Author Archives: David Vance

SUGAR ME

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It’s fun watching the BBC’s pathetic “Save Gordon” campaign stagger forwards, deeper into the mire. Did you see the prominence given by the State Broadcaster to BBC star and businessman Sir Alan Sugar who has offered Gordon the advice that he should “Kick Out” members of the government failing to support his leadership? Sugar says it is impossible to run a company or government “unless everybody is on side”.Three points here.

One is that were Gordon to do as Sir Alan says and “kick out” those with no confidence in him, he would not have many left in his government! Second, Sir Alan should understand that in business, a leader takes responsibility when things go wrong. Brown runs away from the very concept of being such a leader. Finally I note that the BBC News Channel sought out the views of self-professed long-time Brown supporter Sugar – a clear instance of their desperation to prop up the Great Leader. Why not ask for a balancing view from one of those many business leaders who have had to deal with over a decade of Brown’s crushing oppression as Chancellor?

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NO RESPECT.

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Did you pick up on the BBC headline today declaring “Thatcher State Funeral Undecided“? Do you think you think that it’s out of ignorance or simple, plain, fifth columnist rudeness that the BBC fails to recognise that ‘Thatcher’ is, in fact, Lady Thatcher? The BBC’s hatred of Lady Thatcher will continue long after she has passed from this world.

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BACK!

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Hi folks – normal service has been resumed. I find I cannot access B-BBC via IE but Firefox works for me. Does anyone else have this problem?

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GOING WITH THE PROCESS.

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So often with the BBC the bias lies in what is does not say. Here is a good example of how the BBC assiduously cultivates what government wants with no regard to providing a broader balanced view.

The BBC report here covers a secret meeting between the NI Security Minister Paul Goggins and members of the UDA terrorist group. The impression given is that Goggins is “getting tough” with these verminous thugs. However, don’t be fooled. Another local media outlet has revealed that Goggins has declined to call on police to seize loyalist weapons after a senior PSNI officer indicated police know how to find arms dumps!

So two versions of Security Minister Paul Goggins. The BBC version which portrays him as a tough-talking kinda guy who is determined to sort out armed terrorists and then there is the Belfast Telegraph version which reveals Goggins restraining the Police from carrying out their lawful duty to protect the public! I know which version I believe. With BBC reports you have to read between the lines….

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ENVY OF THE WORLD?

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It’s only a few weeks since the BBC was cheer-leading for the National Health Service on the occasion of it’s 60th Birthday. As B-BBC readers know, to criticise the neo-Stalinist NHS is frowned upon by the BBC which is why when one reads about this horrific instance of NHS bungling incompetence in which seventeen patients who were told they did not have cancer were later informed they had the disease after a mix-up does not cause more than a mild media ripple. I would have thought that any good journalist would want to take up the comment by Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Martin Woodford that “No patients that we have been able to identify have died as a result of a misdiagnosis.” Not Yet, he means.

But what about the unimaginable anguish these patients and their families have been plunged into by the NHS? The BBC has a duty to challenge the NHS, to pursue these cases of gross incompetence, to ask tough questions about the State Health Provider, but of course it won’t. The NHS and the BBC are spiritually linked; both outdated, both characterised by gross inefficiency, both funded without our consent by our taxes.

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WHAT STANDARDS?

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I am sure you will have read that the BBC has been fined £400,000 by media watchdog Ofcom for misleading its audiences by “faking” phone-ins. The Comic Relief, Children in Need and Sport Relief TV shows were caught up in the scandal, along with Liz Kershaw on 6 Music and Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 show. Now then, leaving the issue of the derisory size of this fine to one side, the bit that caught my eye was the pompous comment from the BBC Trust that “Our concern now is ensuring that the highest editorial standards are maintained to safeguard the public’s trust” But hang on – the systematic abuse of public trust which this investigation has revealed is incompatible with these alleged “highest standards” and so the idea that these can be “maintained” is a nonsense on stilts. The point is that the BBC has conducted a verging on the criminal abuse of public goodwill. It has shown utter contempt for the public. Does it face into this awkward reality? Does it hell! Instead it uses the entire shameful episode to spend even more of our taxes running a “training programme” for 19,000 employees on how not to rip-off the public!

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RED KEN ON RED CHINA.

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Caught the One O’Clock news on Radio 4 at lunchtime and there was a discussion on the latest Amnesty International report on China’s pathetic failure to live up to the fine promises it had made concerning improving its wretched human rights record prior to getting the green light to host the Olympic Games this year. Now I am not a fan of Amnesty “Gulag of our times” International but on this occasion I think the report they have produced has real value. So who does the BBC invite on to discuss it? That’s right – Ken Livingstone. And what is his take? Well, he decided that since Britain is a human rights abuser it is in some ways worse than China! Red Ken was allowed to tell listeners that the UK’s record of starting illegal wars (Iraq) and human rights abuses meant that it is not in a position to lecture China. The Chinese must love Ken almost as much as the BBC.

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PUTTING THE HOM INTO HOMICIDE

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. Hi folks! Just back from a long weekend in Rome. Over there the good news is that I couldn’t pick up the BBC, the bad news is that I could pick up CNN. Whilst CNN is outrageously biased (“Cult of Obama” at its’ worst) I reckon it is perhaps somewhat less anti-British than the BBC, so small mercies and all that! Plus, of course, I do not have to fund such left-wing drivel.

Anyway, I tuned into the BBC this morning and see they have been pushing the “murder isn’t murder when an angry woman does it” line. This latest instance of Harman-esque man-hating proposes that when a “partner” (read woman) kills her other half, this should be not be seen as murder but rather manslaughter. The BBC shows its balance by giving another view. QC Geoffrey Robinson, that awfully nice chap, thinks that these plans to turn murder into manslaughter do NOT go far enough! It’s nice to be home…!!

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A LITTLE LOCAL DIFFICULTY.

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So, after the monumental defeat of the Labour candidate in the Glasgow East by-election, what has the BBC coverage been like? I just caught the Five Live 10 0 clock headlines. Item One was about the SNP victory and the problems it posed for the Great Leader who has said he is getting on with “business as usual.” (Losing) Item two was a story was a story concerning a former Tory parliamentary candidate for Watford who has been charged with harassment and criminal damage after a police investigation. The economy made it into third place. Gotta love their sense of balance, eh? Mind you, by 11 O Clock things had changed. Gordon had slipped to third place in the news running order. Nothing to see here…move along.

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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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