Category Archives: pro EU

DODGY DVDS? BLAME THATCHER!

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It’s a laugh, isn’t it. The BBC were salivating this morning about the fact that retailers who sell violent video games and 18-rated DVDs to children cannot be prosecuted because of a legal blunder 25 years ago. Yes – made under the evil Thatcher junta! At no point does the BBC query why after more than a decade of Socialist nirvana nothing has been by Labour done to fix it. Nor, for that matter, did it pursue the point why a BRITISH law made by a BRITISH government carries no force in BRITAIN because of the EU!

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EU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!

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You should have a read of this BBC item concerning the news that the UK’s Conservative MEPs have formed a new “anti-federalist” European Parliament bloc.

The new European Conservatives and Reformists Group includes 55 MEPs from across eight member states. Leader David Cameron had vowed to take his MEPs out the centre-right European People’s Party, saying its federalist views were against Tory policy.

What interests me is the structure of the article. It starts of by informing us of this move by Cameron before finishing with a critical attack of this move by retiring Conservative MEP’s and, of course, Barroso. The reader is therefore left with the subtle message that the Conservatives are divided over it and have done something which is wrong! Always pro-EU and always anti-Conservatives when they show a little determination not to be rabid federalists.

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Brussels Broadcasting Corporation

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The BBC probably thought they were doing their bit for balance by inviting Helen Szamuely of the Eurosceptical blog EU Referendum onto a discussion with Zainab Badawi.

On the other hand, they might have considered that UK feelings about the EU are not at all warm, and that two pro-EU bloggers out of three was a touch imbalanced. There was Nosemonkey, a “critically pro-EU and centrist” blogger, Shiraz Socialist, a “moderately angry nouveau-middle-class leftwinger” (I’ll refer to him as SS), and Szamuely, a lovable if crotchety Eurosceptic (I am sure she will love the description). Of the three, I am pretty certain Szamuely’s blog has much the largest readership (circa 3000 daily visits).

Then again, perhaps we should look at another metric- time alloted to speakers. In this regard, by my rough reckoning, Szamuely got 92 seconds, Nosemonkey 112, and Shiraz Socialist 134. Shiraz also got the last word, in which he claimed that EU institutions need to be strengthened. He had also been given the first word, fed to him by Badawi, that politicians in general were in the doghouse. Very conveniently, following that the whole discussion managed to omit mention of which party are firmly in the doghouse. People were angry with the recession, they said, but the “L” word went missing.

Now to the tone- it was clear that Badawi was “ready” for Ms Szamuely. She interrupted her several times and disputed with her the “usefulness” of the EU Parliament (Szamuely had a ready retort about Commission overrules of Parliamnetary objections, but that got lost in Badawi’s hectoring). Badawi interrupted her too when she mentioned UKIP, clarifying who they were while Szamuely was in full flow. Then, during the discussion wind up, she told Szamuely (who we have seen got less time) to say “briefly” how she saw the UK public mood, and repeated that “briefly” so that she could give time to… SS.

She did not once interrupt SS, nor dispute with him when he claimed that EU institutions need strengthening, nor when he stated that people were angry about the (his word) “laissez-faire” economics of recent times. She even murmurred, “mmm, yes” at one stage.

Nosemonkey was mainly there for posing value, but he managed to slip in a cheap jab about Tory MPs resigning over expenses which Badawi… let go, surprisingly.

All in all then, a startlingly biased presentation, once you look closely. But see for yourself and make up your own mind by watching the video on EU Referendum’s blog.

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ALL AT SEA..

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The EU’s Common Fishing Policy has been an unmitigated disaster from just about every angle one can imagine. It has, of course, decimated the British Fishing Industry, but just as importantly wreaked havoc across our seas. So I found this item this morning to be far too generous to the EU, and I also wondered why the RSPB was chosen to be the voice for opinion? Are there NO British fishermen left that could be interviewed? Yes, I know that Dunne was critical of the politicians micro-management of Fishing policy but his critique did not go far enough in also exposing the vast corruption and cynical manipulation of the CFP. The BBC is reluctant to debate the gargantuan scale of corruption, inefficiency and lawlessness that pervades the EU and today this was just one small example.

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Legal purposes crossed

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There’s been an interesting story recently which might tell us much about the BBC’s editorial bias. I was reminded of it by this article by William Rees Mogg in the The Times. According to him, senior judge Lord Hoffman, who has spoken out against the Strasbourg law court the European Court of Human Rights, “has supported the shift to judicial liberalism that followed the passage of the Human Rights Act 1998”

So, a liberal judge.

Who attacks a European institution.

What to do (for the BBC, who are attached to both)?

Well, interestingly, the BBC immediately reported Hoffman’s attack– they may have even broken the story to the wider public – but they made special points of saying where he might be acting from a sense of personal injury, “In 1989 Lord Hoffmann had a decision of his overturned”, or untrustworthy, Hoffman “had contributed to a decision that the former Chilean leader could be arrested and extradited for crimes against humanity, without emphasising his links to human rights group Amnesty International.”

As this kind of background is normally quietly left aside when reporting the thinking of liberal leftists, and in those cases the BBC simply rest on the seniority of the source, we can be sure that this time the BBC came down in favour of supporting a European institution. As Russell Crowe said to Marr on Sunday, pointedly and deliberately- “objectivity is a myth”.

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TORIES IN THE CROSS-FIRE!

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Another morning and another chance to present the notion that the Conservative Party is divided. Yesterday it was on Inheritance tax, today it is on Europe. Mark Mardell was using the line that for the Conservative Party to withdraw from the (utterly useless) EPP would set up a crisis with the likes of MEP Christopher Weasley sorry, Christopher Beasely applying to join the EPP! Labour, and by definition the BBC, will open up more attacks on the Conservatives as we start the run-in to the June Euro-polls and I suspect this was just the beginning. The line being retailed is that the Conservatives are “extreme” if they seek to do anything that might de-rail the EU gravy train. Also, shouldn’t the BBC declare that it receives funding from the EU before it runs any story on this subject? Full disclosure is always a good idea when trying to pretend one in impartial.

With sincere thanks to my proof-readers!

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EU CAN BANK ON BIAS!

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The BBC reports that the EU seeks establish a new pan-Europe Institution to supervise all national institutions such as the City of London. Quelle surprise, another power grab from the overlords in Brussels. BBC correspondent and Billy Bunter look-a-like Mark Mardell thrills that ” supporters of the scheme would like to see national bodies like the UK’s Financial Services Authority made subordinate to the new institution and adds that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has relaxed his previous opposition to tighter regulation at a European level.” Mark seems to have overlooked the salient fact that such is the level of EU financial corruption that EU accounts have not been signed of for fourteen years in a row. Even the BANKS must be envious of that! When it comes to the reporting of EU matters, the BBC is so biased as to be beyond belief. Then again, I guess the fact that the EU helps fund the BBC may account for at least that aspect!

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TWISTING IN THE BREEZE.

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So, when Gordon Brown promised “British jobs for British workers” it now seems that what he meant was “providing people with new skills”. LOL! How pathetic is this? The Dear Leader is on The Politics Show later today so if you see it, feel free to leave your comments here! It seems to me that the BBC is in a real quandary over this one since it wants to Save Gordon, of course, but the only way it can do this is to attack those “wildcat” strikers. The BBC is also fervently pro-EU but at the very heart of this issue is the fact that there can be no “British jobs for British workers” whilst we are in the rotten EU – so one more problem for the BBC!

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