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According to David Vance, the BBC ran a documentary last night about the Protestant exodus from Londonderry (some 18,000 people over 30 years leaving about 300 Protestants in a city of 54,000). His claims are interesting, as the BBC is, among other things, an apologist for the Tony Blair era Good Friday agreement. A whitewash of sectarian history could then be expected, and according to Vance was given as the BBC used talking heads to imply the exodus was some strange psychological phenomenon where inadequate Protestant hysterics lost their nerve, upped, and went.

But,

“Here’s what my wife experienced – not felt.

Her school bus was stoned on a regular basis as it travelled through the city centre. She and her friends had to lie on the floor to avoid being cut by glass. The “youths” who conducted this stoning came down from the Bogside, each day. Her mother was almost killed when an IRA bomb exploded in Shipquay street, without warning. Her swimming instructor, Norman Duddy, who was an RUC Inspector, was brutally shot dead, in front of his sons outside his place of worship. Who would stay in such a hell-hole?”

After viewing a clip of the programme, I concluded that though there are incidents of violence mentioned, the overall argument is that a few incidents created a psychological effect resulting in the exodus. Vance’s account- and others- suggests rather that pressure was directly applied and quite possibly systematically applied through violence and intimidation. Where were the British army at that time? Well, I suspect that’s really a central issue in this case- the willpower of one community backed by violence that wasn’t matched by the other. And that, perhaps, is the untold story the BBC won’t tell. And if the BBC, the British state organ, won’t tell a story that the Unionists need to be told, who will? And if they don’t tell it who can blame eager Irish Nationalists from assuming once again- as always- their untainted victim status?

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 be moderated.

This one is a bit special. Would it, I ask, be usual to offer the opinions on an fatal incident of the mother of a murder suspect?

Not saying it’s not possibly the truth, but since when is “he would never have “harmed Tash”, Mr Speight’s mother Jacqueline said.” the proper basis for a story?

Oh, wait a minute, there’s a detail I’m omitting here- the suspect in question works for the BBC.

Of course I wouldn’t usually speculate on things like this, and analysis of cause of death is not child’s play, but since the BBC is, why not?

Dave T. in the comments also noticed this, I note.

Update: welcome to Iain Dale readers and thanks to him for the link.

The BBC is always carrying water for the interfering nanny state in Britain, and today is no exception, with an article where they manage to reinforce stereotypes of Britons and Americans as prime fatties:

UK and US ‘keenest on fast food’

Trivial it isn’t, when you consider that “lifestyle change” is socialism’s new frontier.

The annoying part is that it’s probably not even true, if the experience of that greatest of fast food providers Macdonald’s is anything to go by: “the market where McDonald’s is weakest in Europe is… Britain”

The market where it’s strongest? Go on, have a guess. (Info here)

Yep, that’s right, France. Now why might be an interesting story, and with what effect, but alas don’t suppose we’ll hear about it from the 3bn per year Beeb.

From the New York Times:

“A year ago, British meteorologists made headlines predicting that the buildup of greenhouse gases would help make 2007 the hottest year on record. At year’s end, even though the British scientists reported the global temperature average was not a new record — it was actually lower than any year since 2001 — the BBC confidently proclaimed, “2007 Data Confirms Warming Trend.””

Read the whole thing. The BBC is highlighted here I think for good reason: they are among the worst offenders. (via NewsBusters)

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 be moderated.

the latest in a string of Newsnight gaffes:

Britons indeed! The BBC has been straining all day to imply that these non-Britons (with a penchant for ‘action holidays’, ‘study’ and ‘training’ in far-off lands) are British, but it’s taken Newsnight to put it down in black and white.

On the same subject, David Preiser suggests a spot of comparing and contrasting between The Times profile of these non-Britons and the BBC’s profile of them – the differences being as obvious we’ve come to expect.

BBC Views Online, On This Day, December 16th, 1969: MPs vote to abolish hanging: Much is made of the reasons why hanging was abolished, including then Home Secretary James Callaghan’s argument in favour of abolition that “figures show that the murder rate is not soaring as a result of the abolition of capital punishment but remains remarkably stable”. Sadly, the In Context panel, whilst finding room to explore varous subsequent issues, omits to explore the increase in murderous violence in the years since abolition.

Like so many other issues where the BBC is out of step with the will of the British people, capital punishment is almost completely off the radar as far as the BBC is concerned, even though survey after survey has established that the public are in favour of the principle of capital punishment by a large majority – the only catch being the state’s well demonstrated propensity to hang the wrong person from time to time – though that is surely an argument for life in prison to mean life (rather than 12-14 years of sheltered accommodation with all mod cons, as it were), another issue off the agenda at the BBC.

While we’re on the subject, the picture caption looks like yet another case of BBC sloppiness – it reads:

Angry exchanges outside the Commons as abolitionist Lord Soper tackles a retentionist clergyman

– but the clergyman on the left in the picture looks remarkably like Lord Soper, the well known Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist, whereas the young chap with the Deer Stalker hat on the right doesn’t appear to be a man of the cloth at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but could it be that the BBC have assumed that the chap with the Deer Stalker is a lord (by dint of his garb) arguing with an unknown clergyman (by dint of his garb), rather than the truth, that the clergyman is Lord Soper? Doh!

Still on the subject of On This Day, on the same day, Queen opens ‘tube’ link to Heathrow, from 1977, is happily illustrated with a picture of a modern Tube train – what appears to this non-trainspotter, to be a Central or Northern Line train from the last ten years or so, rather than a Piccadilly Line train from 30 years ago. I suppose it would have been too much effort to use a screen grab from the corresponding footage of Her Majesty in 1977.

In Spaniards tip too much – minister, we learn that:

Spain’s inflation is higher than other eurozone states – at 4.1% last month.

4.1% in a month is certainly well on the high side. Perhaps the BBC meant that last month it was reported to be 4.1% per annum. Doh!

In typical BBC bash-the-Tories style, David Cameron’s suggestion that:

“…political parties, even though they may have serious disagreements over many aspects of policy, should work together in areas where they agree. I hope that in 2008 the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party will join us in putting pressure on the government to decentralise power, and that together we can create a new progressive alliance to decentralise British politics”

…was reported on the front page of BBC Views Online as Kennedy rejects Tory pact offer, which is all very well, except that Kennedy is very much not the leader of the LibDems, so surely is of secondary import to what Cameron said and to what the (then) prospective leaders of the LibDems might think.