Author Archives: David Vance

The BBC love Baroness Williams. Shirl the Pearl is a regular feature on their political programmes, and she was on Today this morning just before 9am. The item was about disaffection  within mainstream politics across Europe and the BBC flagged up how this had manifested itself across the EU, from Golden Dawn in Greece to UKIP in the UK. Yeah, I know. And just in case there was any residual doubt about the set up nature of this item, Williams was then allowed to venomously castigate UKIP without counter, dismissing those who support that party as “people wanting to live in the past. ”  

Friday arrives and so does this brand new post Eastleigh post papal resignation Open Thread. The floor is yours.

Well then, the Lib Dems narrowly hold on to Eastleigh, with UKIP coming second. The Cons are relegated to third. So a humiliation for Cameron. Or so the BBC has been running all morning.  But there was another major party in this election, erm…can’t quite remember what happened to it, can you? Think they had a comedian as their candidate but again not sure as BBC studiously avoiding any analysis of THAT party! Anyone heard Ed Balls on the BBC this morning? Thought not.

Charming piece of pro-Muslim propaganda brought your way by CBBC Newsround;

Non-Muslims are being asked to try wearing a hijab, a type of headscarf, for a day to find out more about why women wear them. World Hijab Day calls on non-Muslim women to try out life under the traditional head scarf. Some people think women should not have to cover their hair or face and think it is unfair because men don’t have to wear them.But for many women around the world, it is an important show of their faith.

Looking forward to CBBC pushing “World Wear a Cross Day” where Non Christians  are encouraged to try out life wearing a crucifix.

The twists and turns of the Rennard saga seem to be taking the BBC into novel territory. We have had Lib Dem stalwart and BBC favourite Shirley Williams riding to the rescue of Rennard, praising him for his moral virtue. Then on Today this morning there was an odd item concerning the experience of women working in the political sphere. The meme being retailed was that ALL politics was chauvinistic and full of groping male MPs until the year of our lord 1997 when thanks to the enlightened policies of Labour, the Commons suddenly saw many more women and so men could no longer ride roughshed over the fairer sex. I think it was Barbara Follet who was interviewed, and who arrived in Parliament ..erm.. 1997.

Wednesday and time for a new Open Thread. Do enjoy.

Whilst most political parties do sleaze, the Lib-Dems do it particularly well. The BBC has had little choice to run with Rennard after all this is just the latest instance in a line that weaves from Huhne to Laws, Brown to Oaten.  Wonder what you make of the line the BBC is taking on this?

Here we go with a new Open Thread before we even get to Monday morning! Do detail the bias.

I thought this was a really interesting insight on a current BBC story from a Biased BBC reader;

“There is a report today on the BBC website about the government wanting all foreign doctors working in the NHS to be able to speak English. At present, EU-registered doctors are exempt from such a requirement, due to the Alice In Wonderland laws that currently prevail. The move has been precipitated due to the case of Dr Daniel Ubani – described as a “German” locum doctor – who managed to kill a patient on his first and only shift in the UK.

At the end of the article, the BBC makes the following plea: “Are you a foreign doctor working in England? What do you make of the government’s plans? Send us your thoughts and comments using the form below.”

Now, is it me just being unduly sensitive, but why are they are asking for such comments? If they are seeking opinions, surely the only ones that really matter are those of patients?

Surely the question should be “Are you a patient whose health treatment has been unduly affected by the use of doctors who cannot adequately speak English?”

Obviously such a question should only be open to NHS patients, and not the 500+ BBC executives who receive private health care as part of their contracts and are presumably unaffected. It may seem a small point, but it is indicative of the general mindset of the BBC, where victims and the guilty are carefully rearranged.”

Oh, and one final point. Ubani is “German” but was born in Nigeria only gaining German  citizenship. Perhaps the BBC should provide this little detail when it is at it.

Can’t say I am in the least surprised to read that the UK has lost its triple AAA credit rating. After all, when the Coalition follows Keynesian follies and refuses to cut the size of the State then it is highly likely growth will be sluggish, and as former Conservative Deputy PM Michael Heseltine stated the other evening, no government will cut spending on Welfare and the NHS since that is just not politically expedient. So, Osborne deserves all he gets, But IS IT a big deal? For example, we have Ed Balls touring BBC studios this morning explaining how “humiliating” it is for the UK to lose its AAA rating. Nobody from the BBC asked him was it “humiliating” for Obama when the US was stripped of its AAA rating last year. Nobody from the BBC asked him if it was “humiliating” for Monsieur Hollande when France as stripped of its triple AAA rating last year. It appears that humiliation accrues only to Conservative Chancellors and the BBC is quite content to leave it that way.

The sheer cynicism of Labour, and Ed Balls in particular, is staggering and yet he gets such an easy treatment at the hands of the BBC who obviously agree with Balls that we solve our Debt by splashing more cash and taxing the “rich”.