BECAUSE THEY ARE WORTH IT?

So what do you make of the news that dozens of top BBC stars have been told to expect savage pay cuts of up to 40 per cent? Jonathan Ross, Jeremy Clarkson and Graham Norton are among those facing swingeing reductions in their huge salaries as the corporation tries desperately to save money. About 100 of the corporation’s most popular performers were summoned to a meeting where BBC director-general Mark … Continue reading

QUESTION TIME LIVEBLOG…

Doesn’t time fly past! Tonight sees Question Time on our screens and what a nightmare panel it is. Hain the pain is on from Wales, Comrade Derek Simpson is on, smarmy Chris Huhne is on, as is drippy Conservative Caroline Spelman and erratic economist Ruth Lea. So, no-one from the solid right on tonight. So we need to provide a little balance. Be there or be square!QUESTION TIME LIVEBLOG Click … Continue reading

WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE…

It’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it. No sooner does Lord Mandelson re-installs his puppet PM McDoom in the bunker than a series of good economic news stories suddenly permeate the media, and the BBC in particular. Yesterday came the interesting news that “the recession is over.” The Today programme followed up on this this item this morning which whistled a happy tune on the recovery after “the downturn” and now … Continue reading

Campaign journalism

When the BBC claim impartiality, it follows that they claim to be a timeless, apolitical entity reflective of truth. I couldn’t help thinking about that when I looked at the BBC website this morning and saw the lead stories on the World and UK webpages. On the former, France and Italy were being taken to task for falling off the Bono Africa charity bandwagon. On the latter, a young woman … Continue reading

CO-ORDINATED SCAREMONGERING

24 hours to save the NHS? Remember that Labour PR spin from the eve of the 1997 election? Looks like from the depths of his bunker, Gordon Brown is once more on the attack using the NHS as a weapon to gain political capital. This morning, the BBC ran the spin that the NHS is facing its biggest organisational and financial challenge ever and will not survive unless it changes … Continue reading

Everything in the garden is lovely.

Apologies if someone has already posted or commented on this outpouring of Obamalove from Matt Frei. It’s a month old now but still astonishing. Turning one corner of the White House lawn into a vegetable allotment was an inspired move. And like just about everything else the First Family has turned its attention to, it seemed to come naturally. … The Obamas do not look awkward doing normal things. Considering … Continue reading

THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL

Just listened to Tony Wright of the Labour Party on 5Live claiming that Gordon Brown’s position has been strengthened after last night results. Amazing to hear him get away with this. Still, I guess there won’t be too many empty bottles of champagne strewn across the corridors in Broadcasting House this morning. The party is over. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

ATTACK!

Well, not a great night for socialism, was it? And the BBC are not happy campers. I listened to an orchestrated onslaught against the UKIP here and the Conservatives here. Osbourne got a real mauling from Humphyrs. It appears that once again we have an election result in which there are no winners. The other BBC meme being pushed remorselessly is that the BNP is “extreme right”. It’s not. It … Continue reading