Well, I see the BBC have appointed a new Director General, on about half the salary Thompson was on, but still more than twice what the Prime Minister earns! Lucky we don’t have a recession on….hang on a moment… George Entwistle, the BBC executive in charge of the coverage of the Queen’s diamond jubilee, has been named as director general of the corporation, beating competition from Ofcom chief Ed Richards … Continue reading
Middle of the week and time for a new Open Thread! What’s been REALLY bothering you about the BBC today?
It’s a real toughie for them, isn’t it? I mean the BBC seemed so delighted, ecstatic even, that Bob Diamond has gone but now..gulp… Labour have been dragged into the whole “Who fixed Libor” scandal. And with Brown and Balls in the frame, along with other luminaries such as Darling, damage control has to be exercised. Anyone catch Lord Myners on Today this morning being given a gentle canter around … Continue reading
Compare this from the Daily Mail: ‘New French President Francois Hollande – elected on an anti-austerity platform – was yesterday told ‘unprecedented’ cuts were needed to plug a gaping hole in the country’s budget. France’s accounting watchdog warned the government needs to find £35billion in savings over the next two years to drag it out of the ‘danger zone’. Didier Migaud, head of the country’s Cour des Comptes audit body, … Continue reading
The BBC tells us this: ‘Documents seen by the BBC on Monday indicate ministers in the last Labour government held discussions with banks about policies which would allow the Libor rate to fall. Speculation about how much the government of the day knew prompted a statement on Tuesday evening from former Labour minister Baroness Vadera of Holland Park. She said she “has no recollection of speaking to Paul Tucker … Continue reading
What would Jesus do? The alternative title was ‘Kristallnacht’ in light of the unremitting ‘pogrom’ against all bankers regardless of guilt in pursuit of a Socialist ideology of a banker free world….with the Occupy storm troopers putting boots on the ground and a Goebbels like media riding shotgun behind Miliband. To save you reading all of this I’ll give you a quick precis….Exam boards have been rigging the market … Continue reading
Now WHO would have seen this one coming? John Simpson, BBC broadcaster, has admitted he used to be a tax avoider, placing his home with an offshore company until he saw the error of his ways. Ah, the “error of his ways”. How touching and so moral. I wonder how many other highly paid BBC staff have similar tax evading arrangements in situ and why hasn’t there been a call … Continue reading
The news that Bob Diamond has resigned from Barclays was breaking news on Today this morning. The euphoria in John Humphrys voice was almost touching. Shortly afterwards the Chancellor was interviewed and the thrust of Humphrys questioning was whether Osborne had personally put pressure on Diamond to go. Osborne rightly pointed out that it is not the business of Government to tell a private company who it should employ, to … Continue reading
Any thoughts on why the BBC seems to have somewhat overlooked this story? An NHS quango has provided its staff with a £1 million fleet of luxury cars, including a BMW convertible, an Audi TT and three Range Rover Evoques. Time for a public enquiry into this abuse of precious taxpayer funds, maybe even a judicial review into NHS sharp practise? Thought not.
Jeremy Vine, BBC R2, has a new book out in which he relates many a story about his contacts with the Blair spin machine….Alastair Campbell and Mandelson….ALL SERIALISED IN THE DAILY MAIL: A piece in the Sunday Express ‘Cross Bencher’ reveals that the much vaunted BBC independence is easily sidestepped by the vigorous use of threats. Vine’s new book ‘pulled no punches’ in describing events and Alastair Campbell, also with … Continue reading
