I have always seen the Independent as a left-to far-left publication, not quite as an unhinged as the dreadful Guardian but still pickled in bias. So I was surprised to see the article, Coffee with Chuka Umunna is a step too far for Jeremy Corbyn, by one Flic Everett. She doesn’t seem to appreciate Corbyn much, with barbs like
….from the very beginning of the Brexit process, leader of the Opposition has behaved like a sulky teen forced to visit his nan
And
….Corbyn has fudged and dissembled, sniped and muttered, and divided his own party….
And
High principles that go unchallenged when you’re cycling round a few far-left meeting halls are not fit for purpose when you intend to run the country.
This made me recall that Dimbleby also doesn’t seem fond of Corbyn. He allowed questions quite critical of him on QT re anti-Semitism and refrained from jumping in and interrupting panelists who would also attack Corbyn.
As recently as the last QT, Fiona Bruce echoed Everett’s concerns by pointing out to the Labour guy that Corbyn had walked out of a meeting because Umunna was present.
This makes me wonder why Corbyn doesn’t get wholehearted support from these representatives of the left. Do they see him as the wrong leader to defeat the Tories because he is too far left?
What say you?
The Independent is not a paper, nor is it journalism.
No wonder the bbc likes it to mix up with that other subsidised rag, the Graun.
Quite how the vanity project of a potentate and oligarch from elsewhere is seen by the national broadcaster as not a problem speaks volumes.
There is absolutely nothing independent about the ‘Independent’.
This is very sadly true. One of the main reasons is that hardly any of the staff writers write anymore. Most just rewrite feed stories and PR releases as due to massive job cuts, there isn’t time to do anything else.
The BBC, like Sky, is overflowing with staff. Almost all the print media are running on a shoestring with the barest minimum of staff they can get away. The Indy is what it has almost always been – a vanity title and a tax relief option for its owner – nothing else.
All too true I’m afraid. I read the Independent when it first came out. I stopped when I found it refused to allow certain advertisements by green environmentalists because it would upset its main advertisers, the car industry, notably Ford.
Every time I tune into the Guardian on line and just look at the headlines and names of the “journalists” and contributors I see nothing but hard left bias and ignorance of facts, coupled with open hatred
Then up comes the request to contribute financially to help with it’s independent views,!
Notice on subjects you can comment on that so many contributors use vile language, swear words directed at anyone whose views, often the truth they disagree with.
Such comments are allowed to stay on site, no decent newspaper would allow this. Even the pilloried nasty right wing ones, or those who allow one than one point of view,
N
it’s just a politically correct, so called online newspaper, that
probably owes it’s continued existance to being bumped to the top of Google News by the biased search algorithms favouring the far left.
Looking at the first story on google news:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-theresa-may-coup-final-say-put-it-to-the-people-march-a8837481.html
”Written by Eloise Todd is CEO for Best for Britain an anti-Brexit campaign fighting for final say.”
Not the kind of place you are going to get a non mainstream media view then..
The website itself
A big annoying cookies banner
A video or something , that follows me me down the page as I scroll
I’m not able to right click copy any of the article
Theres a comments section showing no ”Independent minds” comments, whatever they are , but 16 ”open comments”.
But I cannot see the open comments ..
Eddy Booth,
Copy and paste worked OK for me on the Corbyn article. I just registered in order to comment. It’s got a box with ‘Independent minds’ on the left and open comments on the right. I clicked on that and was eventually able to comment. The site is difficult to navigate and slow to load.
It’s also full of weird lefties, many of whom were indignant that Everett would dare to bash Corbyn but there are a few people providing some contrast.
As I indicated in the ATL post, I’m interested in the opposition to Corbyn from the left, both within Labour and from outside. What percentage of the left would support him in an election and what percentage would look elsewhere?
I use to see the Independent when it was paper , and as far as I can see it specialised in what the BBC specialises ; sneering .
Nibor, it certainly does now.
Think it all went downhill for the Indy in the mid-1990s. They got sucked into the ‘yuppie’ anti-Conservative/anti-Major, pro-Blair thing. They also lost their independence to Tony O’Reilly.
The Independent blog continues to shovel it’s biased shyte this time from some extreme left tosser called Lizzie Dearden
”The anti-Islam activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon…”
Really!!!!
Stock photo
”Police brace for disorder after far-right protesters threaten to riot on what would have been Brexit day”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-brexit-riot-violence-far-right-tommy-robinson-leave-ukip-eu-met-scotland-yard-a8844181.html
Police are bracing for potential unrest at protests by pro-Brexit groups following threats of riots by far-right extremists.
Scotland Yard said it was ready to “share resource across the country” if disorder breaks out at numerous planned demonstrations in London and across the UK on Friday.
Ukip, Tommy Robinson, the UK “yellow vests”, Democratic Football Lads Alliance and Leave Means Leave campaign are holding rallies in the capital, on the day Britain was due to leave the EU.
Counter-protesters are planning to meet them after accusing anti-Islam groups of using Brexit as a “platform to spread their extreme far-right agenda”.
The Metropolitan Police is working to prevent clashes at the demonstrations, which will be held amid heightened tensions over a vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the House of Commons.
“We would like to reassure the public that officers will be ready to respond should any incidents or other spontaneous protests arise,” a spokesperson said.
“Our officers are well trained to maintain public order and stand ready to share resources across the country if any disorder breaks out.
“We will not hesitate to take necessary action against anyone who deliberately chooses to act outside the law.”
Members of the UK “yellow vests”, a conspiracy-driven group of Brexiteers, were sharing a meme on social media that threatened: “If you stop Brexit, we’ll make the Paris riots look like a f***ing tea party.”
Supporters were due to meet near the Shard on Friday afternoon, at the same time several other demonstrations were due to take place on the other side of the Thames.
Tommy Robinson was to speak at Ukip’s Make Brexit Happen rally in Whitehall, which he is also financially sponsoring through his personal “news service”.
Mr Robinson claimed people were being “betrayed” by the prime minister and “traitorous” MPs.
The anti-Islam activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was last year appointed by Ukip leader Gerard Batten as an “adviser” on grooming gangs.
The move sparked a wave of resignations and condemnation from Ukip’s former leader Nigel Farage, who went on to back the rival Brexit Party.
Mr Farage called on supporters to join a demonstration in Parliament Square on Friday afternoon, which came at the end of a March to Leave protest in which people have walked 270 miles from Sunderland.
The protest was backed by the Leave Means Leave campaign, which claimed the “establishment … are attempting to delay Brexit or even stop it all together”.
The Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA) had called its own protest in central London, against the delay to Brexit and “insults against the people of England … not just from the EU but from the fifth columnists within our own society”.
The DFLA, which claims to oppose Islamist terrorism but has been labelled a far-right group by researchers, suggested in an online post that British MPs were “becoming worse than Nazis”.
“We must fight for Brexit, we must fight for democracy,” it continued. “The DFLA expects every man and woman to do their duty.”
Counter-protesters, including anti-fascists, trade unions and faith groups, were planning to oppose the rallies held by Ukip, Mr Robinson and the DFLA.
“Whether you’re Leave or Remain, these people aren’t having a genuine Brexit protest – it’s a far-right rally,” Stand Up to Racism organiser Michael Bradley told The Independent. “It’s an attempt to make hay while the sun shines.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said forces across the country were prepared for potential demonstrations.
“Police forces will always seek to facilitate the right to peaceful protest, balancing the right to protest with disruption to local communities,” a spokesperson added. “Forces work closely with protest organisers to achieve this.
“To date, protests have been largely peaceful and we have no intelligence at this time to suggest that will change.”