BBC Views Online’s sleazy stealth editors have been in action again (though I doubt that they are ever really out of action – it’s just that we don’t always spot it happening).
On Saturday morning BBC Views Online reported Migration ‘tipping point reached’, beginning:
Immigration could lead to the political break-up of Britain, according to think-tank Civitas.
A pamphlet by the group suggests that Britain may have reached a “tipping point” beyond which it could no longer be seen as a single nation.
Looking at the same story today, it has been modified, stealthily, as follows:
Immigration could lead to the political break-up of Britain, according to right-wing think-tank Civitas.
A pamphlet by the group suggests that Britain may have reached a “tipping point” beyond which it could no longer be seen as a single nation.
You can see the original version of the article courtesy of Google’s cache (until Google next refreshes their cache in a day or two).
The strange thing is that Civitas, a widely respected think-tank, is deliberately non-partisan, as set out on their About Civitas page:
Intellectual orientation
All think tanks have a point of view, and unthinking commentators always want to know whether an organisation is left wing or right wing. Those who think for themselves know how misleading these categories are. Civitas is not easy to position on the left-right spectrum. Most of our staff have no current or past party affiliation, but our director of community studies, Norman Dennis, is a member of the Labour party in Sunderland and our Director, David Green, was a Labour party member for over ten years and a Labour councillor in Newcastle upon Tyne for about six years. To avoid the tug of party loyalty, Civitas is non-partisan in politics.
Moreover, our principal concerns are not the property of any one political party. The focus of Civitas on encouraging social cohesion is shared by many who would describe themselves as on the left.
(Read the rest for further details).
Perhaps this is a case where the unthinking lefties at Views Online don’t care much for the message, hence them helpfully labelling Civitas, incorrectly, as right-wing, lest anyone else should care to think for themselves.