Has Lord Hall Hall been handed a large brown envelope of roubles, has he been on the vodka, has he been seduced by a Russian temptress and rudely compromised? Who knows but the BBC is suddenly very Putin friendly as it mocks May for her warning to Russia to stop interfering in British democracy. What a turn around by the BBC.
It was only a week ago that the brilliant Nick Robinson was giving us alarming news that both the Brexit referendum and the general election had been hacked by the Russians….indeed the BBC and MPs have been hot on the trail…
British MPs have asked Facebook if it has evidence of paid-for activity by accounts linked to Russia at the time of the Brexit referendum.
And of course we know of the BBC’s relentless and massive coverage as it tries to smear Trump with allegations of ties to Putin.
How different today though in this highly dismissive and almost mocking report on May’s statement….a very odd tone and slant on things from the BBC….
Russian politicians dismiss Theresa May ‘election meddling’ criticism
Senior Russian politicians have dismissed accusations by Theresa May that Moscow has meddled in elections and carried out cyber-espionage.
On Monday night, Mrs May accused Moscow of “planting fake stories” to “sow discord in the West”.
She said Vladimir Putin’s government was trying to “undermine free societies”.
Russian senators accused the UK’s PM of “making a fool of herself” with a “counterproductive” speech.
And it goes on in that vein….May being rubbished at every word…and then there is James Landale’s ‘analysis’, Landale, the Remainer’s and anti-Israel lobby’s favourite useful idiot.
Analysis by BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale
There are some countries in Europe that believe the West should engage more closely with Russia.
They argue the European Union and the United States should better understand Russia’s point of view, its belief that it is threatened from all sides.
And that more should be done to accommodate this sense of vulnerability, by softening Nato’s approach and reducing sanctions.
Well, not Theresa May.
Ah….what? Other EU countries want closer ties with Russia….but…‘Well, not Theresa May’. The poor old vulnerable and threatened Russians must be mollycoddled not warned off about its aggressive attempts to subvert our democracies? Blimey…changed tune there…when Trump suggested warmer relations he was roundly condemned…and note one of his team is being pilloried right now for allegedly having spoken about sanctions being lifted…which he denies I believe.
This is Landale being pro-Russian and anti-May…astonishing no? Not as if the Germans weren’t on the alert…
Germany on guard against election hacks, fake news
But hang on, who were they concerned about?
German Researchers Accuse Americans, Not Russians, of Meddling in Its Elections
The ‘Alt-Right’ of course…never mind that the US government had been hacking Merkel’s own phone for years…with the connivance of the German intelligence service….any thought that Merkel, raised in East Germany and an enthusiastic ‘Young Communist’ is the Russian’s most successful agent? This might help you down that conspiracy route…from the New York Times:
German Election Mystery: Why No Russian Meddling?
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s summons to Germany’s top cabinet ministers and senior military and intelligence officials for a meeting of the Federal Security Council signaled trouble. Such gatherings are rare, typically occurring only when the country faces a grave threat like a terrorist attack.
There was just one item on the agenda that day last spring: how to protect Germany’s upcoming parliamentary elections from Russian cyberattacks. At the time, it seemed almost inevitable that Germany would suffer the same fate as France and the United States, where, officials say, the Kremlin attempted to alter the results of presidential elections with “fake news” and spear phishing attacks.
But on the eve of Sunday’s elections, the Russians have done something few expected: they have largely disappeared.
Not a mystery really, Merkel was almost a dead-cert to win, Why rock the boat when your top agent is once again going to be leader of the most powerful country in Europe?
Landale seems to specialise in stories that are designed to damage May and her government these days….hoping that it will fall and an election have to be held?….resulting perhaps in Russia’ other favoured son, Corbyn, getting into No10.
Bit of a coup that.
It is odd that with Merkel’s background there is no rabid campaign to link her to Putin whilst Trump is accused at every turn on the absolute flimsiest of ‘evidence’…most of it paid for by the Democrats….and the BBC paid absolutely no attention to the contents of the ‘stolen’ emails that revealed a huge amount of controversial and damaging information about Clinton.
If a British PM and says such things about the Russians she would not do so without solid information to support what she said .
There seems to be an assumption that the Russians can influence voters – how naive .
“If a British PM and says such things about the Russians she would not do so without solid information to support what she said . ”
Seriously? How’s the hunt for Iraqi WMD going?
May is lashing out in all directions as she loses control of her party and her leadership, she’s probably trying to rationalise her losing the election by blaming it on the Russians like Hillary did when she came to the BBC to such a warm reaction.
Me too ! Seems to work as well this month.
The sad fact is that the Russians have actually been hard at work subverting our democracy, and May doesn’t even realise it because it’s been done to her.
Back in the days of the cold war when the Russian KGB used ideological subversion to compromise university students to be incapable of making sensible rational decisions and unable to see what had happened to them. Political Correctness was the result.
James Lansdale of BBC quoted above: “There are some countries in Europe that believe the West should engage more closely with Russia. They argue the European Union and the United States should better understand Russia’s point of view, its belief that it is threatened from all sides.”
Isnt that what President Trump is actually doing.
Glad to hear the unambiguous support from the BBC of Trump’s actions.
An American comedian said 35 years ago
“Man, I wish they’d stop going on about the Red, the red, the Russians
… no Russian ever stole my car
..no Ruskie is waiting to mug me at the end of the alley
…I need protection from my fellow Americans”
What is the difference between Putin – “On Monday night, Mrs May accused Moscow of “planting fake stories” to “sow discord in the West”.
~ and ~
The BBC using pejorative language very selectively, slanting interviews, stacking Question Time and Any Questions Panels and audiences and campaigning against Brexit?
When Facebook is regarded as the trusted source for key items of intelligence, you know that society is well and truly upside down.
(ARSS – accidentally reported so sorry)
“Brexit bill: Wales and Scotland ‘veto’ power bid fails”
Yes !
Most Red blooded Welshmen voted, out, out, out.
What’s taking so long?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-41977080
“If a British PM and says such things about the Russians she would not do so without solid information to support what she said”
Her comments on Climate Change, Islam and other issues, proves that solid information from her advisors, must be fake information from a BBC seminar type meeting of selected biased useful idiots, based on left-wing wishful thinking, censored facts and sexed up speculative assumptions.
Its how Blair changed the way that the secrets service works.
I now prefer Frank Field as the Prime minister of a Brexit Coalition.
The present Prime Minister’s message is that fake news on RT is the main threat to a free society. But I think that Liberal Fascists like her and her Muslim friends are the main threat to a free society.
I think that RT is much less likely to censor information than the BBC, and that the main problem about the main stream media in the west is censorship. This is confirmed by my sources in Astronomy, Mensa, GWPF, Weatheraction and journalists such as Melanie Phillips, etc.
Although I must admit that RT is now censoring Climate science, due to a vested interest in supporting Russian fossil fuel exports by encouraging anti-fracking groups in the west. Also you would expect Russian vested interests to want Britain to leave NATO, much more than wanting us to leave the EU.
The way that Theresa May is running down the defence forces to pay for foreign aid and the EU, implies that she does not have Britain’s interests at heart. So she is very much more of a problem than Russia.
Richard, regulars on here will know that I’m independent of any political Party but tend toward conservatism. (Note the small ‘c’.)
I was challenged years ago on Nick Robinson’s Blog by one of the other posters to name a current political hero. Frank Field’s name immediately pinged into my head, along with Kate Hoey. I remember sitting for several minutes struggling to think of any Conservatives at all. It was just before or just after the 2010 General Election and thoughts of an EU Referendum were a long, long way away, if not non-existent.
Hi Alan, on this article I disagree with you. I don’t believe this is evidence that Putin is the BBC’s new bestest friend.
Rather the allegations of Russian meddling is mentioned (yet again) but this time a few counters are also mentioned. James Landale presents a more balanced view and throws in a small dig at Theresa May.
Overall this is presented as a squabble, which yet again gives the BBC another opportunity to mention alleged Russian interference in foreign elections as well as another opportunity to question Theresa May’s competence as a leader.
It is an opportunity for the BBC to keep rolling this story along which over the weekend.
That last line should read something like the following: it is also the BBC being opportunistic in keeping a story rolling that they started over the weekend.
BoBotC, I agree. I think there is a concerted push from different quarters (Simon Stevens in the NHS, the BBC, some ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ politicians & PMs, ‘luvvies’ and segments of the UK media) to overturn Brexit.
I’m wondering whether they all feel that it is now or never.
Get to Christmas and political activity will wind down, there will be obvious distractions. It will be interesting to watch for bias among post-Xmas TODAY Guest Editors. But when 2018 comes there’s that psychological thing that Brexit is at the start of ‘next year’ and it will be too late to overturn it.
I expect two more attempts; in a years time when it will be Budget time again (unless Phil – if he keeps his job – Hammond is wise and re-schedules it to October) and also in the spring, especially if the weather is poor. They, the pro-Remainers and anti-Brexiteers, will possibly be less frantic than this October/November because it will be harder to wind up people to agree as more and more of the population will tend to be increasingly inclined to accept the inevitable.
Then, there are “events, dear boy, events” . At present there is a bit of a lull on the world stage, Zimbabwe excepted and with due respect to Catalonia, Burma, western Atlantic coast/Gulf of Mexico/Carib, Venezuela, Yemen, Ukraine and Syria, along with earthquake victims. There are not at present the distractions that might take BBC coverage away from bashing Brexit, Brexiteers in Cabinet and the Conservative Party in Government. Indeed, some recent news events appear to have been helpful. Who knows what might be happening in 2018 that will divert our media’s attention from Brexit to other things?
Roll on March 2019!
Britain must have influence .
That’s been the refrain of Prime Ministers , the Foreign Office , Guardian types , BBC and the intelligentsia for decades .
That’s why we spend billions on a ( useless) Foreign Office , have an expensive seat on the UN Security Council , why the establishment loves the EU , pledge millions in aid to the whole world , send troops to far flung places and people like Tony Blair jet around the world telling people what to do .
And then worry about Twitter accounts and RT .
BBC media expert floats debatable point: