorism and it has been extremely effective in saving lives – both Jewish and non-Jewish. It was constructed in response to the second “intifada” and has significantly reduced terror attacks originating from the West Bank. It does not “completely surround Bethlehem”, it is not “a wall” nor an “iron curtain.” Furthermore, there are security and separation barriers all over the world that get no criticism – or coverage – whatsoever.

        5. Report that it is the Palestinian Arabs – not Israel – who refuse to negotiate peace.
        While Israel has repeatedly invited Palestinian leaders to return to the negotiating table for peace talks, they have insisted they won’t do so unless Israel first satisfies their preconditions. Even after Israel in 2009 announced a 10-month moratorium on new settlement construction, Mahmoud Abbas avoided talks until just weeks before the moratorium was set to expire. And when the moratorium did expire, he again spurned negotiations.

        6. Report on the constant incitement to hatred of Jews and Israel in Palestinian media, schools and the public square.
        Major media have failed over many years to report accurately, consistently and with due prominence the pervasive and genocidal rhetoric against Israel and the Jewish people. Blood libel, the false accusation that Jews murder children, is a favorite theme of Arab media, used as the story line for comedy sketches and dramatic programming. Palestinian Media Watch has documented numerous instances of Palestinian Authority dehumanization and vilification of Jews and Israelis. And does this incitement have any effect? According to Abdelghani Merah, his brother perpetrated the Toulouse massacre early last year because he was exposed to “hatred, racism and anti-semitism … from a very young age.”

        7. Report on the Jewish refugees from Arab lands.
        The media report frequently about Palestinian refugees, but of the 850,000 Jews living in Arab countries who were dispossessed and forced out between 1947 and 1972, almost nothing is said. Ancient Jewish communities had existed in Arab countries for millennia until the Arab League defined all Jews as enemies of the state in 1947. State-sanctioned violence, arbitrary arrests, and forced expulsions followed. Arab governments confiscated billions of dollars of Jewish property. The total area of land seized from these Jews is five times the size of the state of Israel. While CAMERA has detailed the story of Jewish refugees from Arab countries extensively (see here, here, here, and here), few major media outlets cover the issue.

        8. Shed the false narrative that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the heart of all the problems in the Middle East.
        The phrases “the Middle East conflict” and “the Middle East peace process,” as applied to Israeli-Palestinian affairs, always have been more exaggerations than synonyms. The Iran-Iraq war and Algerian civil war are examples of inter-Arab bloodshed that dwarfs the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Others include the Lebanese civil wars from 1975 to 1990, with hundreds of thousands of casualties and Syria’s annihilation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1982, with an estimated 10,000-40,000 fatalities. Today, a bloody civil war rages in Syria with over 60,000 dead and tens of thousands more wounded. Of course, the “Arab Spring” demonstrated clearly that turmoil in the Middle East frequently has nothing whatever to do with Israel.

        9. Report on the real suffering of women, homosexuals, religious and ethnic minorities in Arab and Muslim countries.
        Women’s rights are grossly constrained in Arab countries, where so-called “honor killings” are still common and largely unpunished. Gay Iranians, if caught, face execution. Gays in Saudi Arabia, if arrested, face, at best, flogging or imprisonment. In Gaza, homosexual acts are illegal and punishable by up to ten years in prison. Palestinian Christians, like other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East, are the target of mistreatment, harassment and in some instances, violent oppression at the hands of their Muslim neighbors.
        10. Report that both the Hamas charter and Fatah constitution call for the destruction of Israel.
        11. Stop suggesting that Israel’s democracy is under threat.
        12. Focus less on Israel.
        13. Follow the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.

           7 likes

      • deegee says:

        Sorry again. New Years resolution: I will read what I paste before hitting post.

        1. Stop misreporting on Gaza.
        2. Stop calling Mahmoud Abbas a “moderate”.
        3. Call terrorists “terrorists,” not “militants”.
        4. Report accurately on the security barrier.
        5. Report that it is the Palestinian Arabs – not Israel – who refuse to negotiate peace.
        6. Report on the constant incitement to hatred of Jews and Israel in Palestinian media, schools and the public square.
        7. Report on the Jewish refugees from Arab lands.
        8. Shed the false narrative that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the heart of all the problems in the Middle East.
        9. Report on the real suffering of women, homosexuals, religious and ethnic minorities in Arab and Muslim countries.
        10. Report that both the Hamas charter and Fatah constitution call for the destruction of Israel.
        11. Stop suggesting that Israel’s democracy is under threat.
        12. Focus less on Israel.
        13. Follow the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.

           12 likes

        • Span Ows says:

          No worries the full version was great! 😀

          Interesting stuff and very good info. It may be worth eminding those that don’t know that over 1 million were killed in the Iran Iraq war: mostly soldiers but over 100,000 civilians too. Use of gas and other ‘evil’ weapons also used.

          It was all through the 80s so the BBC probably missed it whilst bashing Maggie.

             6 likes

        • Span Ows says:

          P.S. Cheers degree I have copied and linked to 5mfi, hope you don’t mind.

             0 likes

  33. Pounce says:

    I see the bBC are having a huge song and a dance about cutting child benefit to those earning 50k+ a year. But are the very people who are complaining the same ones who are bitching about GW/CC and their resulting after effects.

    Well correct me if I am wrong but won’t one result of limiting CB be smaller families. personally I would go further and cap CB at 2 children from now on. I would also insist that all children only receive benefits on actual presentation of a child at the benefits office, where finger prints are taken. Children out of the country receive nothing .
    Half hearted mesures enacted so as not to offend people do no bloody good. We need to sort this country out , as for the bBC . Well could you see them excusing somebody on 50k a year for non payment of their TV Licence?

       20 likes

    • Mice Height says:

      But that might encourage responsibility, and we can’t be having any of that!

         7 likes

    • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

      They have been broadcasting a lot of programmes in the last couple of days telling rich people how they can disguise their income and keep on taking child benefit. I guess that fits in with the bBBC’s unusual approach to paying tax.

         10 likes

    • Sir Arthur Strebe-Grebling says:

      Have your sick-bag, or preferably a bucket, handy before watching http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20915213, where a greedy journalist with four kids and a family income of more than £100,000 is given a free ride to shout about why she feels entitled to our money.

         8 likes

  34. Reed says:

    This is not directly BBC related, but serves to demonstrate the extent to which the slavish, non-thinking, PC, Multi-culti agenda so aggressively promoted by the BBC has seeped deeply into all parts of the public sector. This is policing, post Macpherson – compliant ‘social outreach facilitators’ and trendy ‘community support officers’. No wonder they struggle to deal with riots – it’s all ‘hearts and minds’ BS, without any of that troublesome enforcement of law and order stuff…

    Video in link…

    http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/millionaire-boy-racers-of-london.html

       8 likes

    • Joshaw says:

      Who gave this dim, gutless plod the right to redefine what England should be like?

         10 likes

    • Dave s says:

      The more people read and see things like this the more certain it is that there will be one hell of a reckoning.
      It will take time but it will come.
      It is the law of reality and cannot be denied for ever.

         7 likes

  35. Ron Todd says:

    Cameron and Marr have just agreed that people on £50k a year are ‘far from rich’ ain’t life grand for our ruling classes

       12 likes

    • noggin says:

      beebioso s and front bench all singing from the same hymnsheet when it comes to that issue ….
      you see, as your patronised, talked down to, its like they always say –
      it doesn t matter, whether you re rich or whether you re poor?
      …. (pause) …….. its nice to be rich
      and don t forget, we re all in this together, so get volunteering

         4 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      So the government should carry on borrowing money to help fund these middle class lifestyles? Don’t these dimwits understand that the kids who are allegedly the ‘beneficaries’ of these handouts will be paying it back five-fold when they grow up? (If they ever do given the infantile entitlement mentality of their parents.)

      Some proper investigative journalism from the BBC might be handy on this one – to wit a forensic examination of exactly what these people on £50k plus are spending their money on and what they deem too important to ‘sacrifice’ (one of them was complaining on ‘PM’ last night about having to take a camping holiday in Wales).

      But then, if the BBC can prove that even the well-off can’t afford to lose this benefit, case automatically proven for the rest. Subtle as a bag of snot.

         12 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        ‘(one of them was complaining on ‘PM’ last night about having to take a camping holiday in Wales)’
        Blimey, don’t let Rhod Gilbert get wind of that one.
        I thought in Olympic year that was the only thing to do, albeit in a yurt with a sauna.
        Maybe they believed the Met office/BBC forecast a bit too much?

           7 likes

    • Dave s says:

      The entitilement culture is as deeply ingrained in many of the middle class as those they affect to despise.
      The shoppers at Waitrose and Iceland are not so very different.

         6 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        ‘The shoppers at Waitrose and Iceland are not so very different.’
        Smart Mums marry Guardian Editors.
        That way they get to ‘represent’ ladies who are public on Newsnight.

           8 likes

  36. Guest Who says:

    Just caught a segment of the Silly Nicky Big Questions Being Asked programme on BBC1, with the odd spectacle of a bunch of funded market rate talents arguing against capitalism.
    Have they all had irony surgery?

       10 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      ‘….Silly Nicky Big Questions….’

      So that pantomime ponce has resurfaced has he?

      He’s been on extended leave from Radio Salford (5 Live).

      He let slip on his Titter at the end of last year that he wasn’t on PAYE.

         8 likes

  37. Deborah says:

    Broadcasting House this morning discussing changes to the benefits. Had John Bird on (he of Big Issue fame) – who starts his opportunity to speak (it was hardly an interview more of a rant) by blaming Thatcher for the present benefits system. No mention of TB or GB who had 13 years to change it if the sainted lady had really caused such terrible problems. Except of course they did – poured money into the system so that nearly everybody receives benefits in some form (working tax benefit, pension credits etc) which has had a huge detrimental effect on this country – try employing someone for a few extra hours a week and be told that it isn’t worth it as they would lose their benefits, for example).

       18 likes

    • Reed says:

      He’s either changed his tune recently, or his contribution was heavily edited to give the desired effect. Can it really be the same person who said this…

      Bird revealed in 2010 “My guilty secret is that I’m really a working class Tory. There, I’ve said it. I’d love to be a liberal because they’re the nice people but it’s really hard work – I can’t swallow their gullibility and I think their ideas are stupid. I’d love to be someone who wanders around in a kind of Utopian paradise seeing only the good in everybody but I just can’t. I support capital punishment for a start. I know this will destroy my reputation among middle-class liberals but I’m 64 now and I should be able to breathe a bit. Wearing the corsetry of liberalism means that every now and then you have to take it off.”

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bird_%28entrepreneur%29

         4 likes

  38. Jeff Waters says:

    Barack Obama’s $7 million Hawaii vacation is an insult to America’s struggling middle class – http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100196479/barack-obamas-7-million-hawaii-vacation-is-an-insult-to-americas-struggling-middle-class/

    I wonder if Mark Mardell will be commenting on the president’s hypocrisy…

    Jeff

       11 likes

  39. George R says:

    For Beeboids to report, or not?:-

    ‘Daily Mirror’ –

    “Argie bargy: Voters call on David Cameron to stop British aid to Argentina.
    The UK has handed Argentina £225million as part of international loans in the past 20 years.”

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/voters-call-on-david-cameron-to-stop-1521379?

       7 likes

    • George R says:

      “Hands off the Falklands: No to Argentine imperialism.
      How amusing that a country whose population is more than 90 percent the descendants of European colonists should invoke anti-imperialism over the Falklands.”

      http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2355/hands_off_the_falklands_no_to_argentine_imperialism

         6 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Given historical precedent, in this case treating it all as ‘amusing’ and mocking as one might the contrarians here, might not be the best play.
        These guys seem macho to the point of barking; not a great combination.

           5 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        In fact there is already one poster there who seems to be a graduate of the same debate asylum afflicting any forum that actually allows counter argument, unlike CiF or HYS when things fall off the narrative rails.

           4 likes

  40. AsISeeIt says:

    I note a distinct shift in tack from the BBC on Northern Ireland this morning.

    Last year the protests were explained away as instigated by Unionist dinosaurs who should just get with the project.

    Now both TV and Radio this morning have talking heads popping up telling me that actually the protests are caused by unemployment.

    Was there an editorial meeting over the holiday? Have new instructions gone out to BBC news rooms?

       11 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      ‘talking heads popping up’
      Maybe the next time an RoP PR division pull a Daniel Pearl Christopher Stevens or it will be deemed just another ‘cuts’ issue?

         4 likes

  41. George R says:

    “MP blasts BBC over new comedy series Way To Go which makes assisted suicide ‘a matter of fun.'”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257994/MP-blasts-BBC-new-comedy-series-Way-To-Go-makes-assisted-suicide-matter-fun.html

    Episode 1?:-

    “BBC broadcaster John Simpson says he plans to commit suicide rather than allow young son to see him as a ‘gibbering wreck’ in old age.”
    “The veteran correspondent said ‘I don’t want my 6 year-old son to have his only memory of me as a gibbering wreck’.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/bbc-broadcaster-john-simpson-says-he-plans-to-commit-suicide-rather-than-allow-young-son-to-see-him-as-a-gibbering-wreck-in-old-age-7888678.html

       3 likes

  42. John Anderson says:

    Liz Barclay’s grating whingeing voice is bad enough on You and Yours. But last week she presented “Pick of the Week”, with a lot of mostly boring choices of item. Including a totally unfunny rant against Rupert Murdoch.

    She followed this with an item she introduced with the unbelievably biased sentence “One of the places in the UK that vowed to have nothing further to do with the Tories is the former steel-making town of Corby, after falling foul of Mrs Thatcher’s attempt to disembowel the unions”. Odd that – I thought they elected a Tory MP, Louise Mench ? I had to replay the clip to check Barclay had really been so acidly anti-Thatcher.

    Later on she talked of the “current economic meltdown”.

    Bias – what bias ?

    Incidentally, I see she is billed as a freelance presenter. Tax-dodger, eh ? With a lot of extra-mural income milked from her prominence as a BBC presenter.

       19 likes

  43. Teddy Bear says:

    It will be interesting to monitor and compare how the BBC covers the current controversy regarding Argentinian claim to the Falkland Islands, as well as the British government’s. Methinks there will be an inevitable double standard and hypocrisy vis a vis demands made on Israel.

    Already anger has been exhibited by Britain concerning intimidation against cruise ships visiting the Falklands and subsequently wanting to dock in South America.

    Wonder how they’d feel if rockets and mortars were fired at them?

    This is the article from The Telegraph, so far the BBC have decided not to mention it

    Falklands: Britain condemns luxury cruise ‘intimidation’ amid fresh protests

    Today, following Cameron’s appearance on the Andrew Marr show, the Daily Mail run the headline quite clearly that
    Would we fight for the Falklands again? Of course we would: Cameron says Britain is prepared for another conflict with Argentina if islands are threatened

    Now on the BBC article that covered Cameron’s points on the show very little is made of any reference to the Falklands, In fact, just this little sentence very near the bottom of the article
    The prime minister also said he was “absolutely clear” Britain would defend the Falkland Islands in the face of mounting pressure from Argentina

    Since ‘defend’ can also mean diplomatically, which I’m sure is the meaning the BBC want to imply, they are clearly concealing the threat of force for the time being.

    I’ll continue to monitor how things develop to see how the BBC avoid a lot of hypocritical implications that are likely to evolve as this situation progresses. So far they are choosing to report very little about it, and certainly nothing of the menace that is already part of it.

       6 likes

  44. AsISeeIt says:

    BBC News 24 explains that Ulster’s Union Flag protesters are on a hiding to nothing. Why? Oh of course, the removal of the flag was a democratic decision of the council – and they are not about to reverse that decision, or so the BBC insist.

    Look forward to the BBC taking a similar stance in the face of various anti-cuts protesters. Sorry luvs, best put the placards away. No point protesting – it’s a democratic decision you see. And the spending cuts are not about to be reversed.

       14 likes

  45. John Anderson says:

    Excellent article by David Rose on the huge cost of Britain’s lunatic energy policies being driven by global-warming moonbattery:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257826/Why-IS-Britain-pay-110billion-enter-new-Dark-Age-A-damning-indictment-new-Green-friendly-Energy-Bill.html

    No wonder he could not stay at the BBC

       6 likes

  46. AsISeeIt says:

    This morning Nicky Campbell is back in the side saddle on BBC Radio Salford (5 Live).

    If you enjoy a large helping of Labour Party sloganeering – Pasty Tax, Omnishambles, It’s not Fair (all ‘via texts’ that have been flooding in, you understand) – alongside your morning diet of sideswipes against ITV, then this could be the show for you.

    Oh and intermittent eulogies for 1980’s soccer hooligans – well, certainly not those from the West Ham away crew – if you get my drift?

    Listen to Nicky the non-PAYEer dissect the Coalition Government’s Child Benefit policy.

    Apparently ITV’s new popular entertainment show with Tom Daley named Splash is a bit of a stinker. Brucie’s Strickly is a fine piece of light entertainment, however. Poor little Tom, I though Olympians could do no wrong. And him all vulnerable there in this Speedoes – there must be someone at the BBC to stick up for him?

       5 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      The value of the BBC beloved vox pop phone-in to current affairs debate is very soon proved by some bloke from somewhere. ‘I’m probably in a unique situation, but there are bound to be more out there just like me’. Nicky Campbell: ‘Interesting, lots of Tory voters saying this measure is unfair’. Switch off.

         2 likes

      • AsISeeIt says:

        Switch back on ……and it is well worth it.
        We thought you were left-wing, hen!
        Oh dear, tell me why I don’t like Mondays, say the BBC editorial staff. Nicky Campbell has all the wind taken out of his sails as a Scots mother-of-ten who had been doing so well blowing raspberries at George Osborne suddenly points out that her husband was put out of work by migrant workers and that millions in tax payers money is going in child benefit to mothers resident back in Poland.

        And she had sounded so left wing. Any mention whatsoever of immigration obviously marking her out as a nasty right-winger.

           5 likes

        • stewart says:

          Will the production team get a telling off for lumbering him with that bigoted woman?

             3 likes

  47. George R says:

    Illogical BBC-NUJ (and political left):

    Progressive income tax: yes!

    Regressive child benefits on incomes over £50,000: no!

    Boris Johnson:-

    “What a relief! The madness of child benefit for all ends today.
    “It makes no sense for the affluent middle classes to be showered with taxpayers’ cash, says Boris Johnson.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/9784103/What-a-relief-The-madness-of-child-benefit-for-all-ends-today.html

       1 likes

  48. George R says:

    UK: Illegal Immigrants.

    Update for BBC-NUJ to report –

    “Enough illegal migrants to fill three cities the size of Newcastle:
    Home Office reports that 863,000 are living in the UK”

    By James Slack.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2258216/Enough-illegal-migrants-cities-size-Newcastle-863-000-UK-study-finds.html

       2 likes