Trump, Farage, Le Pen etc have all been dismissed by the BBC as ‘populist’ politicians…a contemptuous sneer that says not only are their policies not serious or worthy of consideration but that anyone who votes for them is somewhat stupid and driven by emotion and feelings rather than reason and good sense.
Oddly one politician who goes for the exact same rhetoric and style, Jeremy Corbyn, is not labelled in the same way by the BBC, they treat him with the utmost respect despite him using the same language of raging against the Establishment…the People vs Power, the People Vs the Establishment, the People Vs the Media and Big Business…..he’s fighting against a ‘rigged system’ and not playing by the ‘rules’.
Remember how Gove was ridiculed by the BBC for saying the ‘experts’ were not always so expert? What has Corbyn said?…
In his first major general election speech, he said 8 June’s poll was not a “foregone conclusion” and Labour could defy the “Establishment experts”.
No outpourings of ridicule and derision from the BBC here. Indeed very little in the way of analysis of his speech and its contents…we have been mostly treated to the BBC asking random members of the public what they think of the speech…a tactic which naturally isn’t likely to produce much indepth comment and is designed to avoid any real discussion or criticism of the speech.
There is a difference of course between Trump and Corbyn, Trump wants to bring jobs back to America, he wants to rebuild the manufacturing base and encourage business, he wants to make money for America. Corbyn wants to take money and destroy the economic base of the country, the same old Labour….welfare not jobs, handouts not a handup.
The other difference is that Trump wants to deal with immigration, to control the levels and who it is that is allowed into the US…Corbyn not so much. The BBC sees Trump as a racist but looks the other way when people accuse Corbyn of being an anti-Semite and certainly of overseeing a party that seems run-through with anti-Semites.
Any doubt that if Corbyn was Right-Wing he’d be on the BBC rack? And yet he’s not. Bias? Think so.
And oh yes? Fighting the Establishment and entrenched privilege? Really?…
Jeremy Corbyn’s son is planning to stand for a seat in the House of Commons, sources have told The Telegraph.
Seb Corbyn is reportedly preparing to mount a campaign to replace his father’s political aide Steve Rotheram, the sitting Liverpool Walton MP, who is standing down at the election in June.
Mr Corbyn’s son and his political secretary Katy Clark are both said to be seeking a seat in the Commons according to three separate party sources.
A deal could be struck with the National Executive Committee which would see seats divided between pro-Corbyn and moderate candidates.
A Labour source said the move will reflect badly on the party leader, who has spoken in the past about the need to draw MPs from broad backgrounds in order to fully represent the country.
Two other party sources confirmed that both Seb Corbyn and Ms Clark’s names have been touted as candidates for seats. The party has yet to begin the process of selecting new candidates.
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn declined to comment on the record.
I think I heard the populist tag being used to describe Jeremy’s speech yesterday, seems odd as I thought it can only be used to describe right wing and “nativist” themes, not “progressive”.
There were two examples of BBC balance yesterday, I thought John Humphrys did a good job on Lady Nugee yesterday morning around 8.20am, she was breathing deeply and about to lose her cool, excellent. Even better was our Eddie’s skewering of Dawn Butler just after 5.00 pm, well worth a listen on i-player, I haven’t heard a more inept performance by a politician since Nick Ferrari demolished Natalie Bennett.
TR, the Humph can still do the business when going downhill with a bit of a breeze on his back. Have a PM listen on iP on my list of to-dos. A clip I heard sounded hilarious.
Thomas R,
Here is some more of what counts as balance on the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39662736
This article describes the new prison units specifically for housing extremists. We all know which extremists this means. The BBC is forced to concede where the demand for an extremist unit has come from and this is revealed by the subject of the bulk of the article. However, as they have a duty to be impartial, this sentence is included,’All forms of extremism will be targeted with the new units, including extreme far-right ideologies.’
I have said for years that all these far-right extremists need locking up; if only we could find one.
There is also this,’Other measures set out by Ms Truss last year included the removal of extremist books from prison libraries and stronger vetting of prison chaplains.’ Methinks the word chaplain might be the incorrect term for the religion in question.
In future, and in deference to President Trump, I shall start labelling these nuggets ‘Another Beauty’.
Lastly, welcome back chrisH. A much missed contributor to this site.
For some reason they don’t like to give us Gove’s ‘experts’ quote in it’s entirety.
Misquotes
“I think people in this country have had enough of experts.”
6 June 2016, in interview with Faisal Islam. Gove’s actual quote was: “The people of this country have had enough of experts from organizations with acronyms, saying that they know what is best, and getting it consistently wrong.” The shortened quote was reported due to Islam interrupting Gove while he was speaking [1] but Gove had no intention to end the sentence there.
ThomasR,
Agree completely- I had almost given up listening to both albeeb programmes but now turn to them because it’s difficult to find decent new comedy elsewhere on albeeb. Lady Nugee has obviously had deep breathing anger management training – don’t mention white vans – and Ms dawn Butler? Well when asked about multi national tax avoiders she came up with Costa Coffee- which I know is part of Whitbread ~ which a decent U.K. Company paying U.K. Taxes. So labour MP interviews are the new comedy for me. Thanks albeeb.
Fedup,
I think she meant Starbucks. Costa Coffee may have a case for legal action against False Dawn. I hope they are consulting their lawyers.
So does Mike Ashley.
Corbyn basically called him a tax dodger yesterday, and as good as told him Labour will be out for him if they win. It is disgraceful for a politician to attack a private citizen in this way. If Corbyn had said anything similar about a person of colour or member of the religion of peace the BBC would have massacred him. However, it is apparently fine to threaten a white male businessman, who as far as I know runs a legitimate business and pays whatever tax he owes.
Corbyn is a very nasty, far left bully. If he ever got his hands on the power of the state, Britain would be finished before you could say “Hugo Chavez”.
Rob,
Ironic really coming from someone who claims politics should be about policies not individuals.the Beeb and msm gave the comrade a free pass on this.no challenge.if the press push out some personal revelation about the comrade or his family he will be the first one to winge about “personal attacks”. I guess the mail will keep mucky disclosure until the last week of the campaign should it appear Labour will be getting any seats. I reckon he and Diane holding hands at a Swp bash …
Get in early and they’ll be up at the crack of Dawn, perish the thought.
What is wrong with BIASEDBBC folk? Don’t you realise that populism is always bad … unless it applies to Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP, Hugo Chavez and Castro then it is laudable.
Since last nights Paris shooting the BBC has consistently said that Le Pen may not benefit from it with the voters . Is this wishful thinking ? I would say yes.
The French people must know that they can vote for more of the same, or they can vote for Marine Le Pen. Their choice.
Labour have a popular policy
BBC say Labour is in touch with the ordinary people , know their desires and fears .
Conservatives have a popular policy
BBC say the Conservatives are cynically hiding their own interests behind a popular policy .
LibDims have a popular policy
BBC give them more airtime than they deserve , saying they are up and coming .
Greens have a popular policy
BBC say the greens should be more listened to . They are courageous .
UKIP have a popular policy
BBC say they are populist , nasty it seems in a democracy .
“Jeremy Corbyn’s son is planning to stand for a seat in the House of Commons, sources have told The Telegraph.
Seb Corbyn is reportedly preparing to mount a campaign to replace his father’s political aide Steve Rotheram, the sitting Liverpool Walton MP, who is standing down at the election in June.”
Hilarious. Just what Labour needs, another Red Prince. To think we laugh at North Korea, with its hereditary communist leadership.
I do hope the people of Liverpool Walton realise that they are being patronised by a right-on Islington elite, who think that a southern social justice warrior is fit to be their MP by virtue of who his father is. If the Conservatives did that in the shires, people would be rightly contemptuous, but apparently different rules apply to the Leftist elite.
If Corbyn Jr is selected for this seat, I imagine the lumpenproles will vote for him, on the principle that they would vote for a donkey with a red rosette. And a donkey is what they’ll get and what they’ll deserve.
It’s always frustrating to hear the BBC and media and even MP’s talk about populism with sneering contempt. Surely democracy is all about the popular will of the people. Surely someone having populist policies means that they are in touch with the population and are offering what the populace actually want?
How have we got to such an arrogant position that people can openly admit that there is something wrong with policies that are popular with the people. Aren’t they the very body that MPs and the media are meant to be representing?
Payne,
Those who use the word “Populism” do not believe in democracy. But when the majority agree with them it is ” The will of the people “. They are hypocrites.
Pbn, the word apparently was being distorted as far back as the end of the 19th century, according to Wiki. Usual disclaimers about accuracy.
I don’t recall it being bandied around much, as a pejorative term for the ‘right-wing’ and ‘fascists’, in the day of Margaret Thatcher and she was certainly swept to power twice on a wave of populism, in 1979 and 1983.
Funnily enough, the Major administration was never described as non-Populist after Black Wednesday and the recession & house price crash. And Tony Blair, I do not recall ever being called Populist despite – in hindsight – his obvious qualification now as a Fascist, right wing Socialist.