Midweek Thread 31 March 2021

If you read the 69 pages of the ‘BBC Annual Plan 2021 – 2022’ – published this week – you recognise a number of recurring themes .1. That the BBC is ‘London centric ‘ 2. It is worried about viewing figures 3. It knows it cannot compete with online subscription services 4. It is worried about the word ‘impartial – which features a countless number of times 5.It thinks it is British – and fails to mention Brexit or its ‘ EU fan club at all . Reading the Plan – knowing the reality as opposed to the BBC fantasy -that it is unbiased – one plays a game of reading between the lines and seeing that the users of this website ( on behalf of the good British public ) are slowly but surely winning and that the days of the current BBC are numbered .

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416 Responses to Midweek Thread 31 March 2021

  1. Guest Who says:

    And then, there is Newsnight.

    Who?

       12 likes

  2. Guest Who says:

    Strange.

       13 likes

  3. Guest Who says:

    Surveys suggest surveys are…?

       15 likes

  4. Up2snuff says:

    BBC WEB-SITE-Watch #1 – really?

    A motorsport with a conscience, which aims to raise awareness and act upon climate change and equality, using an equal split of men and women racing off-road ‘electric SUVs’ in remote areas of the globe which have been affected by global warming.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/56596874

    Duher! Saudi Arabia is hot because of its geographical location, close to the Equator – nothing to do with Global Warming – although to be fair the desert gets cold at night. I’ve seen the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

    As for the environmental consideration of transporting the whole circus via a dirty, polluting, marine-fuel carbon powered vessel, that bit of virtue signalling is just plain daft greenwash. Especially so, when apparently the drivers will fly out to races.

    This is all so typical deceiving nonsense, no wonder the BBC signed up for it!

       39 likes

  5. Kaiser says:

    Jesus Floyd

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56606418

    lets see what details the so called BBC leave out today

       17 likes

    • G says:

      BBC R4 News at 2300 told me that the court heard that the two paramedics arrived a the scene and saw that, although already dead, the officer still had their knee on his neck.

      Earlier on the 1st, not exactly following the proceedings in detail, I was informed that the criminal Floyd died elsewhere an hour or so after the paramedics arrived. Now I’m confused. It’s either one or the other. Instincts naturally favour the, ‘died an hour after’ as the BBC lie so much. But which is it? Anybody help?

         8 likes

  6. Philip_2 says:

    The BBC should use Holy Week to reflect on its anti-Christian bias

    The Bishop of Ripon has complained that religion is continually ‘siloed’ by the BBC. But that’s just part of the problem …(edited for brevity)
    …. We now live in an era in which the mass media, for better or worse, shapes our public morality. Observing this changed landscape, many social conservatives are apt to point the finger of blame at the Church of England itself; it is the C of E, they say, which by bending before the prevailing wind of permissive liberal attitudes has allowed the old Christian morality to be repudiated and replaced by a new “media morality”. 

    Bishop Hartley says that the BBC has relegated religion to a “God-slot” where safely “siloed away” as she puts it, the Corporation can fulfil its quota of “religious broadcasting” without troubling the general audience overmuch. And she asks a pertinent question: 

    “Where are the documentaries that challenge us to rethink the world we live in? Or the dramas that ask us to re-imagine our human relationships? Instead of congratulating itself on producing more content than ever, I wonder if it’s time for the BBC to ask just what is the point of religion on the telly, or the radio for that matter?” 

    Good question, Bishop. The truth is that the BBC shies away from any explanation of the ills that afflict contemporary society which might undermine belief in the tenets of a permissive, liberal, interpretation of “progress”. The BBC seemingly does not wish to engage with ideas that implicitly cast doubt on the benefits of our modern morality. Nor does it wish to explore the debt that the liberalism it so enthusiastically embraces owes to Christianity; for, in truth, without Christianity there would be no liberalism.
    No Human rights and slavery would still be here (ignored by the BBC as it would never have had a label on it).

    So what has this to do with religious broadcasting and the BBC? Only this: that in order to understand our society, so concerned as it is with “rights” we have to understand where the notion of “human rights” comes from.

    The BBC’s worldview consciously militates against incorporating in its output an understanding of religion and its importance in human affairs. This is, in my experience, primarily because the BBC is staffed by people contemptuous of, and often also ignorant of, Christian history and teachings. Most programme-makers in the BBC are highly educated folk who have come through the atheistic degree-factories of Oxbridge. Many of these pocket intellectuals seem to think that all human progress began when the beliefs that dominated the years they call the “Dark Ages” were discarded in favour of the rational ideas of people like Voltaire. 

    But our modern intellectual class (to whom BBC people largely belong) reject the Christian contribution to western civilisation – which is immeasurable. This has led to distorted news values; it is why, for instance, the BBC rightly reports extensively on the plight of the Muslim Uighurs but consistently underplays the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries like Pakistan.

    In its skewed view the BBC seems to think that highlighting and campaigning for better treatment for Christians would show some kind of favouritism whereas, by championing the cause of the Muslim Uighurs it demonstrates its “impartiality”. It is a shockingly partisan stance which only demonstrates the Corporation’s inherent antagonism towards Christianity.

    Over the years there have been many complaints about the BBC’s perceived anti-Christian stance – something we might term its “Christophobia”. Back in 2011 Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the RC leader of Scotland’s Catholics, commissioned research into BBC news coverage after which he levelled the charge that the BBC was institutionally biased against Christianity. Peter Sissons, for many years one of the BBC’s most recognisable newsreaders, wrote in his memoirs about the Corporation’s animus against Christianity; he said the BBC saw Christians as “fair game”. And just a few years ago a BBC World Service journalist of 30 years’ standing, Catherine Utley, went public with criticisms of how the BBC covers stories involving Christians.

    So Bishop Helen-Ann’s strictures on the BBC’s religious programmes are in good company. But the BBC will likely take no notice of her whatsoever. She will be airily dismissed along with all the complaints of those listed above – and many others. Supremely confident of its own good intentions, and convinced of its own superior wisdom, the BBC is leading our society down the wrong path. And that, in this Holy Week, is my Thought for the Day.

    First appeared in the Radio Times. Published today in the Telegraph.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/04/01/bbc-should-use-holy-week-reflect-anti-christian-bias/

       35 likes

  7. taffman says:

    “Every customer must sign in when pubs reopen”
    I though that the pubs were safest places to be before the last lock down ? Safer than supermarkets .
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56608632

       18 likes

  8. StewGreen says:

    Other media : The BBC and the Guardian is usually the same BS
    Every Guardian story seems to BS, so it’s not even worth reading.
    I skim the Times Magazine, it’s all middle class BS
    But I made notes on the 20th cos it seems woke-plus

    Times Magazine
    #1 Caitlan Moran’s “Take Back The Streets article”
    listing all the weird sexual harassment her and her daughter get whilst walking the dogs
    .. whereas her husband’s life is much freer.He can jog in the dark etc.

    #2 Long article about Paris sex clubs
    the female owner insisting they are centred around women’s pleasure
    and of course single women are let in whereas single males are excluded.

    #3 The BAME journo Sanghera interviews a black guy about him bringing the Black American TV version of Dragons Den to UK with Channel4
    He’s started a firm Impact X to invest in black biz.
    He then ironically goes on about racism
    and how there should be more blacks in the rich list.

    #4 Same journo has another 1 page article about “systematic racism”
    talk about a chip on the shoulder
    There’s a lot of hyperbole and cherry picking
    “re-emergence of violent white supremacy”
    … (really ? where are the bodies ?)
    He mentions that black men seem to experience more psychiatric problems
    .. but fails to mention that white males have much mote suicides.
    It also seems some of his stats come from the way non-whites are concentrated in urban areas etc.

    #5 Article : The Woke Handbook
    by Stuart Heritage
    includes a list of baddies eg Laurence Fox

    #6 Woke Culture guide

    #7 “Promoted Content” : Ben Fogle Drives His Electric Car

    #8 The Ruler of Dubai who abducts his own daughters

    #9 Middle Class parents Giles Coren and his wife

       22 likes

  9. taffman says:

    Watch out watch, out there’s a troll about!
    maxincony is working ‘nights’!
    ‘Safe distancing’ is the order of the day.

       10 likes

  10. Dobyns says:

    It seems to me that much of the ‘institutional racism’ in our society today resides with al beeb and their fellow travellers in the MSM

       25 likes

    • The WestWyvern says:

      This country is the most welcoming, tolerant and easy going of any on earth.

      It must be as otherwise 100s wouldn’t risk life and limb on a daily basis to get here.

         34 likes

  11. taffman says:

    The pound £ closed at €1.1744 today . It won’t be long before it returns to €1.20. Will Al Beeb rejoice then ?

       19 likes

    • Dobyns says:

      taff, no because it will make it more expensive for EU to buy from a resurgent Britain

         8 likes

    • maxincony says:

      taffman,

      Will Al Beeb rejoice then ?

      When Cameron announced there was going to be a Brexit referendum the Pound was at 1.4 Euro.

      When Farage announced the Brexit referendum had been lost the Pound was at 1.3 Euro.

      And now, five years later, it’s worth 1.17 Euro.

      Let’s all rejoice. So much winning!

         3 likes

      • taffman says:

        maxi
        At that time the pound was considered to be over priced.

           16 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          €1.175 vs £1 today so the it’s partially about the Euro still falling

          Has anyone ever got 1.30 or 1.40 …?
          It was about 1.27 the week before the vote
          Looks to be that MSM fake polls and fake news is what pushed it up to 1.30 the days before the vote.

          ClwIEcZWkAAX3t7?format=jpg&name=small

             5 likes

          • StewGreen says:

            Was there a day that “When Cameron announced there was going to be a Brexit referendum” ?
            In 2015 he made a bill saying there could be a referendum
            The went of to get concessions from the EU
            They spat in his face
            Then 20 Feb 2016 announced the referendum date
            That day the rate was 1.29

            2013 Had said he was thinking about a referendum
            2015 May 27 European Union Referendum Bill was unveiled in the Queen’s Speech.
            From March 15th to November 28th 2015 the rate was always above 1.35 but was super volatile, sometimes touching 1.41
            … even 1.44 one day in July

            https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=EUR&view=10Y

               3 likes

          • Dobyns says:

            Stew, I remember getting a bit over 1.30 in Jan 15 when we were in Madeira

               1 likes

  12. The WestWyvern says:

    Daily Fail reports the outgoing PM will unveil an outline ‘vaccine passport scheme’ on Monday for Theatres and Sports venues, but also saying the passport may be the only way to unlock fully….

    Of course he has, because though it’s about controlling a virus.

    Furthermore Doris explains the problems in France will be in this country in a few weeks.

    Of course, it’s about controlling a virus…. with the borders not protected from illegals….

    Still 6 months ago they said vaccine passports ‘weren’t on the agenda’ then Gove scuttled off somewhere and is even now drawing up his plans for us.

    Still, it’s about a virus….

       28 likes

  13. taffman says:

    maxincony
    It’s time you got yourself a real job instead of behaving like a ‘twirly.

       20 likes

  14. Guest Who says:

    The one top right looks thrilled.

       6 likes

  15. Guest Who says:

    The BBC rejoices. Per picture.

    (June Sarpong not present).

       7 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Guest, looking at that Glasto pic, is there anyone under the age of thirty-five years there?

         11 likes

      • Garry Lavin says:

        On the gate and serving in the bars.

           14 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Front row looks like a bbc commissioning editor office, or a Biden cabinet shortlist. Maybe some women too.

           9 likes

  16. Guest Who says:

    Here’s the BBC’s fave redhead doing what she does best.

       5 likes

  17. Guest Who says:

    And rack.

       3 likes

  18. Guest Who says:

    Jon and irony.

    Match made in heaven.

       6 likes

  19. Guest Who says:

    Unlucky country.

    BBC News

    Dozens of Hollywood stars have relocated to the country during the pandemic while at least 40,000 Australians remain shut out and stranded overseas.

       8 likes

  20. Up2snuff says:

    TOADY Watch #1 – BBC just love that ‘fear’ generating thing … oh, and Brexit got bashed, too

    Business during the first half-hour and Katy Business was on to not do the business with a UK plastic manufacturer for the automtive sector. The BBC have been trying to do the best to stir up fears of a plastics shortage and “that will lead to a food shortage”. They do love those, the BBC on TOADY. I remember Jim Naughtie on completely unfounded coffee and sugar ‘scares’.

    The shortage of poly granules is due in large part to severe Global Cooling in Texas recently that hit oil production and the unfortunate incident with a driver, gender unspecified, trying to do a three point turn in the Suez Canal with a large container ship.

    The helpful contributor kept mentioning Brexit, I lost count of the times; he must have been an enraged Remain voter. Boy, they can carry a grudge, can’t they?!

    Katy Business just didn’t do the business on him and ask why a Middle Eastern & USA & Indonesian product (plastics granules are made from oil) would be affected by Brexit. I suspect a Kiwi like Dominic (who Katy was deputising for) might have pushed a bit harder for some clarification there.

    Reading between the lines, I guess the plastics granules reach the UK via a European wholesaler. Why a company making plastic parts for the automotive industry was being interviewed about plastics & packaging shortages affecting food supplies, I know not. I guess it gave the BBC a chance to attack Brexit.

    It also suggested that this spokesperson was not really a competent business manager, because there has been 4¾ years of news, discussions and negotiations about how Brexit would affect the UK automotive industry. This gent has obviously 1. not been paying attention, 2. has been completely dilatory in ensuring a supply chain for his company post-Brexit, 3. has not been communicating with his customers at all, and, 4. has probably been hoping that the vote to Leave the EU would be overturned. The shareholders ought to think about sacking him.

    Katy Business should also have a little chat with the Head of BBC N&CA about how to do her job a little better.

       21 likes

    • Charlie Farley says:

      Up2snuff
      As usual no mention of a multi billion UK company called INEOS that own Grangemouth Oil Refinery…..plastic granules are made there …don’t know why I occasionally listen to any BBC dross , and there was also going to be a discussion on the Far Right problem ….Sorry BBC Its the Far Left thats the problem buried deep in your organisation…OFF SWITCH AGAIN

         24 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Indeed, Charlie, we are importing oil all the time because – I am told – our Brent crude is too good and has to be used to mix with the thick dirty stuff. Think it might be the latter’s leftovers that they make the granules from – and other important stuff as well.

           3 likes

  21. AsISeeIt says:

    Cui Bono edition

    On the frontpage of a national newspaper this morning: ‘Corona Extra‘ – don’t panic, it’s not some scary mutant varient.

    It’s not even some supposed long-term lingering condition you heard about in the media and thought that might well be the reason you’re still feeling a bit dicky.

    It’s just the Sun with a frontpage advert for a pack of cheap Mexican supermarket beer. And long may the pubs stay shut, pray the likes of Mr Tesco and Mr Sainsbury this Easter.

    The ‘i‘ newspaper is a generally Left-leaning title and they do a good job of pointing out the widescale incidence of Tory (and civil service) corporate cronyism this morning: ‘Public service …private gain. Revealed: At least 66 of David Cameron’s ministers and officials found private sector jobs linked to their role in government within two years of stepping down‘ – and yet noticing this suspect trend our Lefty media continue to be 100% compliant with Boris Johnson’s administration’s lockdowns and mass vaccination policies – cui bono? – I guess they haven’t thought this one through.

    The Guardian too can see the problem but just can’t seem to join the dots: ‘Tory donor asked minister to speed up £65m PPE deal

    And that’s your thought for the day.

    What, you want some more?

    We’ve a few concessions to the religious aspect of Easter in the press be they few and far between – the ‘i‘ asks: ‘2021: What would Jesus do?‘ – well, Matthew tells us that when the leper approached Christ: “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man

    And you want an and finally?

    How did Scotland Yard miss a Nazi in its ranks?‘ (Dail Mail)

    Juxataposed with the headline: ‘Covid passport trails to begin

    Happy Easter

       23 likes

  22. Guest Who says:

    Asians, eh? What are they like?

    Especially East ones.

       7 likes

  23. Sluff says:

    Isn’t it weird how the BBC has a sort of institutional amnesia?

    At 0710 on Toady. They interviewed one of the favourites, Shami Chakribati, about vaccine passports.

    Justremainin described her as a Human Rights Lawyer and former director of Liberty.

    She then went off on one of those ‘outrage’ tirades with lists of adverbs and adjectives that sounded like a throwback to the Trots of the 70s. Just like ‘Dave Spart’ in Private Eye.

    What Justremainin somehow forgot to mention in his intro. was that she is also a Labour peer, and was in Jeremy Corbyn’s team when he was Labour Party leader, and among other wrote a whitewash report about anti-semitism (absence of) in the Labour Party.

    With forgetfulness like that, I think the BBC should exercise their employee Health and Safety duty and check him out for early onset Dementia.

       40 likes

  24. Guest Who says:

    Nice bit of #tellitoftenenough from the house journal

       6 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Those that can …brainwash.

         22 likes

      • Beltane says:

        In the hope that I’m not teaching my peers to suck eggs, the actual phrase is:

        ‘Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach.’

           13 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          “Those that blow chunks on everything… become journalists*”

          *Or BBC specialist reporters

             8 likes

  25. Up2snuff says:

    TOADY Watch #2 – the BBC love the Government being in Court to face a legal challenge

    Mishal is woefully ignorant of the UK retirement (pension) age: it is now 66 or 67 or 68 years of age, not age 65, depending on when you were born. But she manages to get through 8.10 a.m. prime interview slot with a spokeswoman for one of the groups taking the Government to Court over human rights and equality for residents of Care Homes.

    Mishal has trouble discerning between Government guidelines and legislation and the fact that the Court case is about neither. The thought struck me that where a Care Home resident is fully ‘compos mentis’ that they are of an age that will have seen and enjoyed the film ‘The Great Escape’ many, many, times and would be arranging to emulate the exploits with their fellow Care Home residents.

    Anyone got a motor bike?

       24 likes

    • Sluff says:

      Up2
      Your post was far too long.
      You had said it all by the 4th word of the second paragraph.
      Or perhaps even more tellingly by the 7th.

         10 likes

  26. StewGreen says:

    8am news “And you are warned with the coastal erosion in our area , not to take picnics at the base of cliffs
    … top temperature today 9 degrees……..”

    They should have saved that warning for an actual weekend when someone would do a coastal picnic.
    Tuesday morning it starts at -1C

       17 likes

  27. Guest Who says:

    BBC News

    The BBC discovered that Dorothy Perkins and Coast, which are both owned by online retailer Boohoo, sold exactly the same coat but it cost £34 more at Coast.

    ***
    Not £200? Because of Brexit?

    Jenny from a different block to the usual Beeb moppets.

    Boohoo to probe price differences for same clothing
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56506859?

    They are now both priced at £18.

    The BBC continues to charge what others give away for free, often just ‘quoting’ them and adding the vig.

    Ms. Ball and Botney are not staying multimillionaires any other way.

       15 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      wait until BBC discovers that
      a branded can
      and an supermarket label one often have the same contents from the same factory.

      Retail pricing is about charging what you can get away with.
      Its not a communist business.

      And there are reasons
      eg They have 3 dress designs costing £5 to manufacture and put a £15 price on them.

      One turns out to be fashionable
      but the others 2 don’t
      so the super-markup cross-subsidises the lossmaking there.

         20 likes

      • Garry Lavin says:

        Very well said. I suspect they can’t grasp how enterprise can also go horribly wrong…and ones investment / life savings lost!

           5 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Of course not, Garry, the BBC are on an inflation proofed, guaranteed income.

          For now.

             9 likes

  28. richard D says:

    The BBC ‘Today’ programme continues to find and interview, almost exclusively, critics of the report released by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which found that institutional racism did not exist in the UK.

    This morning was the turn of some former, very senior, member of the Police Force (I can’t be bothered to wait until the recording becomes available to get his name correct).

    He was one of the actual participants who were consulted by the Commission, during its work. Since his participation, he hadn’t apparently mentioned any problem arising with the Commission and its study. But suddenly (dare one suggest that this is perhaps because he didn’t personally agree with the Commission’s findings, and that perhaps he’s been ‘leaned on’ by ‘interested’ groups ?), he’s become very disparaging about the report.

    He let a huge cat out of the bag, however, as to why he was now virulently opposed to the findings, when he commented that one of the key flaws in the Commission was that he believed now that the members tended towards the Right of the political spectrum. Never mind that 11 out of the 12 members of the commission were non-white – clearly their political viewpoint was not the correct one.

    The BBC did not, of course, challenge any of his clearly politically motivated bilge, obviously believing, as he does, that the only people who can be allowed to have any say on the issue of racism must be politically left-wing, and BAME community members.

    The BBC – supporting diversity, but, of course, only the right kind of diversity.

    Update – interviewee was Dal Babu, from the BAME community, obviously, and former Chief Superintendent of the Met. – interviewed, almost predictably, given the topic, by Mishal Hussain.

       32 likes

    • JohnC says:

      I honestly don’t know how you can bear to watch such programs on the BBC now.
      If I watch a new TV program, if a black person appears within the first 5 minutes, I turn it off because 99% chance is the usual woke rubbish where white people are bad and all black people are good.
      Though they are almost always falsley accused of being bad at the start by racist whitey.

         33 likes

      • richard D says:

        JohnC – I think I subscribe (as I suspect many other contributors to this site do also) to the ‘Know thy Enemy …..’ philosophy.

        Also, (probably like many others) listening to early morning Radio 4 is about the only time I participate in the BBC’s audience figures.

        …..but I know just what you mean.

           14 likes

      • G says:

        John,

        For me, any film of Netflix which depicts a black actor in the photo is not watched. Simples.

           17 likes

      • Old Goat says:

        I hardly watch any television at all, now – partly because it’s universally rubbish, but mainly because I’m sick of having BAMEs thrust in my face in adverts, which insist that every family, every partnership, and every marriage is mixed race – when I know otherwise. So I just don’t bother. Far more interesting and entertaining things going on on the various platforms on the internet, and (at the moment), if you don’t like or approve of something, you can bloody well say so!

           27 likes

        • Rich says:

          Have to agree with the posts above. I seem to spend more time now looking for something to watch than actually watching anything and now turn to older films and simpler foreign fare, especially on YouTube, where I often don’t know the actors involved and where the films actually make sense.

          So many modern “Hollywood” twist plots seem nonsensical, CGI incredulous, scenes of sex and violence are often unnecessarily graphic and gratuitous and many of the characters, especially those that we are supposed to empathise with, are both incredibly unlikeable and increasingly stupid.

          I realise that the actors playing the parts are acting, that it’s not real, but we now know too much about them as people, that they are often deeply flawed and unpleasant, and that so many of them simply play the same part in the same franchise-film over and over again. It has become nearly impossible to disassociate them from their incessant political posturing and hypocritical lecturing on the environment and our lifestyle choices. Shoe-horned into often unsuitable and unbelievable roles simply because of their gender, colour or sexuality and without any discernible talent, many people are just not convinced by them anymore.

          As so many actors have lost their appeal so to have the films and programmes that now lazily rely on rapidly fading star names living on past glories, prime example De Niro, or flavour-of-the-month celebrities and “influencers”.

          This is not enough anymore, it can’t hide the lack of creativity or substance, the constant remaking and rehashing of plots simply to provide content, films remade a few years apart or stolen from foreign markets and ruined by the need for diversity and by pandering to the woke. The glamour has gone, style has replaced substance, but the style is tasteless and ugly. Androgynous, plain women and effeminate males don’t offer an audience any pleasure or any escape from their everyday lives, they are all so unappealing and mundane themselves, “gritty” and “edgy” are in reality dull and it’s all been done before.

          As for the new obsession with all things “Black”, it all seems so shallow. The black culture portrayed and promoted by Netflix and others just seems superficial and materialistic. I don’t like it and so don’t watch it. If there is a market for it fair enough, but I think that if this content wasn’t propped up by by those often females who watch teenage dramas and “mummy porn” on the same platforms, the real market would be very small, not financially viable, and not “diverse” at all.

             12 likes

        • fakenewswatcher says:

          Goat – You are spot on for both reasons. The interesting question for both is : “Why?”.
          We used to get decent programmes when I was a lot younger, why is it now universally rubbish? (There is the odd gem, but that is now a rarity). The same, if not more, resources are now available to the beeb et al. Is there a reason why we seem to be ‘dumbing down’?
          When 85% of the UK population is Caucasian, why those ads? One would think the advertisers would want not to irritate customers? I, for one, see these ads as a cue NOT to buy the product. I don’t like being re-educated to accept a new ‘reality’, if that is the purpose. There are very few ‘people who don’t look like me’ (the new favourite gripe) around in my little town. We are almost all hideously white/pink.
          Are we all ‘racists’? It can’t be that there is a link between these two factors, because there are many intelligent and creative people of colour about in Britain and the US. On the socio-political side, we never get to see or hear many of them, because they are conservative. They are off message?

             7 likes

  29. StewGreen says:

    Simon Webb has been banned from YouTube for 12 days
    Covid rules are the reason he’s been given.
    He thinks it’s cos he quoted the old WHO mask advice and not the new.
    It is possible that
    #1 YouTube AI scanned his clip and found an infraction
    but I suspect
    #2 that cos he does anti-woke and anti-immigration videos, some lefty has maliciously reported him
    ..
    and that actually his video does comply with YT rules, but if you don’t challenge they believe the reporter.

       17 likes

  30. G says:

    Priti tough on overseas students after leaving education? No fear!!

    Ability to remain for 6 months and work increased to 2 years.

    https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/490/risks-of-reviving-the-defective-post-study-work-route

    Everybody assumes that the dates specified will be monitored by some Government department which will alert the ‘student worker’ just before their time is up and and informing them, its now time to leave. Dream on. This will become an ‘open ticket’ to remain. Even if they follow the legal procedure, they’ll probably be confronted by a non-native (good chance it will be a ‘fellow’ countryman) in the Home Office who will be sympathetic and turn a blind eye. That’s the way dishonesty works. That’s the way the Third World works.

    The Tories have seriously miscalculated what the public want in terms of immigration. Put simply, the public want the doors to be closed. Period. Priti Useless is fooling no one.

       28 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      It has happend, G, in the past. A few decades back, I got to know a South Korean and helped with their application to a University. After the friend graduated, it was made quite clear that the newly qualified had to go home to SK. Irony is that back at home an application was made to the British Council for a scholarship to do a Masters at the Royal College of Art funded by …. the UK taxpayer.

         8 likes

  31. Foscari says:

    If I lived in the Domenican Republic in the Caribbean where
    around 15% of the population is of Caucasion ethnicity . I
    would find the BBC internet feature on ” England lockdown
    countdown to freedom ” feature perfectly demographically
    acceptable. Changing it to a Domenican perspective.
    But I happen to live in the UK and I don’t find it acceptable
    for the BBC’S modus operandi of presenting
    mock up pictures or E moji or photos as if only 15% of the
    demographics of make of the population are Caucasian.
    This default position must be under control of BIG BROTHER
    from the Diversity department .

       25 likes

  32. StewGreen says:

    BBC articles on the new racism report are accompanied by BBC-truthspeak paragraphs.
    Simon Webb says they are riddled with falsehoods

       17 likes

  33. Guest Who says:

    https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/bbc-breakfast-viewers-switch-off-23833464

    Naga looking like getting all the gongs from the sistas this year.

    And the women.

       11 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Naga is a prime example of a token. Clearly not up to the job, lacking ability to follow an argument.

         13 likes

  34. Guest Who says:

    A repeat, but this is the BBc.

       7 likes

  35. StewGreen says:

    AZ- vaccine “BBC covers up key facts in Astra Zeneca safety report”
    a video posted by Mr Politico
    (For the purposes of Maxi, posting material doesn’t mean we endorse that view, rather we are having a discussion
    And I always welcome new info that brings arguments forward)
    I suppose most UK people I know have had a Covid vaccine, a portion got side effects for a couple of days like flu symptoms or headache, most didn’t. Of all the people I know only 3 remote contacts have actually had Covid.

    He has about 8 other videos in the last 2 months, that you can check out too.

       4 likes

  36. Beltane says:

    What seems the commonsense ‘Covid Passport’ plan is a bit of a Catch-22 for our politicians – which might explain why Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Duncan-Smith appear to be singing from the same crib-sheet.
    The problem, of course, is if say a highly qualified and valued jobseeker is denied the post of Chief Constable, brain surgeon, architect or any such worthy position simply because, for perfectly understandable reasons, heshe has decided against a vaccine jab, that denial would inevitably be based purely on racism – and institutional racism at that.
    What a conundrum!

       10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Good point : vaccine passport policing
      will quickly breakdown as people shout “racism”

      Radio guy just made the point
      The problem in London is workers don’t feel safe on public transport.
      There’s a difference between getting on a bus
      – in a country where you know 90% of the bus will have been vaccinated
      – vs a country where you know 10% of the bus will have been vaccinated

         9 likes

      • richard D says:

        StewGreen – “Good point : vaccine passport policing will quickly breakdown as people shout “racism”

        That was the whole point of ‘Shammy’ Chakrabarti’s interview this morning on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ Programme – although she never quite clearly articulated it that way.

        She believes that a vaccine passport will be divisive and discriminatory – what she means to say is that, since significant numbers of the BAME population are refusing to have the vaccine, they will be at a self-inflicted disadvantage compared to others who decide to take the vaccine if these ‘passports’ are widely used – and we can’t have that, obviously, can we ‘Shammy’ ?

        Strangely, she never believed that the ‘institutional racism’ in her beloved Labour Party against Jews was ‘divisive and discriminatory’ – to the extent that she prostituted herself on a whitewash to get a peerage.

           17 likes

  37. Sluff says:

    Beltane/ Stew

    Good points here. I think the idea of vaccine passports should be a pragmatic balance of risk issue. But it will of course get hijacked by people with firm views on either side.

    For instance. In a night club there is no way social distancing can be observed. In fact to do so would go against the whole purpose of a night club. Now you might argue that it doesnt matter. Nightclubs are mainly frequented by the young who are unlikely to get seriously ill even if they catch covid. But they might pass it on to a vulnerable person. At what point are we happy with that risk? At what point do we allow for the possibility, even likelihood, of significant levels of community transmission on the basis that around 80% of those vaccinated will be safe. I’m not offering an answer but someone does have to enact one.

       8 likes

    • Beltane says:

      Nicely put Sluff, but for me a night club is another name for a sleeping pill.

         1 likes

  38. TrickCyclist says:

    Not at all the BBC but I saw this advert for the first time on telly last night. The new All-Electric Mini advert, has anybody posted about it already?

    I can’t decide what I like about it best:
    – The diverse cast
    – The complete absence of anything resembling normal safe driving
    – The Union Jack tail light inserts
    – The traditional English pastime of basketball
    – The beautifully random shots of a Muslim woman on a bus (this is a car advert, right?) and black people in a hairdressers.
    – The only discordant notes in this vision of a British idyll are the white people – a weird red-haired biddy, a healthy-looking woman on a mobility scooter and a bloke raging about a parking ticket

    I love it, it makes me feel so at home!

       16 likes

  39. StewGreen says:

    Special Easter programming tonight
    7:30pm BBC2 BBC chums arrive at “the magnificent Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul”
    Adrian Chiles, Edwina Currie, Fatima Whitbread, Mim Shaikh, Amar Latif, Dom Joly and Pauline McLynn

    Oh on BBC4
    7pm Sacred Songs – The Secrets of Our Hearts

    “British vocal ensemble Tenebrae give a special performance of music for Easter, with all 20 of its singers filmed and recorded separately, within their enforced isolation at home”

       2 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Meanwhile Radio 4 has an Arabic script title
      for its repeat prog
      “Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmet and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax.”

         6 likes

    • Beltane says:

      Went there once and found it to be a vast empty space decorated with intricate yet convoluted scrolls, totally lacking in any inspirational sense of deity or ‘presence’. Hagia Sophia – this before Erdogan’s improvements – by contrast was properly awesome.
      For sure, the more gifted might poo-poo (no intended implication there) my assessment but for me it spoke volumes.

         3 likes

  40. StewGreen says:

    BBC progs are often made by ex-BBC staff who started production companies
    Radio4 Feedback was marked
    “Roger Bolton in a Whistledown productions”
    now it’s marked
    “Roger Bolton in a Juniper TV production”
    ..what happened ? was one company bought by the other
    http://www.junipertv.co.uk/radio.html

       2 likes

  41. G.W.F. says:

    Don’t waste time watching the Floyd George trial on the BBC. Numerous companies are live streaming direct from the court. Some offer opinions during the breaks, but Sky
    has the best tune. Enjoy.

       2 likes

    • vlad says:

      I was with you up to here: Don’t waste time watching the Floyd George trial on the BBC.

         10 likes

  42. pugnazious says:

    Oh dear, how, sad, never mind….

    ‘Left-wing comedian Nish Kumar has said that he won’t host a political comedy show for the BBC again, because the corporation didn’t “back” him when cancelling The Mash Report, which he hosted.’

    Gotta love the hypocrisy and sense of entitlement not to mention the lack of understanding as he says it’s unfair to be sacked for being too political on the impartial BBC….

    ‘He challenged the corporation to make a public statement about whether The Mash Report’s cancellation was due to his and the show’s political leanings.

    He said he’d already privately asked the BBC if this was the case, but had not yet received a reply.

    The Telegraph has asked the BBC for comment. “I want the BBC to clarify it, not for my sake, either way, I’m getting fired,” Kumar said.

    “But for the health of the corporation. They need to make a definitive statement that it was not a political decision. Because what precedent does that set otherwise?” ‘

    The BBC mustn’t make a ‘political decision’ but he can pump out political, lefty propaganda using the BBC as his chosen vehicle? Wouldn’t the BBC decision actually be non-political in such a case?

       26 likes

    • Garry Lavin says:

      Blimey. Unlike that bloke and the Mash Report…..I delivered a hit series…..and they said they had big plans and not to go elsewhere. Then….silence…..until I enquired a few months later.
      Seems they had enough white middle aged men presenters. I would never have known if I hadn’t have asked!
      I think the behaviour is par for the course…..he must know that surely?

         8 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      On this week’s Just A Minute, Nish was the what do you call it ? dolly-guy ?
      The guy who wasn’t very good so the crowd kep giving him sympathy cheers.
      … he came last.

         5 likes

  43. Docmarooned says:

    That is good news from the unfunny tosser. Sadly I am sure he will pop up in some god awful show on another channel. Most likely C4 as their recent so called comedy attempts have been dire.

       13 likes

  44. Rich says:

    I know it’s not the bBBc but why do so many reporters and presenters on Sly have such poor diction and such terrible voices.

    There is of course Beff, there’s the gobby Northern Asian guy who asked William if his family were racists, a quite camp Senior Ireland correspondent, and there’s another bloke who speaks as if his hearing aids are faulty. I don’t believe he actually wears any.

    It’s just that Sophy Ridge is on Sly Views at the minute and bearing in mind that she is supposed to be one of their best “journalists”, her voice is really grating, erring on the masculine, her accent is terrible and her delivery is dull.

    I just don’t understand why so many people in the media who rely on their purported vocal skills and talents for a living, and there are many on the bBbc as well, can get away with being such poor orators.

       10 likes

  45. fakenewswatcher says:

    Rich: For diction, love listening to Raheem Kassam, e.g. yesterday speaking of ‘journalistic malfeasance’ at the NYT. There’s a lot of that about in the UK, especially at the beeb.
    Raheem is not only good diction personified, but also a man of common sense, sharp wit, excellent analysis. Want to know what goes in the US? Forget the third-rate propagandists at ‘Americast’. Raheem has the goods. (No, I’m not on a commission- never met or spoken to him personally)
    Oh yes, and he also runs ‘The National Pulse’, which is always worth a peek. On Rumble, if you can’t find it elsewhere.

       9 likes

  46. theisland says:

    “Under a post-Brexit agreement, the French have until the end of April to fish in the territory’s waters and they are seemingly taking full advantange.”
    We know who are to blame then – Johnson, Gove, Frost etc.

       19 likes

    • pugnazious says:

      Wonder if the BBC will make a big song and dance about farmers having problems due to EU regulation…..

      ‘Farmers in Cyprus say the country has shot itself in the foot by securing special EU recognition for its distinctively squeaky halloumi cheese.

      Farmers say the stipulations that go with the recognition are so stringent that they will reduce the amount of cheese they can produce.

      They are objecting in particular to the requirement that “authentic” halloumi must now contain at least 51 per cent sheep or goat’s milk.

      They say there is a shortage of milk from goats and sheep on the island, while huge quantities of the cow’s milk that was used in the past will now go unused.

      “We’re celebrating the registration of a product that we will not be able to produce,” Nikos Papkyriakou, of the Pan Cyprian Organisation of Cattle Breeders, told the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

      He had previously described the bid for PDO status as “suicidal” for the halloumi industry.’

      Can’t see any mention on the BBC website…always so quick to point out any problems, alleged and often hyped, British farmers have #duetobrexit.

         14 likes

    • fakenewswatcher says:

      island – you have a few names, but I regret to add that I can’t think of a single current cabinet minister who impresses. Not one.

         6 likes

  47. pugnazious says:

    Just the usual…..[and similarly no mention on BBC that Gopal was the person who said ‘White lives don’t matter’ when interviewing her about the recent race report…the BBC knowing full well she would damn it…or that Dal Babu is a very strident and bitter race campaigner]

    From Guido…

    ‘On March 24th we reported that BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme’s had that morning introduced as a “Syrian refugee”, Hassan Akkad, who slammed the government and the Home Secretary Priti Patel for their new policy of taking more refugees directly from affected countries, and clamping down on illegal migration. We pointed out that the BBC did not mention that the guest was not just a former refugee, Hassan Akkad was now an active Labour Party member, documentary maker and campaigner on refugee related issues.

    Guido pointed out that listeners were left with the impression of an ordinary person up against the Home Secretary – not a political activist and Labour Party member who is ideologically against the Home Secretary attacking his opponent. Which, as we said at the time, is all of coursel fine – it was the BBC at fault for not informing their audience of their guest’s background.

    A Guido co-conspirator complained to the BBC about the Today Programme’s lack of candour about Akkad, this morning the BBC officially apologised:

    Sent: Fri, 2 Apr 2021 at 11:36
    Subject: BBC Complaints – Case number CAS-6618360-Y7C7T3
    Thanks for contacting us with your feedback about the interview with Hassan Akkad on Today, 24 March.

    Mr Akkad’s contribution to the discussion on the government’s proposals to change the asylum seeker system was valuable but that said, we acknowledge he was not introduced as a Labour Party supporter and this was an oversight, for which we apologise.’

    In what way was his contribution valuable? It was highly political and partisan….oh…yeah….I see where the BBC is coming from here….very valuable for their world view and narrative but maybe not for the listening public who would expect genuine and unbiased information not one-sided propaganda dressed up as news.

       18 likes

  48. Sluff says:

    OT but rather important imo.

    After wondering for weeks and months about the amazingly low covid death rates in Germany, I came across a paper from the LSE and here is a rather interesting paragraph.

    Quote.
    In Germany, if a person dies in their own home or a care or nursing home, the doctor (who may not be the normal attending doctor) may not know whether the person has been infected with the virus. In such cases, it is at the doctor’s discretion to determine the cause of death and complete the death certificate. Doctors can request a posthumous test for COVID-19, however the cost is not covered by social health insurance, so there is an incentive not to ask for a test.

    An interesting paper that I cannot remember the BBC ever discussing. Too keen to highlight the UK’s comparative performance especially when its not very good.

    Click to access 10-20-Anne-West.pdf

    Maybe the UK’s biggest covid problem is honest reporting.

       10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      You can pick up screenshots of the report on Twitter
      I don’t know if anything has changed
      but at the time of the report in November
      – France never counted any deaths at home
      – Germany never gave a Covid death unless the person the person had tested positive
      either before or after death
      … Germany did have a higher test rate than a lot of countries but surely missed some deaths.

         1 likes

  49. G.W.F. says:

    Breaking news from BBC US Capital on Lockdown. No information at present but BBC remember riots of Trump supporters in January.
    Obviously, Trump is to blame
    My God, she won’t stop reminding us of the riots of Trump supporters.

       9 likes

    • fakenewswatcher says:

      GWF – ….that is, IF the actual rioters (rather than the mass gatherers) WERE actually Trump supporters….

      reasons to doubt, exist…

         4 likes

  50. StewGreen says:

    Local BBC ITV
    “Here we are at the coast, where traders say it’s a really disappointing start to the bank holiday weekend”

    .. hardly surprising
    #1 The weather is cold
    #2 You media guys keep telling us to stay away from the coast

       8 likes