Comic Relief came early to R4 this week with the release of a Monty Pythonesque sketch in the form of an interview by Evan Davis with Danny Alexander. Alexander provided the straightman to Evan’s very own comedy double act….What was the ‘gag’?  Evan interviewing Evan…Alexander didn’t have to say much just providing a sounding board for Evan’s commiedy genius. Contrast that with Humphry’s interview with Balls where it was the … Continue reading →

Can’t say I am in the least surprised to read that the UK has lost its triple AAA credit rating. After all, when the Coalition follows Keynesian follies and refuses to cut the size of the State then it is highly likely growth will be sluggish, and as former Conservative Deputy PM Michael Heseltine stated the other evening, no government will cut spending on Welfare and the NHS since that … Continue reading →

Well, that’s what Jeremy Paxman thinks; “It was ‘common gossip’ at the BBC that Jimmy Savile liked young girls before he was outed as a paedophile, it emerged today as the Corporation released 3,000 pages of redacted evidence into their handling of the sex abuse scandal. Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman made the claim as the evidence gathered during an inquiry into the show’s decision to drop its Jimmy Savile sex abuse … Continue reading →

I had the great misfortune to catch most of BBC Question Time last evening, recorded at St Paul’s. We had the usual biased panel; Saint Vince Cable (left and much loved by the BBC)  Michael Heseltine (He stabbed Thatcher in the back and is fervently pro EU)  Rev Giles  Fraser (Raving left)  Diana “Divide and Rule” Abbott (Left) and by way of “balance”, the maverick Peter Hitchens.  The part of … Continue reading →

Here is an Open Thread to see us all off into the wide blue yonder of the weekend. Detail the bias!

The BBC has released transcripts of the Pollard inquiry on Savile, but hasn’t made it easy for those trying to find out the details. (above image via Lucy Manning) BBC promotes its Linked Data initiative on its Internet blog. 2 days later: releases transcripts from Pollard inquiry in non-searchable PDFs — Charles Arthur (@charlesarthur) February 22, 2013 Basically, BBC has put biggest obstacles it can in way of journalists wanting … Continue reading →

    “The worst thing would be if we ended up in three years with an acutely polarised social situation in a Western country, and the entire elite going: ‘Where the heck did this come from? Who is the bloke with a small moustache?’ You’ve got to arm yourself against these eventualities.” Paul Mason, BBC It must be with such a directive in mind that the BBC has set itself … Continue reading →

David Cameron attacks BBC over ‘stupid’ Eastleigh by-election coverage David Cameron has attacked the BBC over its coverage of the Eastleigh by-election, accusing the corporation of acting “stupidly” following claims that the Tories have attempted to “hide away” their candidate.     Any chance the BBC took the opportunity to game the Tories and make the most of a chance to make their candidate look either evasive or uncaring? If … Continue reading →

The day started with a surprise…the BBC giving plenty of coverage to the suggestion by what started off as the ‘independent think tank’ Reform that prisons are being run better by private companies than the public sector. Presumably the ‘Reform’ policy institute caught the BBC napping….because it was only later in the day that ‘Reform’ suddenly became a ‘centre right think tank’…meaning everyone can relax….you can ignore this research…the Public … Continue reading →

I was on the BBC this morning discussing what is termed the call “from MP’s” to “name and shame” those companies who are not paying the requisite amount of tax. I HAD wanted to bring up Margaret Hodge’s personal experience of minimising her tax affairs via the Stemcor company in which she has a “tiny” amount of shares (£1.8m) but was warned off the issue as the famously litigious Hodge … Continue reading →