BANG BANG

BBC Moral Maze presenter and former newsreader Michael Buerk has reviewed Peter Sissons’ memoirs – When One Door Closes, in which he attacks the BBC with both barrels – for Standpoint magazine. It’s a delicious, grumpy read in which Mr Buerk makes it clear that he concurs that the BBC is stuffed full of right-on, Guardian-reading, tree-hugging, mostly incompetent lefties. My day was made by this par: Sissons bowls over … Continue reading

EXTRACTING THE MICHAEL

For me, the news that there might be a new and cheap source of fuel off the coasts of Britain is a major cause of celebration. North Sea oil generated billions of pounds in revenues and jacked up living standards for everyone in the land. Roger Harrabin, though, doesn’t give a stuff about that; in this piece about new moves to extract gas from the shale offshore from Blackpool, his … Continue reading

SAVAGERY EXCUSED…

OK, I can’t let this pass. How on EARTH does the BBC get away with calling Afghanistanis a “deeply religious and deeply conservative” people when we witness atrocious events like those in Mazar-e-Sharif? The savagery, the dark ages barbarism, are outrageous and yet the BBC are doing everything to suggest that the “deeply religious” savages were virtually obligated to kill and decapitate the poor people involved because of “the burning … Continue reading

Question Time LiveBlog 31th March 2011

Question Time tonight comes from London. At the time of writing this (approx 7pm) confirmed panelists according to the BBC Question Time website are Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Sarah Teather MP, Diane Abbott MP and the regularly tedious Clive Anderson. It’s unclear whether an extra panelist is yet  to be confirmed, whether Abbott is vast enough to count as two people, or whether she’s already eaten the unlucky 5th chair … Continue reading

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Hi all. As you may know, I am standing for election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the May 5th poll and pressures mean I must step away from this site for most of the next month or so.  I hope the other writers can keep you provided with copy whilst I am away. I will return. Click through to read and contribute comments on this post.

GASSING AWAY…

BBC Greenies love farting cow stories. And when their favourite fart-gas – methane – is the subject of a government report that could lead to new emissions laws, they are clearly in their seventh, miasmic, heaven. It defies belief that a time when we are supposedly making record cuts, DEFRA spends countless and undisclosed oodles of our dosh in working out the relationship of feedstuff to gas (though this story … Continue reading

ON ZADIE

I see that Zadie Smith has caused a bit of a furore except to the BBC who see it all as fair and balanced;  “Her comments, broadcast during the Today Programme on Radio 4, were an impassioned defence of libraries and “shared institutions” in Britain.  The BBC has been criticised, however, for inviting Ms Smith to broadcast her comments without any interruptions or questions and for allowing the five minute … Continue reading