Springtime For Arabs/Happy Independence Day Israel

What is the Arab Spring? People think the uprisings in the Arab world denote a kind of dawning of the age of Aquarius. “Harmony and understanding,Sympathy and trust abounding” they chirrup delusionally. But the Arab Spring is….. a spring. Coiled, tense, and poised to uncoil in an explosion of hatred for Israel, and perhaps the West as well. The BBC have lost interest in Egypt, but the Muslim Brotherhood is … Continue reading

Mark Mardell’s Crisis of Faith Continues

BBC North America editor Mark Mardell is in a dark place these days. After his beloved Obamessiah turned out to be a cold-blooded assassin, he doesn’t know which way to turn. He’s tried blaming ugly United Statesians for forcing the President to kill because it plays well at home, refusing to call out the President Himself. Mardell never made much of a fuss about the fact that the current President … Continue reading

HAD BIN LADEN A BBC LICENSE?

I only ask the question because I read that…. Among the newly released data from inside the secret compound is a series of video tapes. They show him sat in his compound, watching video footage of himself and rehearsing his lines for propaganda video. At one point there is a recording of his favourite TV channels and among those listed are Al Jazeera and the BBC’s Arabic service… Click through … Continue reading

Meaningful Engagement

Melanie Phillips has written another open letter, this time to David Cameron. The one she wrote earlier, to Jeremy Hunt about the BBC, must have got lost in the post, so it’s doubtful that she had high hopes of a response to this one by return of post, or indeed ever. It’s a great letter, even if it only reaches readers of the Spectator and the Commentator, and not Prime … Continue reading

How Many Years Make A "Tradition"?

…so how many years makes for a “tradition”? With the BBC; not so many when it suits them. Number 10 shuns EU flag tradition Downing Street will not fly the EU flag over Number 10 during Europe Day on Monday unlike previous years, the BBC has learned. The Royal Wedding…traditional. Morris dancing…traditional. Flying the EU flag? Meh. The UK’s relationship with Europe is a potential source of tension between the Conservative and … Continue reading

If Only…

Pro-AV lefty BBC producer Richard Leeming bemoans the ignorance of the plebs: The right-on metropolitan media clique knows best but for some reason the general public refuses to acknowledge it. What a shame, eh? (See also Jon Snow) Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

A Question of Question Time

I don’t often watch Question Time, but anticipating a clash of cultures between Douglas Murray (Hooray) and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Hiss) I thought it would be worth watching last night. In the event the excitement was generated by action-man Ashdown.Elder statesmen-turned-national-treasure are often afflicted by symptoms of geriatric pre-dementia such as continually harking back to the glory days, and his youthful military adventures in the Royal Marines have provided Lord Paddy … Continue reading

QT and Elections LiveChat (Pt1)

Welcome to the LiveChat which is a 5th May Election Special. We kick off with the return of Question Time; which tonight comes from the last BBC option “damn I can’t claim decent expenses from here” of London. On the panel we have Secretary of State for Transport and Conservative dark horse Philip Hammond, Andy Burnham, Paddy Pantsdown, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Douglas Murray. Really? Are the same dozen people always on speed-dial? … Continue reading