Spring cleaning ?well why not throw out that TV Licence you pay for ? Let’s defund the BBC … millions are already doing it …
Weekend 29th March 2025
Bookmark the permalink.
Search Biased BBC
Recent Comments
- Jeff Apr 23, 10:51
Midweek 23rd April 2025
Well, this being St George’s Day, I was going to visit the home of our former great leader, Sir Winston… - markh Apr 23, 10:44
Midweek 23rd April 2025
Searching in vain for any mention of St George’s Day on the BBC webshite. As expected there is none. I… - Zephir Apr 23, 10:43
Midweek 23rd April 2025
Also funny, Mr Stew Green , self appointed master of what is right and wrong on this site (decided to… - Zephir Apr 23, 10:25
Midweek 23rd April 2025
If we all stop posting for a while, is there a chance you will fall asleep ? Asking for a… - MarkyMark Apr 23, 10:08
Midweek 23rd April 2025
WE ARE ALL EQUAL. Member Nicola Sturgeon Transaction Ref. Q4013114 Claim Month October 2018 Allowance Type Office Cost Provision Expenditure… - MarkyMark Apr 23, 10:02
Midweek 23rd April 2025
CHEQUE IT OUT Exact amount Nicola Sturgeon to get as ‘golden goodbye’ revealed after stepping down as MSP NICOLA Sturgeon… - MarkyMark Apr 23, 09:58
Midweek 23rd April 2025
GRETA SAYS NO! YES! NO! [img]https://s1.dmcdn.net/v/YHGvM1e1xJsSp8slQ/x720[/img] - Guest Who Apr 23, 09:54
Midweek 23rd April 2025
BBC https://x.com/journalismseen/status/1914951750097793430?s=61 Chris had to do this piece because yesterday was ragingly on point in the Commons and he had… - Zephir Apr 23, 09:53
Midweek 23rd April 2025
That does not even make sesnse, ..but, nothing new there I suppose Where’s the pink boat, or the new(sic) old… - Zephir Apr 23, 09:43
Midweek 23rd April 2025
J K Rowling posted this, well done [img]https://i.postimg.cc/tTWwG7x1/Screenshot-2025-04-23-093828.jpg[/img]
Categories
agw anti-American anti-conservative anti-Israel anti Israel. pro Palestinian Antisemitism BBC - sickeningly biased at all times. BBC agenda BBC bias bbc bias and balance. bbc bias by omission BBC censorship BBC Question Time BBC selectivity bias Biased BBC climate change dhimmis general thread immigration Islam israel Mark Mardell obama obama bias Obamalove open thread pro-labour pro-palestinian pro EU pro Hamas pro Islam pro Labour bias pro Obama PRO OBAMA AT ALL COSTS. pro Obama BBC agenda question time question time live Richard Black save gordon. USA politics US economy US News US politics US presidential elections
first lol
My fear is it will be a 5 year process with no actual consequences….
The Rape Gang Inquiry
by Rupert Lowe in London, Greater London, United Kingdom
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-rape-gang-inquiry-1
£302,384
“Prof Jay said the first of these reports was “effectively suppressed” because senior officers did not believe the data. The other two were ignored, she said.”
UK officials watching as migrants are brought into Dover harbour. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Reuters
………………………….
Labour rejects calls for Oldham grooming gang inquiry
2 January 2025, 9:17am
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/labour-rejects-calls-for-oldham-grooming-gang-inquiry/
Phillips’ letter to Oldham Council, seen by GB News, claims it is for the local authority ‘alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene.’
All this white privilege is sickning
Whoo hoo, you did it – three in a row – well done the poster who suuports Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club! They do not enjoy Royal Patronage like Aston Villa do, but who at WWFC cares?
Absolutely! Well done W. (pssst Snuffy – he’s a lurker ) 😀
Brissles, my dear old thing (well it will be the UK cricket season, soon) nothing wrong with being a lurker. As I recall Jimm Greave made quite a few goals, mostly for Tottenham Hotspur, as a ‘lurker’. 🙂
Ed Miliiband has hailed a brilliant breakthrough with solar now providing LIGHT and HEAT at NIGHT in Gloucestershire
….. the solar farm is on fire
If it isn’t on the BBC it’s fake news
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/regional-news/live-fire-crews-battling-huge-10064300
Not really BBC related but it was the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. I went to hear a concert a couple of weeks ago. The hall was quite full but there were some seats available. The orchestra had reached the end of the second movement and was about to start on the third. Suddenly the entire audience must have heard the loud clump of feet as about 8 people entered the hall, (letting the doors swing noisly as they closed) and went to their seats. They had obviously not been a single group as they distributed themselves to the seats they had previously purchased – but which time the orchestra and solo violinist had restarted their playing.
There was then the lady who was sitting at the front of the auditorium who had for some reason to dash out (also during the performance). Her need was so urgent that she too let the doors swing noisly back and forth several times. She returned several minutes later, whilst the orchestra and soloist continued playing.
There then came the most amazing performance of it all. The violinist was taking her encore, playing Over the Rainbow. She had reached the final couple of minutes when the doors at the back swung open again. A young woman in Dr Martens marched noisily half way down the hall, every footstep a loud bang. She stood at the end of a row and waited expectently for the audience members in her row to stand to allow her to reach her seat in the middle. Dutifully they all allowed her to pass, just as the dying strains of the encore were played.
If the BBC wanted to produce a useful programme – it might teach people how to behave in certain circumstances – in the concert hall, at the opera, even in the supermarket. They might be little 10 minute progs but they would make the world a better place.
Deborah,
Another symbol of the steady erosion of our once peaceful and well mannered way of life where courtesy and consideration for others was the norm. Those days are long gone and even fading from memory.
Claire Fox is going to get a visit?
Radio 4 programme “The Underdogs” 11.45am last in the series Book of the Week.
About the white English working class.
I bet the BBC and the so called intellectuals would be more sympathetic to societies / tribes that do human sacrifices to their own or indulge in modern slavery than they would to the old working class in Britain of whatever colour.
So this series ends with the old working class being stupid because they are bigoted and can’t see the benefits of mass immigration, but the young ( 18 year olds and a bit above) are comfortable with ( or blasé) about the effects of mass immigration.
Then there’s a dig at the OLD white middle class projecting their bigotry as a defence of the working class.
A bit of history about skinheads hanging around to beat up new immigrants in the 60s and 70s and heh presto we have the answer to how to get nirvana – – wait for the old people to die.
The programme does the usual meme of the BBC / liberal – left progressives – – – old people versus young people.
Old people being financially comfortable but discombobulated by new ways etc.
Young people being enlightened even if there might possibly be an adverse effect on them. Which the BBC mollifies everyone there are no bad effects because the newcomers are young, pay taxes more than take benefits and care for old people as carers. They didn’t quote any statistics or studies, unusual because the BBC like them. Maybe the BBC can see suspicion of the usual analysis the Powers That Be give.
So the 18 year old they interviewed was blasé about mass immigration. And it’s effects? The BBC was ecstatic he wasn’t. He’s 18. The BBC don’t tell us if he has a gaff of his own or whether he lives with parents or guardians. It’s bad enough for any 18 year old not to have their own pad but we do expect them to live with mum and dad now due to cost of living, mortgages and low wage jobs, rental high rates and the real reason, shortage of housing.
Will this fellow be interviewed at 21, 25, 30 or later. Will he be interviewed at 65?
By a sympathetic broadcaster?
Working from home I am privileged to be able to spend time with many of the white van working community, old and young, who come on various tasks.
Now, it is the shires, so the demographic might be skewed more to a Britain of old, but almost without exception they have been hard working, polite and cheerful. The younger ones, often in apprentice roles, have often impressed with their interest and engagement.
A far cry from the city centred variety taking a break from vandalism to catch some sun in the Maldives.
Nibor the bBC is like a pantomime, you know instantly who is good and who is bad. Everything is binary and like pantomimes the ‘morals’ are very clear. Because the message has to be simple the bBC completely ignores the irony of ‘cutting’ benefits for the poor while maitaining the triple lock on already unaffordable state salaried pensions, and whose members form a wealthy sub-strata of society.
‘We’re digging people out with our bare hands’
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c4gex01m7n5t
As usual the BBC delight in taking other peoples suffering and misery to write ’empathy’ pieces to make themselves feel like emotionally superior people who care about others. When of course the truth is the exact opposite. They only care about poor ‘victims’ they can use to virtue-signal. People like Tommy Robinson can rot in hell.
But to my absolute amazement, ‘BBC Verify’ have verified that the earthquake did indeed happen !. They also verified that the buildings everybody else said collapsed were indeed the buildings in all the videos.
The video is narrated by some erk who sounds like he is 14 and his voice is even more annoying than Ros Atkins.
What a complete f*cking joke they are.
It looks like the sun is up today – but how can I be sure ?. I’ll check BBC verify to see if they confirm it as the oracles of all truth. Otherwise it might be fake-news by the far-right.
Why do the likes of Sky and the BBC attend and report upon political rallies, conventions etc in the USA but not in other countries?
Then complain about a riposte given back to them?
I noticed how when they reported on Trump rallies, they included lots of negative quotes from Democrats. Totally the opposite for Democrat rallies : it was all happiness and anti-Trump.
Weasels Directed By Jackals
I’d love to know who that core group of BBC commissars who direct the clones about what to report and how to report it are.
All the articles are too consistent and too similar for it to be anything else. They all sing carefully from the same hymn sheet and none of them ever put a foot wrong.
Except arrogant veterans such Bowen and a couple of other rising stars who think THEY are the ones to decide the news. I’ve noticed how the BBC always put their name in the article headline which I suspect is so they can hide behind the defence it is only an opinion piece when they go too far.
JohnC – correct, I feel – your reasoning is sound and the evidence of my eyes and ears confirms it.
I hear from one BBC ex freelancer that production now near always have a committee crafting the product – guidelines are strict (+ woke / hyperprogressive) and there’s usually a lawyer on the committee….(he didn’t like that)
who’d have thought eh?
‘Then, the phone rang’: BBC’s Mark Lowen on being deported from Turkey
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jgj47zx53o
lol – how many is that recently ?.
Deported for covering uncomfortable truths or deported for shamelessly distorting the news for their extreme-Left agenda without any regard for the consequences ?.
One for ‘BBC Verify’ ?. They would tell us the real truth right ?.
The Turks have given an official reason.
That said, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a truly nasty piece of work.
I’ll not forget the “Democracy is like a bus, useful to get where you want to go” quote.
Given what we’ve seen in Germany with comedians etc. one has to wonder at foreign influence operations. Pastry outfit Simit Sarayı has clear ties to the Turkish government through political endorsements and economic support, there’s no concrete evidence linking it to Turkish state security services.
Most western capitals have a branch, usually rather lavishly shop-fitted in a very high rent area serving rather good coffee and baklava to a trickle of clientele
Then there’s the barbers….
I know, to many, this will seem like an irellevant Hollywood spat.
But underneath it all is another example of a woman who has weaponised the law in an attempt to destroy a man and his career. This time to gain control of a film for which he was the director and she was a mere actress.
“It’s becoming something of a continuing narrative – that Golden Girl Blake, wife of Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and mother of four, is not quite so golden after all. It started in August last year when reports of difficulties between her and co-star Justin Baldoni, during the filming of their hit movie, It Ends With Us, first emerged. The argument was turbo-charged three months later when she filed law suits against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment on set and of mounting a global smear campaign against her. Baldoni promptly countersued, accusing Blake and her husband of effectively shutting him out of his own film and ruining his career. A court date has been set for next March.”
She has badly miscalculated. He has fought back, (something that has probably never happened to this serial bully), with strong evidence, on film, and via texts, of her “mis information”.
And, for everyone’s information, this is an interview she did a while ago showing what she is really like, where the interviewer considered leaving her job after the experience of trying to interview this self professed “victim” :
“The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2-2RBi1qzY :
Also:
“My encounter from hell with Blake Lively. What she said was so mean and snarky. Now 20 people have told me THEIR encounters.”
https://archive.is/20250329020401/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14548091/Blake-Lively-mean-Kjersti-Flaa-ALISON-BOSHOFF-Justin-Baldoni.html#selection-921.0-921.124
“Talking to me this week, Kjersti says she’s not only astonished by the response the video got but by the sheer number of people – mostly lowly toilers on film sets – who’ve come forward since to say how they, too, have felt the wrath of this talented and beautiful woman.
‘I was prepared to get a lot of backlash after I posted, that’s kind of how it works, but actually so many people came out and were really supportive of me,’ she says. ‘I had people saying that watching the video had helped their children who were at school and were being bullied. I had not expected that reaction at all.
‘I also had 20 or 25 people contact me to share their stories about Blake. Mostly they were just saying that she had been rude. They were extras or interns, people who didn’t have a high status on set. ‘I also had some journalist friends who had experiences with her which were not happy either.
Film producer Barbara Szeman was the fourth assistant director on the 2018 film, A Simple Favor. She wrote on Instagram earlier this year in a since-deleted post: ‘[Blake] was not only the worst actor I have ever worked with, but the worst human being, capable of anything to get her way.’ She added: ‘She made me cry several times when I worked with her.’ ”
‘Some comments below the video:
“This is a classic high school bullying method. Acting like you totally click with your bestie right in front of the “third wheel” to make them feel as excluded and ostracized and rejected as possible.”
“If these two women can do this to a professional reporter, infront of a camera that is filming them, imagine how they treat other professional staff and “ordinary” people without cameras! ”
“the fact that neither of them really make eye contact with the interviewer after she asked a question is so unbelievably rude”
“They think they are the epitome of feminism, but they are actually just mean high-school girls. Well done for the interviewer for keeping her cool and being professional!”
“”People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou”
There is a very long piece in the DT Saturday discussing the BBC attitude towards benefits – people living off your money
It’s worth the effort
STARTS
When Ben Chu was asked on BBC Two’s Newsnight whether Labour had brought back austerity, the economics editor jumped straight into an analysis of benefits cuts.
“If we’re talking about cuts in benefits then that does seem to be a reasonable description,” he said. “Whether you call it austerity or not, it’s going to be certainly very painful for those individuals.”
The comments set the tone for the programme – and the broadcaster’s coverage of Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement more widely.
For the BBC and other broadcasters, there appeared to be just one focus: welfare.
Despite warnings about the growing unsustainability of Britain’s benefits bill from both the Left and the Right, the BBC instead chose to treat welfare like a sacred cow.
The economy is a magic money tree, they seem to claim, with more than enough money to go around if only the government of the day would put its mind to it.
Even after the changes spending on sickness and disability benefits for working-age people is still set to rise from £56bn last year to £65bn by the end of the decade in real terms. That is a staggering increase of 16pc in five years. Without the cuts, it would have risen by 25pc.
Spending has already nearly doubled in the last decade and a half. Far from radically curtailing support, Reeves was “really just slowing the increase rather than actually putting it into reverse”, says Tom Waters, at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
“Even with these measures, spending on health-related benefits will be a decent amount higher in 2029 than they were just this current fiscal year we have now finished.”
The Chancellor is right to be alarmed about this stratospheric rise. After racking up debt during the financial crisis, Covid and the energy crunch, Britain now faces intense pressure on its public finances that make such a rapid rise in the benefits bill simply unaffordable.
Meanwhile, there are spending pressures on every front: from high interest rates, dangerous times that call for more defence spending and a sicker and older population.
“Some of the changes, while harsh, are certainly defensible,” says Paul Johnson, the head of the IFS.
Yet anyone watching the BBC would be forgiven for not being aware of the looming economic crisis as the broadcaster instead zeroed in on just one issue: welfare.
Protests against the reforms, which were organised by campaigners from groups including Stop the War Coalition and Socialist Worker, topped an extended edition of Radio 4’s World at One.
Faisal Islam, the BBC economics editor who was granted the first question at Reeves’s press conference on Wednesday, asked whether pushing a quarter of a million people into poverty was a “price worth paying” for the rise in interest costs.
BBC One’s News at Ten featured an interview with a benefits claimant, while three of the last 10 episodes of Newsnight have focused on welfare.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning, Nick Robinson doggedly pursued Reeves over the impact of her welfare reforms, culminating in an exasperated “But you are making them worse off, Chancellor”.
For some, this may be a simple case of the UK’s publicly funded broadcaster holding the Government to account. After all, more than 3m families will be left £1,720 out of pocket as a result of the changes, although ministers argue that 3.8m families will gain £420 a year.
But the BBC’s one-track approach overlooks a crucial consideration: Britain is hurtling towards bankruptcy – and the current benefits burden is simply unsustainable.
‘A lifestyle choice’
To understand why Starmer and Reeves are risking the biggest rebellion of their government for relatively small savings on welfare, one must take a step back.
Britain did not always spend this much on social security. If you turn back time to the mid-1950s when the welfare state was still new, spending was equal to around 5pc of GDP. Spending on the health system was around 3pc, less than what Britain spent servicing its debts. The big ticket item was defence, at 7.6pc.
But spending on health and welfare has ballooned in the intervening decades. The state is expected to spend around £1.4 trillion this year, with welfare poised to take up £326.1bn.
That makes it the single largest area of spending with health and social care just behind at around £200bn.
While half of the welfare spend goes on a rising number of pensioners, ministers are alarmed over what is happening among people of working age. There has been a rapid rise in the number of people who should be in their best years claiming they are too sick to work, often blaming their mental health.
Since the pandemic, some 700,000 more people have left the workforce because of long-term sickness. Nearly all of these people claim some form of benefit, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics.
No one is really sure why. Britain is something of an outlier among comparable countries in seeing such a big, sustained exodus of workers as a result of poor health.
Douglas McWilliams, a former adviser to George Osborne, says: “My sense is that gradually, and I think lockdown had a lot to do with it, large swathes of the country are beginning to feel that living on benefits is a lifestyle choice.
“It’s sad for them, but if you live off free money for a long enough period it becomes quite hard to get off it – it can be quite addictive.”
The biggest increases in health problems have been among young people struggling with their mental health and older people dealing with musculoskeletal issues such as achy knees, backs and necks.
A staggering 2.7m people aged 16 to 34 now have a health problem classed as work-limiting, up by more than a million from a decade ago. This means they are more likely to suffer poor health than those in their late 30s and 40s.
People suffering from poor health can claim up to £9,600 a year in PIP to help offset the greater living costs they face. This is regardless of whether they are employed or not, or how much money they have.
Around a quarter of a million people in England and Wales successfully made new claims for disability benefits in the year before Covid, but that annual total had close to doubled by 2023.
At the same time, fewer people stopped their claims, resulting in more pressure on the benefit system. Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are often behind the new claims.
One in every 14 people of working age now receive sickness benefits. Before the end of the decade, the Office for Budget Responsibility believes this figure will be approaching one in 12 – an all-time high.
Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer believe this is not just unaffordable, but also a moral dereliction of duty. The Prime Minister made the case last week that the benefits system was leaving a generation out of work and on welfare, something that must be fixed.
He told MPs: “I’m not going to turn away from that, I am genuinely shocked that a million people, young people, are in that position, and I’m not prepared to shrug my shoulders and walk past it.”
Nevertheless, the BBC appears to have adopted as its starting point the idea that benefits cuts are intrinsically bad – and this view is rarely challenged.
“There’s always an uncomfortableness about critiquing benefits claimants,” says one former senior BBC producer. “It’s pretty easy to be painted as heartless as a broadcaster [if you do].”
This is particularly acute when viewers are presented with case studies, as the BBC has frequently – and empathetically – done.
Public sentiment is not against welfare cuts, however. Polling by YouGov in March showed more than half of Britons believed there was capacity for spending cuts in the welfare budget, with one in five saying this would not have a negative impact on services.
A separate poll showed that 53pc of UK adults believe qualifications for benefits are not strict enough and are too open to abuse and fraud.
Crucially, criticism of the cuts overlooks the fact that bringing more people back into work would be beneficial to them. Reeves argues that her policies are about “lifting people out of poverty”.
“Most people don’t look at the economic impact, they only look at the direct impact on payments to people,” says McWilliams.
“Obviously if you look at it that way a lot of people at that end of society are going to have less income in the first instance. But if they get into work, they will have more income, and the analysis doesn’t go the extra mile to check this.”
Luke Johnson, the chairman of Gail’s bakery chain, said this week: “A fundamental problem with British society is its obsession with the public sector, welfare and redistribution. Economists, the media, politicians all focus on spending. The private sector and wealth generation are crowded out.”
‘A nightmare brief’
This is not to say that welfare cuts are always the right approach. The real tests of the reforms overseen by Reeves and Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will be if they actually deliver the savings promised and boost to employment.
Johnson, at the IFS, is optimistic. “The savings are actually a major understatement of the long run effects as claimants will continue to roll on to the lower and harder to qualify for benefits and more current PIP recipients are reassessed,” he says.
IFS analysis shows the savings from cutting incapacity benefits will rise from £3bn by the end of the decade to £8.5bn once fully rolled out in the 2030s.
However, the figures are highly uncertain. Many ministers have made similar promises in the past, while presiding over an ever-rising bill.
Even still, the BBC’s coverage exposes a tendency to treat Britain’s welfare system as a sacred cow, with any cuts deemed to be inherently sacrilegious.
A senior BBC source defends the broadcaster’s approach, arguing that benefit cuts were the most significant and newest announcement in the Spring Statement. They pointed to an interview with Nadia Whittome in which Nick Robinson challenged the backbench Labour MP on the ballooning size of the welfare bill.
Nevertheless, the BBC still does not appear to have grasped the scale of the crisis facing Britain. Government debt is 100pc of GDP, an ageing population is pushing up welfare payments and the benefits bill has increased exponentially over the last few years.
The former producer admits: “There’s no sense that there’s something wrong here or we should explain that or contextualise it.”
The BBC is not the only broadcaster with this blind spot. In its press conference question, ITV asked Reeves why she was “punishing the most vulnerable”. John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, later appeared on Robert Peston’s programme to bemoan the cuts.
Meanwhile, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn used a lengthy interview with Sky News the night before the Spring Statement to brand benefits cuts a “disgrace”.
Are broadcasters are simply biased?
In the US, politicians are currently asking this very question as Donald Trump’s administration pursues public broadcasters NPR and PBS. In characteristically incendiary fashion, he described the channels as “arms of the radical Left Democrat Party” and called for them to be defunded.
McWilliams says of British broadcasters: “Most of the journalists tend to be a bit to the Left of what I would call common sense.
“What that means is they tend to pay more attention to Left-wing sources than centrist sources, so they don’t pick up this information, and I think they ought to pick up this information because if people are encouraged back into work it’s a) good for the economy but it’s b) good for them.”
The former BBC producer rejects any charges of bias. “I thought the Beeb did a pretty good job. It’s a bit of a nightmare brief, taking what’s quite a dry story and giving it that amount of airtime,” they say.
“You probably are in the realms of public service broadcasting because you’re certainly not in the ‘audiences gagging for more’ on the Spring Statement.”
The source acknowledges a small element of “unconscious bias”, but says the main reason for the focus on welfare is likely to be more banal. “I think the premise was that the easiest way to have a go at Reeves was to look at it politically.”
This political focus is, for some, a flaw in the BBC’s approach. The broadcaster leads coverage of major events such as the Spring Statement from its Westminster hub at Millbank. This, critics say, means the story is helmed by political journalists rather than specialised business or economics correspondents, leading to a skewed coverage.
Slaughtering the sacred cow
Another issue, inevitably, is complexity. Macroeconomic concepts can be obscure and esoteric. It is far easier to focus on the changes that the public will more readily understand.
It is a flaw that many parts of the media are guilty of – most frequently seen in the “penny off the pint” style of reporting. For some observers, though, this is simply not the right approach.
“Growth is not an abstract economic concept that does not impact day-to-day life,” says Callum Price, the director of communications at the Institute of Economic Affairs. “It impacts every single person. It is what makes everyone better off, what raises wages and brings people out of poverty. Growth delivers opportunity and freedom widely.
“It should be the Government’s top priority and everything should be viewed through the lens of what effect it has on growth, and what it means for average Britons.”
The issue is particularly acute for the BBC given recent scrutiny of its economics coverage.
For BBC insiders, the problem is exacerbated by perennial cuts. The public service broadcaster has implemented multiple rounds of redundancies in recent years as Davie seeks to plug a £500m black hole in its finances.
Most recently, the BBC’s business output was hit by sweeping cuts to the World Service in January. Bosses outlined plans to cut six jobs in Salford and close two of its daily programmes – Business Matters and an afternoon edition of World Business Report.
The BBC’s business operations are also still reeling from a move to Salford five years ago that led to the departure of key figures such as Dominic O’Connell, the Today programme’s business presenter.
“It’s not a massive surprise if lots of your experienced journalists leave and you replace them with far less experienced, quite often without a business background, that there isn’t that kind of depth of knowledge,” says the former producer.
A BBC spokesman said: “We don’t recognise this partial characterisation of our coverage, which doesn’t take the breadth of our reporting into account; the BBC has covered all aspects of the debate, including the investments in areas such as defence, and has regularly explained the significant increases in the welfare budget in recent years.”
Not everyone who consumes the broadcasters content regularly would agree. Many will no doubt be left wondering: as Britain faces an uncertain economic future, will the broadcaster finally be willing to slaughter its sacred cow?ENDS
Comment – BBC ‘couture’ based on the far left group think – declares any attempt to control a huge and growing ‘benefits ‘ bill as wrong .
The BBC is detached from real life because it knows the money to run it and those pensions will always flow .
I acknowledge im an out of time extremist – don’t work – don’t eat – is my starting point .
Once people realise how easy it is to play the benefits system why not get a disability – anxiety – depression – to get free money .- from you ?
What confuses me is how we seemed to be ticking along as usual with nobody ringing alarm bells about the economy when suddenly Labour get in and it’s defcon 1.
How did we go so suddenly from ‘no news’ to ‘bankrupt’ overnight ?.
Of course the BBC are keeping quiet about it. If it were Tories, that ’20 billion’ black hole ‘without provding evidence’ would have been exposed as a sham very quickly and they would have hounded the chancellor out of office with daily ‘live feeds’ to dish dirt ‘the BBC have learned’ from anonymous extreme-Left civil servants.
Re DT article on welfare spending:
“No one is really sure why. Britain is something of an outlier among comparable countries in seeing such a big, sustained exodus of workers as a result of poor health.”
Because they can
You’re welcome
Personally, I think the masses of people now on sickness benefit in the UK are voting with their feet: They see hoards of riffraff foreigners illegally entering the UK and getting paid for it compliments of the taxpayer and thinking, ‘Why should I put myself out, if they can get lavish amounts of money thrown at them, why should I help pay for it?
Perverse incentive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
The Tax Reform Act of 1976 provided for loss of tax benefits if owners demolished buildings. This led to an increase in arson attacks in the 1970s as a way of clearing land without financial penalties. The law was later altered to remove this aspect.[30]
A welfare trap is a situation where a person would make less money working (or working more hours) than they do receiving state benefits, as a result of means testing rendering them ineligible for benefits.[35][36]
Well sky all over the reform rally last night please go and read their home page it’s worth a look ,if you take out the words Farage and reform and replace them with the words trump and the republican party you will notice the same attack dog coverage they heaped on the trump rallies and we all know how all that bile turned out as the silent majority turned out and voted trump in .THEY ARE RATTLED ,they say things like many empty seats and not much about the Marxists outside the venue trying to stop the rally
Led By Soros backing have of course produced a new media show.
The effect of these epics is eroding fast as folk notice who they spare.
For the first time in my life I am getting worried about the growing possibility ,albeit still small but definitely growing , of nuclear war.
I am 73 and whilst I have childhood memories of the Cuban missile crisis I didn’t understand the danger or what was going on. But now I do recognise the signs of a population being manipulated into accepting a war against Russia!
This manipulation has been going on for a couple of years but lately it has stepped up several gears. I watched a Times Radio podcast yesterday in which there was a discussion about the Ukrainian war and how Europe , or NATO minus the US , was already at war with Russia and preparations for a shooting war must be increased.
I believe that Times Radio will be representative of the thinking of the British Globalist elite and so it is worrying that they are talking of starting a shooting war which could escalate into a nuclear one.
Throughout history when regimes have had domestic problems the ruling elite often think that war will distract the people and bring about a surge of patriotism. Ironically sections of the Russian elite believed this in 1914 and it was one the principal factors which caused WW1.
The European Globalist elites are facing electoral defeat at the hands of Nationalists . We all know they are using lawfare, censorship , propaganda and state power to suppress Nationalism but it keeps getting stronger. Have they now become so desperate that they think that starting a war will help them domestically? Dangerous clowns.
Double – yes – agree – in my view the more nuclear war is talked about the more likely it will happen – either on purpose or by accident …
The speed of escalation would mean we d never find out who started it and how it started – just the flash and blast and good night .
I worry as much about the Article 5 NATO situation which has been an assurance of mutual defence but now might well be the trigger for a global war – or that an attack on a European state – and failure to respond by the US – would signal the end of NATO and the opportunity for Trump to rebuild the Russian empire …
Typo, Putin not Trump.
NATO is supposed to be defensive alliance encompassing only its members. Of course Kosovo wasn’t a member when NATO attacked Serbia and NATO also attacked Libya to bring about regime change. So it does have a track record of aggression rather than pure defence.
My hope is that the UK nuclear weapons really do need US authorisation before they can be launched and of course that Trump withholds it , and that France dare not go nuclear alone. So there would be no first strike from the NATO countries.
Crucially that Trump makes it plain to Putin that if Russia does go for a first strike then article 5 would be triggered which would hopefully deter Russia.
But it would be far far better and safer if Starmer and Macron et al stopped their silly sabre rattling and joined Trump in trying to get a peace deal.
Those two are like young boys with a box of matches in a fireworks factory. Sadly we all live right next door to the factory.
Double – I notice the number 10 media chap has resigned – perhaps TTK realises that British voters don’t want to hear about Ukraine – boots on the ground ? – people know that’s empty embarrassing crap …
Hope so.
As I mentioned earlier, I wondered out loud a while back how the EU would keep the war going now Trump wants to stop it. It’s been clear for a long time that the EU want Ukraine for themselves and probably the whole of Russia eventually. They realise they will never get another chance like this.
Then we had the very odd ‘coallition of the willing’ unilaterally planning to occupy Ukraine as ‘peacekeepers’ because we are told Putin will absolutely certainly start the war again if they don’t.
The whole thing didn’t ring true for me until Macron said the other day that if Russia attacked the peacekeepers, NATO would step in. Then it became clear what the game is.
I absolutely believe that the EU are prepared to bluff Russia with nuclear war to expand their empire. Once again we are depending on Trump to step in and restore common sense.
George Soros’ evil plan to flood Europe with mostly muslim third-world migrants, and other lefty madness.
Families’ anger over plans to build over their ‘village green’ with a mosque car park
By FREYA BARNES
Published: 08:51, 23 March 2025 | Updated: 08:59, 23 March 2025
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14527895/Families-anger-plans-build-village-green-mosque-car-park.html
Chew Moor Methodist Church on St John’s Road closed down in 2023 due to its decline in congregation and it was announced a year later that it would be turned into a mosque.
Today
TTK – the sentencing council . Unusually a debate between 2 ex lord chancellors – the vile Robert buckland and the vile Charlie Charles Faulkner ….
Buckland favours TTK ‘justice ‘ – Faulkner was against it .
Buckland is a reminder of how detached the blues got before being thrown out of government – a disgraceful man supporting a disgraceful set of guidelines highlighting the illegitimacy of the legal system …
Act of God and Manna from Heaven for our BBC news teams.
Full-court press – as they say in American basketball…
Myanmar earthquake… LIVE: Death toll… Watch… In pictures… What we know so far… BBC Verify… (BBC)
Most watched wins the clean sweep 1 to 5 – all earthquake related – but are you wondering what fascinating news clips constituted the competition at BBC news online…?
Watch our pick of standout clips from across the BBC… Photo finish in Snowboard Cross as GB’s Charlotte Bankes wins silver – niche; Why did we start moving clocks forward – yawn; Lily Gladstone on her new IVF-themed romcom – niche and yawn; BBC’s Mark Lowen describes his 17-hour detention in Turkey – ditto; When the after work drinks hit a little too hard… – time to retreat back under the duvet?
Force me to choose between that dire ensemble and watching a click-bait clip of a pagoda collapse and I know what I’m clicking on.
The gynaeceum that is BBC news staff seize on a golden opportunity to adjust the statistical balance of popular tabloid and ‘Tory rag’ titles topping their online print press line-up by promoting two papers from the virtual national newstand that happen to headline the earthquake.
Hundreds feared dead in quake horror (Daily Express)
Tens of thousands are feared dead in quake… Hell on earth – the Daily Star ups the ante.
In other news…
Police arrest parents for complaining about school… Couple thrown in cell over emails to primary… Hertfordshire Constabulary… Cowley Hill primary in Borehamwood (Times)
The West is emulating China… Instead of the People’s Republic becoming more liberal, we have become more authoritarian. (Adrian Pabst, New Statesman, September 2023)
This article is worth quoting further…
Western countries have undermined fundamental freedoms of speech, association and religion. First the 20-year long war on terror curtailed civil liberties and betrayed universal principles of justice, such as fair detention, fair trial, the right to defence, habeas corpus, and a decent treatment of the convicted… Then came the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought us indiscriminate lockdowns of draconian severity with little parliamentary scrutiny. And both state and corporate intrusions of privacy and the erosion of free expression and free assembly… Western countries are replacing the failed market fundamentalism with variants of state capitalism, in which the central state intervenes in business and civic life to the benefit of small elites with powerful political leverage
Sometimes… these segueways…
British Steel’s Chinese owner wanted £1bn state support for Scunthorpe site (FT); Ministers are considering using terror laws to nationalise Britain’s steel blast furnaces… (Telegraph)
More about our fiery furnaces later…
That’s a little heavy. Here’s the fashion news…
‘I was told not to go full burqa’ Emily Maitlis: My Saudi break (Times)
And in sport… Miss Whiplash…
Furry fan fave called cops… City probe ace’s ‘knock’ on mascot… Erling Harland left a Manchester City mascot with suspected whiplash and concussion after a playful knock to the back of the head. The woman, working as alien “Moonbeam”, was hit by the 6ft 4in striker before a game with Southampton (The Sun)
There’s an episode of the – now vintage – US TV hit show Seinfeld where Jerry’s female best friend Elaine lands a side gig drawing comic cartoons for a serious magazine publication.
Elaine is thrilled to have her amusing cameos published but is dismayed that Jerry can’t quite understand or see what precisely is supposed to be funny about them.
The joke being on those cartoons and accompanying captions that aren’t really funny and/or when people just don’t ‘get’ the supposed gag.
Sadly, our mate Matt in the Telegraph – of who’s satirical humour we generally approve – makes an Elaine-like misstep today.
We ‘get’ where he’s going by drawing two unfortunates up to their waists apparently in boiling oil with a pitchfork-weilding horned demon looking on. Clearly we’re in Hell. And politically, we understand the issue to which he refers – but the caption: “I had no idea Heaven operated a two-tier judgement system” – somehow that doesn’t quite hit home in the way it ought.
Im waiting for the headline ‘bankok earthquake – what does it mean for tourism ‘ … ?
Two Thai girls asked me if I wanted to sleep with them. They said that it would be like winning the lottery. To my horror they were right. We had six matching balls
News from The Fuhrerbunker at Supreme Leader Kim Jong Starmer’s Reichstag:
“Reich Minister of Propaganda, Ed Miliband, is failing to tackle soaring energy bills while risking power shortages in his race to Net Zero, MPs have warned.
In a ‘fresh humiliation’ for the Energy Secretary, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the time being taken on reviews of gas and electricity prices.
It urged the Government to set out a timetable for reducing electricity bills through its previous commitments to rebalance the costs of electricity and gas.
The PAC also said Mr Miliband must do more to convince Parliament he has a ‘robust plan’ for ensuring energy security when it is more reliant on ‘intermittent renewables’.
Labour claimed during the election campaign that their plans to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 would reduce household bills by £300.”
There was a PMQ – perfectly sensible – about why the Marxists are concreting over the works to stop fracking for ever ? And maybe leave it so that it could be used in a national emergency –
The non -and tired -Response from TTK was evasive and meaningless – so I forgot it ….as mad as blowing up coal power stations ….mad
Labour claimed during the election campaign that their plans to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 would reduce household bills by £300.
But since then, energy bills have gone up by an average of £281 thanks to the energy price cap rising three times.
The PAC said: ‘The UK had the highest electricity price out of 25 countries reporting both domestic and industrial electricity prices in 2023, (including taxes and levies) and electricity is currently four-times more expensive than gas.
‘Despite repeated promises, the Department has delayed taking action to rebalance energy prices by shifting the cost of environmental levies from electricity to gas.
Zephir
I understand the price cap goes up again on Fools’ day – with no prospect of energy prices falling the future – forseeable or not
‘The term ‘Forseeable future ‘ is so redundant in our times )
“wind going to be cheaper”
already 9x cheaper! – the (usually paid for) Zealots screech
The systematic mendacity of the renewables crew simply doesn’t recognise reality….
I saw an applicable quote the other day which I feel bears repetition
“You can ignore reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality”
When the Left have the power, they either get things their own way or they destroy it through spite. Hitler proved that many times – right to the end where he said all German people deserved to die for losing the war instead of surrendering when all hope was lost.
Spite is their second strongest characteristic. Greed is their first. Both are symptoms of their very shallow character.
Plus ca change, remind you of anywhere ? (immigration concerns, climate change, DEI etc etc ) :
The first Nazi concentration camps (initially created to house political dissenters) were founded shortly after Hitler seized power. In a process termed Gleichschaltung (coordination), the Nazi Party proceeded to rapidly bring all aspects of life under control of the party. All civilian organisations, including agricultural groups, volunteer organisations, and sports clubs, had their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathisers or party members. By June 1933, virtually the only organisations not in the control of the Nazi Party were the army and the churches.
After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Goebbels’s Propaganda Ministry quickly gained control over the news media, arts and information in Nazi Germany. He was particularly adept at using the relatively new media of radio and film for propaganda purposes. Topics for party propaganda included antisemitism, attacks on Christian churches, and (after the start of the Second World War) attempts to shape morale.
In a move to manipulate Germany’s middle class and shape popular opinion, the regime passed on 4 October 1933 the Schriftleitergesetz (Editor’s Law), which became the cornerstone of the Nazi Party’s control of the popular press. Modelled to some extent on the system in Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, the law defined a Schriftleiter as anyone who wrote, edited, or selected texts and/or illustrated material for serial publication. Individuals selected for this position were chosen based on experiential, educational, and racial criteria. The law required journalists to “regulate their work in accordance with National Socialism as a philosophy of life and as a conception of government.”
The Reich Film Chamber, which all members of the film industry were required to join, was created in June 1933. Goebbels promoted the development of films with a Nazi slant, and ones that contained subliminal or overt propaganda messages. Under the auspices of the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture), created in September, Goebbels added additional sub-chambers for the fields of broadcasting, fine arts, literature, music, the press, and the theatre. As in the film industry, anyone wishing to pursue a career in these fields had to be a member of the corresponding chamber.
In this way anyone whose views were contrary to the regime could be excluded from working in their chosen field and thus silenced.
A committee was established to censor books, and works could not be re-published unless they were on the list of approved works. Similar regulations applied to other fine arts and entertainment; even cabaret performances were censored.
Hitler’s architect and later Minister for Armaments and War Production, later said the regime “made the complete use of all technical means for domination of its own country. Through technical devices like the radio and loudspeaker, 80 million people were deprived of independent thought.”
In 1943, Goebbels began to pressure Hitler to introduce measures that would produce “total war”, including closing businesses not essential to the war effort, conscripting women into the labour force, and enlisting men in previously exempt occupations into the Wehrmacht. Hitler finally appointed him as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War on 23 July 1944, whereby Goebbels undertook largely unsuccessful measures to increase the number of people available for armaments manufacture and the Wehrmacht.
Wasn’t grim Jock Reith an admirer?
The FCO has a very long travel advisory for going to Burma .
It could be replaced by two words ‘just don’t ’…
The Burmese government have a similar long warning to their citizens about visiting the UK due to a long list of Starmers human rights abuses.
eg.. where families can suffer punishment arrests for daring to email a school to criticise teachers.
Stew – I went and looked 🙂
It would’ve been fun if they did issue that sort of travel advisory !
Actual warning about travel to UK
https://x.com/i/grok/share/p3FRSzd2TUSawNmOVYqGLskMi
eg1 The U.S. State Department advises increased caution due to the threat of terrorism.
Terrorist groups are noted to continue plotting possible attacks in the UK, potentially targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, and other public areas with little or no warning
Australia and Canada use very similar wording as if it came out of the UK govt Nudge Unit
Reason: The advisory cites terrorism risks from Islamic extremism, extreme right-wing ideology, and Northern Ireland-related threats.
It also warns of common crimes like pickpocketing and muggings, especially in tourist areas during summer, and advises avoiding areas with protests or riots due to potential violence.
I asked Grok AI “Give me the name of a tourist to the UK who was harmed by “extreme right-wing ideology”
Reply : There is no widely documented or specific case of a tourist to the UK being directly harmed by “extreme right-wing ideology”
that is commonly cited in official records or mainstream sources as of March 29, 2025
.. notable incidents like 2017 Darren Osborne …the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016 by Thomas Mair”
I asked : has a Jewish person been injured in the UK by terrorism ?
Reply “Yes, there have been instances where Jewish individuals in the UK have been injured in incidents classified as terrorism or suspected terrorism, ..
While not always officially classified as “terrorism” due to legal thresholds, some antisemitic attacks in the UK have injured Jewish individuals and carried extremist motives. For instance, in August 2021, Abdullah Qureshi assaulted three Jewish people in Stamford Hill, London
For example, in May 2024, three men (Walid Saadaoui, Amar Hussein, and Bilel Saadaoui) were charged with preparing a terrorist attack involving machine guns aimed at the Jewish community in northwest England.
This plot, inspired by Islamic State ideology,
.. Extreme Right-Wing Ideology Context .. Thomas Mair, ..driven by neo-Nazi ideology hostile to Jewish people.
Strange how the AI stuck that in
.. when Mair made no move to harm Jews
I asked “Give me a list of Jewish people injured in attacks by Islamists and Muslims
-It replied
– “three Jewish individuals by Abdullah Qureshi ”
– “Potentially 7/7/ bombings in 2006”
– “2021 Car convoy passengers shouted antisemitic threats like “F*** the Jews” and “rape their daughters.”
Note it left out the attack against Itay Kashti
Itay Kashti, an Israeli-Jewish music producer living in the UK, was attacked and kidnapped by three individuals identified as Muslims in August 2024
I asked it why ?
Reply “you’re absolutely right—Itay Kashti’s case fits your request as a Jewish person injured in an attack by Muslims, with clear antisemitic motivation and religious undertones from the attackers’ own statements (e.g., their faith in Allah).
It should have been included for completeness, and I apologize for the oversight.
Here’s an updated version of the list with Kashti added:
ie the AI has just admitted it is racist against Jews
Canada : independent journalists have forced the resignation of a creepy Trudeau Party candidate.
https://www.junonews.com/p/breaking-liberal-candidate-thomas
2 days ago When journo tried to get answers before publishing. . politician and team LIED to police saying journo had got physical
But journo was carrying hidden cam
.. https://x.com/TheRealKeean/status/1904704545927946407
MSM journos are all bought and directly paid for by Trudeau Party
The indy journo is threatening action against the Canadian government broadcaster CBC cos they have now copied his scoop without crediting him
Instead they used the words “CBC News has learned”
I remember when Tim Pool and others had their work flagrantly stolen by corporate media – who in some cases syndicated the footage and trousered the fees.
grrrrr…..
The BBC hierarchy may be capable of having a heart attack
if a swear word or the wrong “pronoun” is is used on
live TV. However what infuriates me is how news presenters
are incapable of thinking about what they are saying , other
than aping from their autocues,
This morning on the breakfast programme 29/3. We had at
least five minutes on Newcastle’s league Cup celebrations.
Alan Shearer was not asked to be brief.
BUT when an on the spot correspondent was reporting
from Thailand about the horrendous earthquake . particularly
in Myanmar where I expect thousands of poor folk have lost
their lives. The BBC news presenter asked him to tell us
BRIEFLY what was going on.
Yes I know that she was just aping from her autocue. But
I find this lack of natural empathy disgusting.
Foscari
The sausage machine of nooze has really got performative and the editors / directors get the on-screen “key talent” prancing around stupid sets waving their arms, holding clipboards and slavishly following scripts.
– it’s a farce
Foscari.
It’s especially bad up here in Sunderland where the local North East radio is forever going on about their (Saudi Arabia United) Carabao Cup win.
I just hope it’s not going to be like this EVERY 70 years.
*for those who don’t know, it’s 70 years since they last won a cup.
I thought that they won the old fairs cup around1970,only 55 years ago.
Gif video of Hertfordshire police Stasi on doorstep before kidnapping couple over LEGAL social media messages
https://x.com/i/status/1905750376722407459
The father’s 6 minute video is quite good
https://twitter.com/TimesRadio/status/1905693691416883419
Only when this happens to MSM types does this behaviour by wet-police become news.
But when done to others – for example TR – then Meh – tumbleweed.
That is 2T journalism.
I have no words….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce989vygkz7o
Tribunal suspended licence of consultant for 12 months over 2018 rape accusation that he denies
“Police investigated but did not charge Dr Police investigated but did not charge Dr Foy-Yamah, but the Medical Tribunal Practitioners Service (MPTS) concluded on the balance of probabilities that he had raped the woman – which he denies, but the Medical Tribunal Practitioners Service (MPTS) concluded on the balance of probabilities that he had raped the woman – which he denies”
“he 55-year-old, who qualified at the University of Benin in Nigeria, was accused of misconduct relating to when he worked at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in November 2018.”
2018?
– just got early TTK release did he?
Digg
My instant response is – is he a real doctor ? Where qualified ? I found his company address in 30 seconds – but there isn’t much else on the internet about him …. He got a UK passport from somewhere …… the appeal shouid be spicy … ‘one off rapes indeed ‘ .
Sometime the self awareness of the BBC is a source of mild humour ….
On ‘from our own correspondent ‘ a bbc type sneered about freedom in Turkey . Opposition candidates are being detained or prosecuted ….
As soon as I heard this what countries could I think or ? UK . Eire – Eire definitely where the state is digging up crap to charge Conor mcgregor with . Don’t get me wrong – the only thing I know about him is his outspoken criticism of the destruction of Eire through insane invasion ….the bbc could never see it ….
Not about the BBC – But about freedom – the malicious arrest of 2 parents – from the DT
STARTS The parents of a nine-year-old girl were arrested by police after they complained about their daughter’s primary school in a WhatsApp group.
Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine were reportedly detained in front of their young daughter by six officers before being left in a cell for eight hours.
They said they were questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property.
After a five-week investigation, police concluded that there should be no further action.
‘Disparaging’ comments
It comes after officers from Essex Police turned up at the home of Allison Pearson, the Telegraph columnist, on Remembrance Sunday to inform her that she was being investigated on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred over a post she had published and then deleted on social media 12 months earlier.
The arrest of the couple, on Jan 29, reportedly came after the school complained about Mr Allen and his partner sending numerous emails and making “disparaging” comments on a parents’ WhatsApp group.
The couple had previously been banned from entering Cowley Hill Primary School, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, after questioning the appointment process for a head teacher and “casting aspersions” on the chairman of governors on WhatsApp, The Times reported.
Mr Allen, 50, a producer for Times Radio, told the newspaper he and his partner were blocked from attending the parents’ evening for their daughter Sascha, nine.
‘Silence awkward parents’
He said their treatment showed “massive overreach” by Hertfordshire Constabulary, and that the approach by Cowley Hill primary was intended to “silence awkward parents”.
Mr Allen added: “It was absolutely nightmarish. I couldn’t believe this was happening, that a public authority could use the police to close down a legitimate inquiry. We’d never used abusive or threatening language, even in private, and always followed due process.
“Yet we have never even been told what these communications were that were supposedly criminal, which is completely Kafkaesque.”
The conflict reportedly began in May last year when Mr Allen said he wrote to the school governors questioning why, given that the previous head teacher had announced his retirement six months earlier, an open recruitment process had not begun.
A month later, Jackie Spriggs, who chairs the governors at the school, allegedly wrote to parents saying that the school would take action against anyone who caused “disharmony”.
Mr Allen said that he and his partner expressed their outrage over the warning in a private WhatsApp group.
Overturn the ban
Ms Levine, 46, said she made a comment about Louise Thomas, the acting head teacher, in which she suggested the school was overreacting to social media posts.
Shortly afterwards, the school reportedly banned the couple from visiting the school premises. It allegedly told them they could only make contact via email, and over the coming weeks they said they did so regularly.
The couple said they repeatedly tried to persuade the school to overturn the ban, as their daughter suffers from epilepsy, and launched a formal complaint including their concerns about the head recruitment process.
The school then allegedly asked Hertfordshire police for advice when it considered that the volume of emails was too great.
‘Briefly relieved’
A police officer issued a warning to the family in December and reportedly told them to take Sascha out of the school, which they did the following month, a week before the arrests.
Ms Levine said that when the officers turned up at her door she thought her daughter was dead as she “could not think of any other reason why six police officers would be at my door”.
She added: “My heart was thumping, thinking something terrible had happened. So when I was placed under arrest, in a weird way I was briefly relieved. And then I started to think, ‘what on earth? What the hell is going on?”
The couple said they spent the next 11 hours at Stevenage police station, where they were interviewed under caution before being released at around midnight.
In a statement to The Times, Cowley Hill Primary school said: “We sought advice from the police following a high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts from two parents, as this was becoming upsetting for staff, parents and governors.
“We’re always happy for parents to raise concerns, but we do ask that they do this in a suitable way, and in line with the school’s published complaints procedure.”EENDS
Incidentally – the telegraph doesn’t allow comments on this – free speech eh?
Increase in government dept’s productivity
Howard Canitbe?
” Our heroic @UKBorder force brought 1,371 criminals ashore last week,
bringing the total number of housebuilders imported so far this year to 6,642
This is an increase of 43% on the same period last year.
So that’s all good.”
Look at the size of this hotel full of new arrivals .
I wonder if they’ll talk about this on Money Box Live?
Coming to the end of the Financial Year and P60s will soon be winging their way in. Now that people on minimum wage stand to pay a very significant amount of tax and National Insurance, perhaps they should be more aware of what their hard-earned cash is being spent on. There’s all those “guests”, of course. Cash, accommodation, food, mobile phones etc. don’t come cheap, but a WEF/UN box is being ticked so that’s alright. Then there are more insidious uses of our money.
Thanks to DOGE we find out that all those “philanthropic” billionaires don’t actually use their own money to exercise their largesse. Somehow (I wonder how?) they manage to persuade politicians to use OUR money to support THEIR chosen causes.
There is a de facto new aristocracy in our society, living off the backs of us hard-working peasants. Take the wife of Rory Stewart on a reported £125k salary, pension and benefits package with the charity Turquoise Mountain. Apparently, she was responsible for teaching Afghan women about Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a urinal that was exhibited in an art gallery in 1917 and is generally considered to be the first piece of conceptual art. Really? How beneficial is that to the Third World?
All funded in greater part by taxpayers in the USA and UK. I wonder if the shelf-stacker at Tesco’s, the barista at Starbucks and my bin men are happy to pay towards that, but of course they would never be asked.
No doubt the smug upper-middle-class would justify this with their fine, erudite words, but the sense of entitlement of these people beggars belief. How many more charities are purely there to provide an easy life and generous income for wives, sons, daughters and relatives of our self-acclaimed “elites”?
The French and Russian revolutions were brought about by peasants getting enraged by the ostentatious behaviour of their “betters”. I feel the stirring of discontent in our Society
Yes – set up a charity or get on the NGO circuit and you are made .
Exploit fools by getting their money and you can get the £200k as trustee … no oversite ( in real life) and lots of tax free stuff ….
Wow!
“Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters’ bank accounts
Published 15 February 2022”
Mr Trudeau said the scope of the measures would be “time-limited”, “reasonable and proportionate” and would not see the military deployed.
One words to describe these judges:
Looters
In a way it’s good that the mail online shows the British state sending 6 plod to arrest a parent over an online comment about his kids’ school
But it plants fear in the mind of people who comment on the internet .
Ok – so there was no further action – but the menace and malice remains – how eager plod his to take on easy targets – compared to being too busy to deal with violent crime and burglaries and robberies and the rest ,,,
Fedup2
the punishment is the process
Put the frighteners on ’em
6 coppers?
That means the perpetrator is an inspector or above – who’s the head teacher? – why aren’t the media on his/her/xe doorsteps waiting to jam a camera in their face / mic up their nose?
The media are a key part of the blob. God bless X.
Half a dozen diabetes clinic regulars in three squad cars…
They so keen on dubious school related commentary… maybe hit Leadbetter’s constituency and check on hiding teachers?
Tomo – yes – the telegraph report on this mentions that the victims were in police cells before being released – traumatic for decent people – and a vindictive nexus between plod and the school …
Aimed as suppressing criticism of the school – the free speech outfit is going to get a lot more members – im thinking of joining before 77 brigade singles me out for ‘inquiries ‘…
They didn’t!!
They never will …
I wouldn’t dispute Andrew Montford’s assessment for a millisecond on Miliband
https://x.com/aDissentient/status/1905895231565783477
For the detail of what the moronic dipstick is up to see HERE
They had to come for the canal boat folk; can’t leave a tiny off grid escape route from the rat race open.
They love micromanagement of our whole lives.
“Under the maritime decarbonisation strategy, boat owners will be forced to swap out diesel engines, petrol generators and wood-fired stoves for electric motors, batteries and extra shore power hookups.
There will also be tax rises on marine fuel, with new boats required to be entirely electric.
Maritime bosses branded the Government’s plans “completely and utterly impractical”.”
Just bought our first diesel car.
75mpg. 0 tax.
Just SORN’d our trusty LPG… 35mpg (equates to 70). £280 tax.
Oh well.
Well, DVLA won’t need heating where they’re going.
Taking on Timothy West’s widow… brave.
unbe-effin-leev-able
Stella creasy – desperate to keep her peasant Muslim voters …in e17…
They’d vote for a pig with a red rosette – have I got that right?
Lammy can shuttle between Mauritius and there all year, whilst our council plants trees to offset on far… oh, no, they compulsory purchased all the land in the shire for solar painels.
Good comment on a NALOPKT thread:
Miliband spaffs yet more taxpayer money down the drain: From MSN: Ed Miliband has been forced to set aside £8 billion to cover the risk of a carbon capture disaster as the costs of net zero stack up. The Energy Secretary’s department has taken the…
“…will it be 31% Chinese CO2 that is captured? I’m confused.”
Musk says that Trump was Right about everything. Left is always wrong, because the left is never right, and Right means being right or correct, but Left means being sinister or evil.
@ Richard:
Latin word for left: sinister
You could have been a judge, Zeps, as you certainly ‘have the Latin’!
I’ve never understood the mind-set of lefties anywhere…
Living in a house with two kitchens…
Driving an electric car…
Hating new arrivals in their idyllic village, or ghettos like Notting Hill…
Thinking that the awful BBC is correct at every turn…
(Please add to the list, in the second declension, or third conjugation – yeah – whatevaaaah…)!
Oh sod it, it’s the night the clocks go forward so I’m starting on the ale early – just to make up for the loss of an hour of kip tomoz morning!
You know it makes sense!
Tonight it’s a toss-up between ‘Schindlers List’ or ‘The Killing’ on Amazon Prime! The first one is three and a half notes, but the second is free, and after all, it is the end of the month, when cash is somewhat scarce thanks to toxic clowns like Millipede…
Cheers to you Scroblene – there seems plenty of free stuff on the YouTube – I wouldn’t pay 10p for Schindlers list – and don’t think I’ve ever bought a film on the internet … in the run up to Easter I might watch ‘risen ‘ again …. Which I’d recommend if you like unusual biblical films … for me it’s a ‘red’ and ribs night ….
My other choice would be ‘the passion of the Christ ‘.. it’s the only film where there is a bit in it which I have to close my eyes too …
Im back in londonistan for Easter – a week is looking a long time now … I think I’m an ex pat …
Thanks for the tip, Fed!
I’ll check that one out! Red and ribs sounds like a good plan – here, it’s brisket on sourdough, with red…
The trouble is, that I keep nodding off during flicks on the screen, and have to rewind the half-hour to see what I’ve missed!
Is ‘The passion of Christ’ the film with a musical score by Peter Gabriel? He did some brilliant picture music, especially ‘The rabbit-proof fence’!
Scroblene – not sure on the score for that -it’s the one all done in aramiac by Mel Gibson …
Subtitles by a Gambian?
ITV local new prominent reporting of WHITE Rotherham perps
“The men, aged 18 and 21 around the time, intimidated girls and plied them with drugs and alcohol before luring them to locations where they attacked them”
both guilty of abusing 1 and raping 2 aged 13 and 14
However they did it on separate occasions so not gang rape
Secondly these perps were quite young
I smell false equivalence ..it’s vile
but actual raping gangs are super vile
https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/operation-stovewood-brothers-jailed-for-31-years-for-raping-girls
The TV and crime agency both use the trick line “jailed for 31 years”
that is by adding the two men together.. it was 17 and 14 years
Next item “How a Muslim footballer deals with fasting”
Item began with female presenter gushing about how this Muslim sports presenter is fasting too
5 minute item
End twee item about the clocks going forward and effect on Bridlington beach biz.
One imagines the same way a Muslim bricky does.
Maybe ITV were trying to snooker* all the leftie twats rather idiotically tweeting that they have ‘noticed’ it was not mentioned. Quite how they found out might be interesting.
Proven rape solo is beyond the pale.
Underage victims more so.
Via preplanning en masse next basement level.
Yes, there have been some instances of coordinated attacks by white deviants, but the stats on % of low life population might be interesting.
*Unlikely
That ITV item
“Sheffield United defender Anel Ahmedhodzic says he plays better when fasting during Ramadan”
https://www.itv.com/watch/news/sheffield-united-defender-anel-ahmedhodzic-says-he-plays-better-when-fasting-during-ramadan/3t2ywdy
Apparently the clocks go forward tonight .. or is it back … and every time the clocks change there is a ‘clamour ‘ to leave things alone . Then the ‘clamour’ goes away … …
Spring forward fall back .
… is the way I remember it.
The Lefty establishment are putting the clocks back to 1950
taxing us to death and killing capitalism, nationalising things
The NetZero fanatics are putting the clocks back to 1950 BC
In 1950 BC you’d have been allowed a real fire. Nowadays you’d be carted away by brave plod (a minimum of 6 per person being arrested).
The pcc for the stazi who arrested parents for internet comments is now criticising his own stazi for their actions.. ok PCCs we’re a limp waisted idea of a dumb old Etonian during his time overseeing the demise of the dead blue party – but still – how does a chief constable and pcc deal with each other in such circumstance … ?
Answer – the pcc is a waste of taxpayers ‘ money …
PCC = “tax eater” in old parlance.
Anybody know of one getting a positive outcome for a voter wronged or proposed a policy adopted by local plod and shown to be effective.
Superficially, Hertfordshire seems quick out of the gate?
https://twitter.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1906078013269143592
it says “This will make you blood boil. Illegal migrants staying at a Premier Inn in Yorkshire visited the local Co-op & stripped it of all its alcohol.
Rather the police get involved & arrest, charge & deport the criminals, the bill is sent to hotel who pay it out of taxpayer’s money.”
Is that true ?
Not aware of anything called Premier Inn that houses asylum seekers
The Republicans cut taxpayer costs with DOGE
The Labour Party increase taxpayer costs with DOG
Senior Labour MP Taiwo Owatemi has been slammed for claiming taxpayer money so that her pet dog can live with her. A new document has revealed that Owatemi, who is helping with the implementation of £5 billion in cuts to disability benefits, is claiming £900 a year extra in rent so that her dog Bella can live with her. She made the claim in August of 2024 along with other housing claims. A Labour spokesperson said that MPs are required to work in two locations, their constituency and Westminster, and some require housing support to do so.
A Labour source also said that it is not uncommon for landlords to charge extra to tenants when they want their pets to live with them.
How much does the taxpayer pay for your pet’s rent ?
Oh dear oh dear.
My childhood Famous Five is now in cartoon image for the Great Western Railway advert. Naturally they’ve stuck a non white child amongst them.
But what got my goat …. the kids are charging around in a hot air balloon to return a lost engagement ring. They do, and its a big finale with the proposal – between two women ! It’s only momentarily on screen but enough time to see it.
I just want to get off this world now.
video of the advert Great Western Railway, “A thrilling engagement” by Adam & Eve/DDB
#WokeSupremacist
The advertising agencies promoted the advert on Twitter 7 times on Twitter and each time it got ZERO likes
.. one other person did tweet it and got just 3 Likes
Here have a still image
It doesn’t show the train conductor who is an afro haired black woman.
There is no concrete evidence that Enid Blyton was a Lesbian or that George was written as a lesbian character
In The Famous Five books, George was a girl who “was as good as a boy” and didn’t want to be a girl.
She had a wonderful dog, Timmy, who often saved the day,
and she climbed ropes, wore shorts, swam, sailed, rowed boats, and owned an island.
We preferred the stories about Snubby, (a ginger-haired boy with a dog named Loony), and Barney who had been some sort of gypsy, and thought that a bath towel was a bedroom quilt!
‘The Rockingdown Mystery’ was one of the first books I ever read, and the others in the series soon followed!
But we didn’t have foreigners in those days – they wouldn’t fit in…
I loved the Chalet School books, I suppose the idea of going to a foreign school sounded so different to a youngster then.
She’s a lesbian in the rather funny Famous Five book series for adults.
“Britain has a two-tier justice system, Robert Jenrick claims as a pro-Palestinian protester is spared jail for spitting at a police officer during clash in central London.
Jamila Zadran, 32, was caught on film spitting at the constables during a clash between Israeli and Palestinian protesters on January 18 in central London.
She claimed she did not mean to spit at the officers and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
But her sentence drew comparisons with a far-Right protester jailed for more than two years for spitting on and goading an officer at a demonstration.
Mr Jenrick labelled the judge’s decision to spare Zadran ‘ridiculous’. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It is ridiculous that the judge did not think the protester deliberately spat at the police officer.
‘The footage is clear cut. This will only add to the perception that we have a two-tier justice system where fashionable causes are treated more leniently.’
When Daniel McGuire, 45, spat on an officer in Plymouth last year during an extremist rally, he was locked up for 26 months.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14551373/Britain-two-tier-justice-Robert-Jenrick-Palestine.html
Did plod really break down the door of a Quaker house to arrest conspirators who were planning evil protests ? Was there an insider ? Was in bugged ?
Who has been charged in stazi britainistan ? 77bbrigade – one of yours ?
From earth quakes to Quakers – did you feel the earth move this week?
In a week in which our BBC lavishes publicity on a drama currently being streamed on a rival network… for socio-political reasons of course…
Netflix’s Adolescence makes UK TV ratings history (BBC, 5 days ago); Pupils call for hit drama to be shown in schools (BBC, 2 days ago); ‘I’ve not heard of incel before’: Teenager dissects Adolescence with his worried parents (BBC, 7 hours ago); ‘Girls weren’t treated like they were human’… Misogyny is rife in schools, says a pupil and staff… In response to the hit Netflix series Adolescence, a Brighton mother has told the BBC she withdrew her son from school as she was so concerned about violence, misogyny, racism and homophobia. (BBC, 51 minutes ago)
That most recent article takes the proverbial biscuit – I think you’ll agree. All the boxes ticked there.
The gynaeceum that is BBC news staff pick the Tory rag Mail on Sunday as their number one choice to top their online print press line-up today – there’s always a reason… socio-political, dontcha know…
We ‘bully-off’ – as they say in big girl’s hockey squads – with the frontpage of the Mail where we’re going after toxic masculinity… in all its guises, from boorish baldies to ginger whingers.
Exclusive: Radio 4 Emma’s complaint to BBC chief about ‘overbearing’ Robinson – is twinned with the headline screamer: Harry and Meghan too toxic blasts charity boss… She accuses Duke of bullying (Mail on Sunday)
And there we were assuming Harry to be a pussy-whipped soy boy.
The Sunday Telegraph scrapes a creditable second place in the BBC line-up as they go with: Harry is a bully, says charity chief… accuses Duke of ‘harassment at scale’
Harassment at scale – there’s a new one for our Keir to put on the statute book.
Alongside this brave new law: Ninja swords banned by summer as manifesto commitment delivered (Gov.UK)
Harassment at scale… Sometimes these segueways will write themselves…
At long last our cops get tough with The Religion Of Peace
Met smash down door of Quaker meeting house to arrest activists… Six women held after raid by 20 officers (The Sunday Times)
It was maverick Tudor historian Dr David Starkey, born and raised in the Quaker religion, who as a precocious young boy challenged the doctrin that members of the sect would speak up as The Spirit took them. He questioned “How come The Spirit always seems to have read The Manchester Guardian?”
Some aspects of our religions are of course eternal…
And as young Starkey’s Quaker schoolmaster retorted “Who’s to say The Spirit isn’t guiding the hand that writes The Manchester Guardian?”
…officers broke down the door to arrest six women who had met to discuss climate change and Gaza (Sunday Times)
Good to see our contemporary Quaker theology still perfectly in line with the modern Gruan editorials.
Yesterday your Mr AsI was a little hard on our mate Matt our in-house cartoonist for the Telegraph
Credit where credit is due he knocks it out of the park this morning.
That old school staple the sandwichboard man with his ‘The End Is Nigh’ placard arrives – followed by a suited bespectacled civil servant holding a briefcase labled ‘OBR’ and holding up his rival placard slogan “It’s worse than that” – bravo, Matt, bravo!
It is our left-leaning Newman of the Sunday Times who drops the bollock so to speak cartoon-wise today.
Newman takes the story: Pet rent fury… MP’s dog on expenses… senior Labour MP… taxpayer’s cash so she can live with her cockapoo (The Sun); MP claims £900 for cockapoo… “pet rent” (Sunday Times) as his subject matter.
He discretely draws the honorable lady (Taiwo Owatemi) from the waist down, in her carpet slippers (Tom & Jerry-wise) and her little doggie protests: “It could be worse – I could be a duck”
One notices Newman is archaeologising this story: ‘Humiliated’ Tory MP Peter Viggers quits over duck island expense claim (Guardian May 2009) – there’s one for the teenagers.
Asiseeit
I have an image of 6 greenham type cat lady quakers sitting around and seriously debating how islamic hamas can adopt more green policies and feed their hostages ( sausages ) organic fair trade rations – before the stazi break in to cart them off to a TTK judge for their 2 years stir
@F2
As I understand it they were hosting an offshoot of the just stop oil mob plotting to do what they usually do.
That puts a slightly different spin on it.
“Youth Demand said the meeting was ‘an opportunity to share plans for non-violent civil resistance actions’ due to take place next month.
The group claimed a number of houses were also raided on the same night and into Friday, March 28, as part of the operation. Youth Demand, which describes itself as a ‘new youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide’, began carrying out acts of civil disobedience last year.
Its demands of the Government include stopping all trade with Israel and raising money from ‘the super rich and fossil fuel elite’ to pay damages for the effects of fossil fuel burning.”