Middle of the week and time for a new one of these!Off you go…..

Labour’s leader, Ed Miliband I should perhaps have to remind you, is having a torrid time…..the Tories have just overtaken Labour in the polls, he is being condemned left, right and centre, even from within his own labour ranks, he has no big policy ideas and the ones he does come up with are almost immediately shot down.

You might suppose a grilling on the Nicky Campbell show would be the last thing to look forward to if you were Miliband.

That’s of course if he were to get a grilling.  What he in fact got was a few soft questions lobbed half heartedly in his direction and a lot of airtime to assure Britain that Labour has the ‘solution’….not quite sure what the problem is that Labour has the solution to though.

Campbell had a pleasant little chat this morning with Miliband (08:36) who had learnt his lines well and refused to deviate from the script….‘there is a ‘deep sense of discontent in the UK, a sense that the country only worls for a few people at the top and not for most ordinary families…and ‘we’, Labour,  have the solutions.’

Campbell asked Miliband about his refusal to meet the CEO of Pfizer after having claimed that the ‘stakes couldn’t be higher’….Miliband dodged the question and Campbell didn’t press it.

The same with the recent video released attacking Clegg…Miliband claimed it was merely a ‘light hearted’ comment on the government……not admitting it was targeted at Clegg personally and was highly offensive to the Tories.

Campbell did suggest it was ‘chippy and mean-spirited’ but once again Miliband was allowed to brush that off saying he didn’t see it that way and that when you’ve seen the pain and suffering that results from the unfair and unjust decisions of this government you can understand the sense of anger out there.

Campbell didn’t raise the question of just who might ultimately have been responsible for all that ‘pain and suffering’…could it not have been a Labour government that destroyed the economy and left us in the worst recession in living memory?

Campbell didn’t get Miliband to expand on his economic policies and exactly what he was going to do with the economy….the best he got out of him was that Labour would protect scientific research and create high skilled and highly paid jobs…not saying how and where the money would come from.

Then Campbell asked about Miliband’s latest proposal on providing GP access…Campbell decided not to challenge him on this merely asking if Miliband had ‘sorted out the problems with that policy’ when it was last tried by Gordon Brown.

Miliband assured us that it was all good and that it was a no cost policy…..the savings made on cutting this government’s bureaucracy would pay for it.

Campbell didn’t question that…you might have thought he would as GPs themselves say the policy would cost £3 billion.

Ed Miliband’s promise to give all patients a “same-day consultation” and a guarantee of an early GP appointment was questioned this morning after the Royal College of GPs said the policy would cost £3 billion to implement.

 

Campbell’s final probing question was which of the leaders of the other parties would Miliband have a pint with?

The real question might be would any of them want to have a pint with Miliband?

All in all a pretty poor interview when elections are due in just over a week and the national election in a years time with Miliband campaigning hard already….Miliband wasn’t exactly on the ropes and must have traipsed away happy that he’d got away with it again.

I imagine Cameron, Clegg and Farage have been lined up for similar interviews…..wonder what treatment they will get, just how rigorous will the questioning be?

Amnesty International seems to have forgotten all about this from Gita Sahgal:

A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when a great organisation must ask: if it lies to itself, can it demand the truth of others? For in defending the torture standard, one of the strongest and most embedded in international human rights law, Amnesty International has sanitized the history and politics of the ex-Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg and completely failed to recognize the nature of his organisation Cageprisoners.

David Vance was up against it today on Sheila Fogarty’s (13:47) show as he argued in defence of ‘enhanced interrogation’ methods against Amnesty International’s representative and the BBC’s default position that Amnesty’s line is the correct one…..that a cup of tea that is too hot or a biscuit without chocolate on it in the course of an interrogation amounts to torture.

Amnesty is horrified that the great British Public are not wholeheartedly behind their campaign to eliminate what they call torture completely…and blames films and television for de-sensitising us…the Public just doesn’t understand the horror and brutality of torture.

Of course we might just be taking a rational view and think that certain methods, not all, are acceptable if the stakes are high enough……and that’s the rub…what constitutes ‘torture’ and is it justified to save possibly thousands of lives?

Amnesty thinks not.

DV thought it was….and claimed AI was acting as de facto apologists for our enemies in the war on terror….joining forces with the Islamist Caged Prisoners (Now ‘Cage’) doesn’t help AI’s case of course.

The BBC has been all too ready itself to come to the aid of Islamists such as Moazzem Begg and spread accusations of abuse by British forces….probably no coincidence AI releases its poll results today as the BBC has this as its headline story:

ICC to investigate claims of abuse by UK forces in Iraq

It tells us that:

Even though this is not an ICC “formal investigation”, at least yet, it’s still a significant victory for the Human Rights Lawyer Phil Shiner and his firm Public Interest Lawyers.

He’s long argued that British forces were involved in the systematic abuse of Iraqis.

He believes that mistreatment – some of which has been proven – was allowed by senior military officers and even ministers.

In other words that it wasn’t just a “few bad apples”.

and then says:

The anger in the MOD and the military will be directed at Mr Shiner more than the ICC. They feel he’s dragging the British military’s reputation through the mud.

Unforgiveably the BBC doesn’t tell us that Shiner & Co withheld information crucial to an ongoing case…that they actually had no evidence of abuse by British troops…a case that, had that information been revealed, would have been thrown out of court…..and Shiner & Co wouldn’t have been paid millions of pounds in legal aid money….and their own reputation, such as it is, wrecked….they do themselves seem intent on dragging the British Military’s reputation through the mud for as long as possible.

You’ll be hard pushed to find a mention of that case being abandoned on the BBC webpages….no link referring to it being added to other reports.

Happy to link to this from a year ago though:

Iraqis claim British troops ‘acted with brutality’

I read that  “Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region have claimed a resounding victory in a “self-rule” referendum, saying 89% voted in favour. In Luhansk, another eastern region, the results – also expected to show a strong backing – will be released soon. BBC reporters at polling stations spoke of chaotic scenes, no voting booths in places and no electoral register.”

Gosh, that comes as a surprise, doesn’t it? The BBC has been to the fore in downplaying the wishes of anyone in Ukraine who takes a pro-Russia sentiment. This morning, on Today, they interviewed a perfectly lucid lady from Donetsk (sounds like the start of a bad limerick!) and all they could do was quote that the PEW research group in the USA had conducted a poll that shows most Russian supporters want to be remain in the Ukraine. It’s funny how the BBC is so pro self determination unless it is in parts of the Ukraine. I wonder is it possible that the BBC is shilling for the EU, using the Ukraine as the handle?

Here you are, on time, a brand new Open Thread to start the week! Enjoy and detail the bias.

Boris Johnson: BBC’s treatment of veteran broadcaster has been ‘utterly disgraceful’

Boris Johnson says entire BBC board should travel down to Devon and apologise in person to broadcaster forced to resign for unwittingly playing song containing racist slur

Doreen Lawrence becomes UAF honorary president

UAF is very proud to announce that Doreen Lawrence has agreed to become our honorary president.

Curious……..

Doreen Lawrence denies link to group accused of Farage threats

Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon played down her involvement with Unite Against Fascism (UAF), whose members are accused of trying to silence the Ukip leader

The UAF are essentially Unite Union baron Len McCluskey’s  storm troopers….sent in to do battle on the streets with those they want to deny the right to speak…..

Its head honchos:

UAF’s honorary presidents are Ken Livingstone and Doreen Lawrence.

Our elected officers for 2013 are:

Chair – Steve Hart, political officer, Unite
Vice chair – Christine Blower, general secretary, NUT
Vice chair – Hugh Lanning, deputy general secretary, PCS
Vice chair – Azad Ali

Miliband is kept in place by Unite and Owen Jones is another Unite stooge.

Interesting that a so-called ‘anti-fascist’ organisation has Azad Ali, an extremist Muslim, as its vice chair.

Ken Livingstone’s anti-fascist group appoints fascist as vice-chair

One of this blog’s oldest friends, Azad Ali, has a great new post. As the Harry’s Place blog reports, Azad is the new vice-chair of Unite Against Fascism, the ostensibly anti-racist group (in fact more of a meal-ticket for the leadership of the Socialist Workers’ Party.)

Azad is the community affairs co-ordinator of the extremist Islamic Forum of Europe, which controls the East London Mosque and which is dedicated, in its own words, to changing the “very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed … from ignorance to Islam.”

The BBC take a quick peek at the story…..originally broken by Andrew Neil…so you might think…’scoop’!!!…but that’s not how the BBC thinks at all

The BBC’s intent is to move in and, if it can’t erase history, it will try to downplay or ridicule Farage’s claims….that the UAF threatened him….or, if they can’t deny there is substance to Farage’s claim, they will try to excuse the UAF’s actions as a result of his own ‘racism’.

And indeed in the article that is what they do….a sub-heading being entirely misleading….‘Racist adverts’…..UKIP’s adverts were not racist.

The BBC then goes on to give Unite and Hope Not Hate a long say and a chance to denigrate Farage and UKIP.

What the BBC doesn’t bother with is to actually investigate if there is any truth in Farage’s claims…because they know that there is.

The UAF is a Fascist organisation….. Fascists are of course Socialists…never mind the teaming up with Islamic ‘fascists’.

All a bit embarrassing for the BBC….which also doesn’t mention Doreen Lawrence.

All a bit two faced of the BBC which has put a great deal of time and effort into attacking and trying to sideline the EDL…..an organisation which, unlike the UAF, opposes Islamic ‘fascism’ and all that entails.

But the BBC has never shown the slightest interest in exposing the UAF…….and once again the BBC is guilty of manipulating the news so that its ‘friends’ get protection and positive coverage whilst those it sets it hat against get the full Pravda treatment and face the equivalence of being sent to the camps in Siberia….’exiled’ to the fringes of society by BBC denouncements and erased from history as undesirables.

The BBC gave a platform to someone who was allowed to make an extreme comparison between Nigel Farage and Hitler and who dramatically claims Farage is fomenting racial war….all without any challenge from Dimbleby…..so only fair to have a look at the hypocrisy, lies and McCarthyism of Charlie Bloom…….According to whom the views of Farage, being popular with the Public, are ‘Dangerous’ and unacceptable….so what does that mean about Bloom’s view of the Great British Public?…

 ‘I expressed view why he had popular support. Dangerous. I’m blocking you.’

So you’re all ‘blocked’ for your dangerous thoughts….you’re all Nazis if you want to control immigration and have a working, representative democracy.

I wonder who is more ‘dangerous’…Bloom or Farage?

Bear in mind Bloom’s opinion and response aligns perfectly with the BBC’s views on immigration and Europe….which is why they ‘manage’ the debate on those subjects so closely….they too are very keen on the ‘warning from history’ ploy, painting UKIP as dangerous far right fanatics.

Farage is genuinely seen, and perhaps rightfully seen, by the vast majority of British people beyond W12 (and N1) as being “in touch” and speaking their language – not just regarding Europe, but also, I suspect, immigration and even the events in Ukraine. The BBC no more understands this than do the major parties.

Channelling ‘Charlie’ in his own words slightly amended for the circumstances……

‘Perhaps, [Charlie], you would like to choose your words more carefully in future. Perhaps you would also like to apologise for your ill-considered and insulting remarks concerning the views of the majority of people in this country.’

So let’s take a look inside the mind of Charlie Bloom……

Charlie Bloom, a member of ’38 Degrees’, is the man who accused Nigel Farage of being the new Hitler and who is enjoying his new found infamy immensely.

To all my new followers! I am very flattered. Watch this space. Got to sign off today. Back soon!

The Charlie Bloom who thinks UKIP’s immigration, pro-Democracy and pro-British parliamentary sovereignty stance is going to lead to another world war, the Charlie Bloom who said this:

@rupertmurdoch I do wish that our politicians had the bottle to only allow British citizens to own our media. Hacks me off!

Seems a little bit of ‘racist nationalism’ is OK by Charlie Bloom when it suits.

The Charlie Bloom who boasts of his rant:

Was on #questiontime tonight. Gave it to NF with both barrels. #UKIP is a terrifying concept in a democracy.

And despite Bloom’s expressed desire for democracy thinks that for Farage….

‘…a life sentence in wormwood scrubs would be good!‘

That’s right Charlie…lock up all those whom you disagree with…that’s how democracy works….in the Soviet Union!

The Charlie Bloom who makes a false, or just ignorant, claim about who makes the laws in Europe:

15% of all uk laws come from Brussels and have to be passed into uk law. Other 85% are ours.

In fact around 70% of our laws are made in Europe...and the rest have to be EU ‘compliant’…that is…if they do not comply with EU standards the EU can force the UK to amend them to suit….EU law is deemed to take primacy under various treaties that we have signed up to……

“The most powerful parliament in Europe is the European Parliament – because it is co-decider with the member states on EU laws.

“Seventy per cent of the laws in this country [UK] are co-decided with the European Parliament.”

The same Charlie Bloom who claims we must be in Europe because it means more business and jobs but who doesn’t want them in his own backyard:

EXTRAORDINARY COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING – 13 OCTOBER 2011

Charlie Bloom – private resident Gravel and Sharp Sand Extraction at Hamble airfield – disruption to schools, families & roads caused by machinery noise, increased lorry movements to/from Hamble Airfield and effect on Hamble Lane etc and access to Blackthorn Medical Centre

The very same Charlie Bloom who said this:

‘…a pathetic attempt to defame by the ignorant of facts. McCarthyism is alive and well!!!’

Well yes…McCarthyism is alive and well…and Charlie Bloom is the man who epitomises it today…trying to shut down debate using exactly the same techniques that McCarthy used…..McCarthy tried to paint his opponents as Communists, Bloom tries to paint them as Fascists….

Bloom, (Any relation to Godfrey?  Would be funny) makes a startling comparison of Farage to Hitler and dramatically claims Farage’s desire to control immigration and have representative democracy is leading to war…‘his methods have been used before with dire consequences. Ye gods!!!!’….…..Bloom ironically demands ‘rational debate’ and whilst he is allowed to compare Farage to a man who killed 6 million Jews other people aren’t allowed to insult him……try it and you will be ‘silenced’

I am reporting all who use foul or abusive language, threats or attack my family. Rational debate yes. Anything else, be careful.

Seriously? You are mentally unstable. Be careful. There are legal non violent ways to silence you. No more threats.

Indeed one Tweeter has already had their account suspended for his comments to Bloom…..

Another of Charlie Bloom’s comments reveals all about his real mindset:

‘Ignorance is bliss.’

‘How about a blast on The Now Show!!‘

Charlie Bloom has a very high opinion of himself and his own intelligence, and a very low one of everyone else:

A UKIP supporter! Nasty.

My daughter is more intelligent than you. Neither of us resort to insults in debate. Just facts.

I’m intelligent & articulate. Why does that scare the trolls here? I hit a cord. Live with it!

[Shame the intelligent, articulate Bloom can’t spell ‘chord’]

Intelligence over fear.

brighter than you! Trust me, I AM telling the truth!

Bile without substance.

Stop the insults. Beneath contempt.

try intelligent debate not swapping insults.

your arguments are based on intolerance!

I don’t argue with people who insult me or my intelligence. Bye

intelligent? No you’re not. Debate with you not possible. Bye

I don’t argue with people who insult me or my intelligence. Bye

it’s none of your business. It is the one thing I do not have to share in public.

Some of us are articulate.

Troll!

politically illiterate!!
That is the real fear! The prejudiced rants of Farage are similar to those that he admires.

Just who is the real ‘Nasty Party’?

Might be somewhat ironic that Bloom compares Farage to Hitler when Bloom’s own family is so closely connected to a party that has so many deeply unpleasant people with deeply unpleasant views:
The real nasty party
I’m all in favour of banning the adjective “swivel-eyed” – unless we’re talking about the one party that merits it. I refer, of course, to the Liberal Democrats. This week Sir Bob Russell MP equated the plight of the Palestinians with the Holocaust. And this just after David Ward compared Israelis to Nazis. What is it about Lib Dems and Jews? Remember Baroness Tonge suggesting they were harvesting organs? They go for non-Jewish conspiracy theories, too: Norman Baker, transport minister, has loopy views on the “murder” of Dr David Kelly. What weirdos. Swivel, swivel, swivel. If you look closely, you can see their contact lenses popping out during PMQs.

Thanks to Dysgwr_Cymraeg and ‘Is the BBC biased?’ for bringing this to our attention….just astonishing….and note the ‘complainant’, whilst he can hear an offensive word can’t actually get the name of the DJ right….David Lowe:

AND FINALLY….

AFTER more than 32 years of programme-making for the BBC and UK Independent Local Radio, I have hung-up my headphones for the last time. Why? Because I made a silly mistake. Yes, I know we all make mistakes, but where political correctness is concerned in UK today, there is no room for excuses or forgiveness. That said: let me stress here, I have no quarrel with anyone at the BBC in the West and South West. However, I do have issues with a repressive system that encourages wholly disproportionate reactions to innocent errors of judgement.

On April 27, I featured an 82 year old recording, one I’ve heard hundreds of times over the years, and even featured occasionally on my programmes. Unbeknown to me, however, that recording by Ambrose & His Orchestra of “The Sun Has Got His Hat On” contains a line of lyric that includes one of today’s ‘forbidden’ English language expressions … the “N” word! You’ve got to listen very carefully indeed to actually hear it but, yes, it is there on the recording.

I was alerted to my error by an email from the BBC management who had, in turn, received a complaint from a listener who, by his own admission, never listened to my programmes, but just happened to switch-on his radio sometime after 8 pm on Sunday April, 27.

Suffice it to say, the listener in question was “horrified” by what he heard, and added, “I hope that someone in authority will deal with Mr Young appropriately.” (He referred to me as David Young throughout his email, a copy of which was forwarded to me with the BBC complaint alert).  By the way, I know of no other complaint. Of course, there may have been others, but none have yet come to my attention via post, email, Facebook, Twitter or on my Blog.

Nevertheless, I admitted my mistake immediately after listening closely to the ‘offending’ track. I then apologised to my BBC managers, and offered to apologise to the listeners at the beginning of, and again during, my programme on May 11. Alternatively, I offered to fall on my sword.

A series of emails between myself and the BBC ensued over the following few days, including one which stated, “We would prefer that you don’t mention anything about last week’s broadcast.”  In the end, the BBC wrote to say, “Regrettably … we will have to accept your offer to fall on your sword to resolve the situation.”

Sorry folks, but I made a stupid mistake and I was left with no other option but to fall on my sword. In closing, however, let me say this: it has been an honour to entertain you for so many years, and I thank each and every one of you for your support for my efforts.

Kind Regards

David Lowe

Astonishing but even more so when you go to this BBC web page and scroll down to this:

Play the clip and the first words you will hear are ‘One less white nigger’

Who will be sacked?…I demand somebody is….get on Twitter now!!!!

And I see no reason why David Lowe alone should feel the heat…after all ITV was investigated by Ofcom for the same ‘offence’…so perhaps Tony Hall should also be taken to task….corporate responsibility and institutional racism and all that:

Ofcom has launched an investigation into the use of the N-word in the song The Sun Has Got His Hat On, broadcast on ITV1’s regional news programme Calendar News.

The ITV1 evening news show broadcast the line: “He’s been tanning niggers out in Timbuktu, now he’s coming back to do the same to you.”

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether ITV broke UK broadcasting rules relating to harm and offence.

Ofcom eventually ruled that ‘the use of the word was a breach of its rules but took into account that ITV identified the error almost immediately on transmission, took steps to dip the sound during the repeat on ITV1+1, broadcast an apology during the later news bulletin the same day and took various further measures afterwards to ensure there was no recurrence of this problem. 

The watchdog therefore considered the matter resolved.’

So what will Ofcom make of the BBC’s continuing use of the word in the ‘Oliver’s Army’ clip where they have clearly highlighted it despite knowing that it was offensive…having banned the word before?…

BBC digital radio station censors ‘One more widow, one less white n****r’ lyric in Elvis Costello hit Oliver’s Army

A Biased BBC reader brings this to our attention;

“Charlie Bloom, https://twitter.com/chasobursledon the man who ranted at Nigel Farage ‘as a nazi’ on BBC Question Time on 9th May, is not a member of the public as required by BBCQT rules, but has been outed as a planted LibDem activist from Eastleigh.

1. Blooms former partner is Louse Bloom (LibDem councillor Eastleigh) http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/meetings/mgMiniSite.aspx?UID=170; her new Partner is also a LibDem Councillor Keith House http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/meetings/mgMiniSite.aspx?UID=197
Bloom’s two daughters are Libdems;
Daughter Caitlin Bloom is former LibDem councillor for Eastleigh Grange Park East. Now Deputy President at De Montfort Students Union
https://twitter.com/CaitlinBloomDMU/status/464516275201642497

2. Bloom’s ‘attack’ on Nigel Farage was pre planned with the collusion the BBC at least 24 hours in advance.

a) It was clear he had no question to ask. Statements are not permitted as the audience is supposed to as a question to the whole panel; it was clear Dimbleby knew this from his introduction.

b) Blooms rant was too polished to be off the cuff, and had clearly been professionally rehearsed with production staff.

c) Both Bloom’s daughters were tweeting about it, 24 hours before recording of QT

Caitlin Bloom @CaitlinBloomDMU · May 8

So tonight dad will be on #bbcqt to grill @Nigel_Farage let’s see what he has to say…

d) Eastleigh LibDems face losing their MPs seat to UKIP’s Diane James in 2015; who us now ahead in the polls; and mist of their council seats

The BBC/Dimbleby clearly knew Bloom was not going to ask a question; but go off on a ‘UKIP are Nazis’ rant. It was clearly pre planned with producers to try and damage Farage,. As Both Blooms daughters were tweeting he was going to ‘get farage’ the day before.

Dimbleby clearly didn’t pick him by accident!

Yet another clear example of a breach of BBCs obligation to be unbiased!.

Not the first time either. This is a rerun of the Amy Rutland incident of 2013, a previous attempt at BBC/ Leftist Party collusion.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2292995/Question-Time-How-Labour-Party-planted-diehard-supporter-audience-attack-UKIP-panellist.html

Once is careless, twice is deliberate!”