“Full employment never meant zero unemployment,” says Christopher Pissarides, professor of economics at the London School of Economics.   Philip Hammond said there was ‘no unemployment’….naturally, with 1.4 million people without jobs, the usual suspects jumped all over him in politically motivated attacks…. Philip Hammond says there are ‘no unemployed people’ Speaking to Andrew Marr, the chancellor says “there are no unemployed people”, when asked about the threat to … Continue reading →

  If you have been following the Rohingya story, you will have heard how the Myanmar army cleared itself of wrongdoing this week. Jonathan Head, BBC South East Asia correspondent tells us: To no one’s surprise, the army has exonerated itself of pretty much all blame. But its findings lack credibility, both because the inquiry was solely carried out by the very institution accused of committing the abuses, and because of … Continue reading →

One of the worst and most ridiculous arguments goes like this: “the right say the BBC is too left wing, but the left say the BBC has a right wing bias, so it’s probably quite balanced in reality”. You’ve heard variations of this argument no doubt. The BBC has many presenters, journalists, employees. Not all of them have the exact same opinion. Andrew Neil is clearly more right wing than … Continue reading →

H/T StewGreen The BBC is screening a new programme today…a play from the National Theatre.  In the days following the Brexit vote, a team from the National Theatre of Great Britain spoke to people nationwide, aged 9 to 97, to hear their views on the country we call home. In a series of deeply personal interviews, they heard opinions that were honest, emotional, funny and sometimes extreme. The writers?   Carol … Continue reading →

  ‘Exodus’…the BBC’s name for its new programmes about the flight of Muslim immigrants to Europe…. Exodus: Our Journey In 2015, we gave cameras to some of the people who smuggled themselves into Europe, to record where no-one else can go. The result is a terrifying, intimate, epic portrait of the migration crisis. Across the whole of Europe, the rhetoric of the right is increasingly influential. The ‘rhetoric of the … Continue reading →

  Talking of the infamous £350 million the BBC always likes to say we don’t send the EU any actual money…and that the UK has a veto over any decision to axe the rebate should the EU, as would be likely, especially if we were to ‘rejoin’, thus…the rebate is safe and can’t possibly be included in any discussion on how much we pay the EU. Strange then that the … Continue reading →

  ‘Omerta’…that’s a Vauxhall car isn’t it?  Apparently not, it’s the vow of silence that the EU national leaders have taken so that only Barnier gets to speak as the voice of the EU [H/T Craig at Is the BBC biased?] according to Katya Adler who was explaining why her, and the BBC’s, coverage seemed so biased and favourable towards the EU’s version of events. I heard Adler this morning … Continue reading →

  Newsnight’s James O’Brien, he’s everywhere, you can’t take a step without finding him underfoot….no wonder his friends call him Jobby.  Here he is talking to the Great British Conscience herself….a cross between Anne Frank, Mother Theresa and a gender fluid Jeremy Corbyn.  It’s, as you might imagine, very hard work, the decor is lively compared to the chat…not exactly challenging…Jobby admits to ‘feeling protective’ towards Allen.  He admits that … Continue reading →

Universal credit: Households to miss out on benefits over festive season The latest in the ever more desperate attempts to drum up any possible further controversy over universal credit. It isn’t until the last segment of the article that we find out, ‘The government said the payments balance out, as claimants will receive more in the following month.’ So people aren’t actually missing out on anything, despite the scary headline … Continue reading →

  People felt they had lost control of their country….they were right….     Labour couldn’t jail the bankers because they gave them free rein to do what they liked…bankers would be in jail next to Gordon Brown.