Author Archives: David Vance

GORDON PREVAILS

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The message is clear. Labour has now rallied behind Gordonfollowing his very successful Party conference, the critics have one by one come on board, and in these “serious” times we do need a “serious” political leader such as Mr Brown. That is the narrative that the Labour leadership seeks to convey and it is the narrative that the BBC has obligingly been running with on their behalf. It has permeated BBC news for the past several weeks and it is warning to David Cameron that he will NOT be given a even break by the State Broadcaster, regardless of how liberal he presents himself. The BBC wants to Save Gordon and that is all that matters, the rest is detail. We see a BBC which asks no hard questions of the Brown years as Chancellor. There is an economic memory hole into which the Beeb consigns all of Brown’s disastrous decision making (Anyone got an update on the price of Gold today?) This is the State Broadcaster using its 24/7 influence to re-write history and present the man who took your old age pension as the man who will help save the global economic crisis. You couldn’t make it up.

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General BBC-related comment thread!

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Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.

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WHAT EXTINCTION?

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First, let’s quote the facts .There are some 4500 species of mammals , there have been around 110 extinctions, which is 2.444% of the total, or 0.00611% per annum. That’s not a very big figure to worry about, right? But the BBC headline today is “Mammals facing extinction threat” with the further sensational line that 25% of all mammals are on the way out. Oh, and just in case you still don’t embrace the eco-wackery, there’s a fetching picture of a baby seal to pull those heart strings. I appreciate that there is a lobby such as that represented by the Red List of Threatened Species which has a right to have its opinion heard, but by the same token there are many others who profoundly dispute this unscientific sensational. The BBC prefers to only offer a platform to the former group.

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THE ANSWER IS THE EU

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I was interested in the suggestion made by the BBC this morning that the answer for Iceland’s current financial woes is..to join the EU. (Today programme) They never miss the chance to promote the EUSSR, do they? I was also amused by Robert Peston’s blog entry which pretends that Germany’s decision to underwrite ALL of retail savers interests may not quite mean that – so getting Brown, Darling and the gang short term reprieve out of having to respond in kind here. I suggest that what is lost in translation is what suits the BBC’s business editor.

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IS IT COS I IS WHITE?

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One long-running narrative the BBC pushes down our throats is that British Policing is “institutionally racist.” This bizarre left-wing guilt-fest seems to get the Beeboids excited as they imagine all sorts of intrigue going on to keep the racial minorities in their place. The Metropolitan Police, in particular, is most often in the firing line, a situation that is exacerbated by the race hustlers in the Black Police Association (Isn’t that, be definition, a racist body or is it open to all races I wonder?) I caught an interview this morning at around 7.20am on Today and despite the meek mannered approach of the Met spokesperson the BBC line was still that we have a race problem in the Met and that ethnic minorities are suffering as a consequence. I wonder would the BBC permit an interview with someone who thinks that what we have here is pathetic race baiting by the State Broadcaster and race hustling by the BPA which are distractions from the key issue of ensuring the delivery of effective policing in our capital city. Or is it cos I is white that I might think like that?

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SUNDAY SUNDAY

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I was on the local BBC this morning, having been invited to discuss the merits or otherwise of corporal punishment. There were three of us in the studio – one was a retired teacher (Opposed to it) , a Human Rights Lawyer (Opposed to it) and yours truly (In favour of it). I thought the discussion had balance and I was afforded the time to make my points, criticising the EU and UN to a presenter who had worked for the EU as it happens!

But earlier on this morning, I caught a debate on the BBC Radio 4 “Sunday” programme. There was an item on the war in Afghanistan and there were two guests discussing it. One opposed UK involvement in the war from the very beginning whilst the other opposed our involvement it following “the hideous mistakes” of Bush and Blair. There was a consensus that a criminal-prosecution based policy against Al Queda and the Taliban would have worked best. (The sort that led to /11) Unbelievable – poison dripping even in the religious hour.

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TROLLING FOR THE EU

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You can always rely on the BBC to spin stories to reflect favourably upon the EU. Take this nonsense that “Europe agrees bank crisis plan”. Really? Well, what is the “plan” exactly? It appears to reduce down to an agreement to “work together” and “seek” a relaxation of rules. Oh, and Sarkozy has issued an unspecified threat against bank executives. I suggest that this is NOT a plan but rather the usual garbled gibberish which the EU has perfected and which the BBC then trumpets as something of substance.

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MONEY MONEY MONEY

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So, who to believe when it comes to understanding outflows of money from the UK to Ireland? The BBC is suggesting that there is nothing happening and no reason for any concern but others take a very different view. I wonder why the BBC is so determined to retail the notion that the Irish government securing 100% of savers deposits would have no impact on the UK money market. Any thoughts on who that might benefit? Answers on a postcard.

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OH MANDY

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Well now, Mandelson is back. Gordon Brown is relentlessly selling us the line that we need “serious people for serious times” – as the BBC obligingly parrots. But Mandelson is a man without political integrity, twice forced into resigning. I met him a few times politically and counted my fingers after shaking hands with him to ensure all were still there afterwards. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Margaret a Beckett is also called back, another serious person for serious times? Wonder how the BBC will react to Mandy in the times ahead? Personally, I am delighted, as he was here at the birth of NuLabour and he will be there when it is buried in less than two years.

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THE TROUBLE FOR SARAH.

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I have not watched the Palin/Biden debate yet, but I can only assume Palin has done very well indeed. The reason I say this is that listening to the BBC’s coverage of this event on the Today programme this morning the entire tone was that Palin had not fouled up. Essentially the BBC line was that “gaffe-prone” Palin had managed to just about hold her own, though she wobbled “a bit” on climate change and Iraq. Biden was painted as having glided serenely through the debate. So, if we believe the BBC, instead of being a total train-wreck, Palin just about got through. Talk about raising and lowering expectations. The BBC, like their soul-mates in the Democrat Party, are scare senseless of the values Palin stand for and so they have spent the last several weeks mocking her. Meanwhile, back in the real world, I can but assume that Sarah walloped slow Joe.

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