334 Responses to WEEKEND OPEN THREAD

  1. Dover Sentry says:

    BBC coverage of Gallipoli Remembrance today.

    The Turkish defenders are portrayed as humane soldiers who were honourable.

    Not so. Being a prisoner of the Turks was likely to result in beheading. This happened to a friend of mine’s great uncle at Gallipoli.

    Airbrush history to show muslims in a favourable light.

    ..

       39 likes

  2. MartinWW says:

    Radio 4 – Moneybox. 25 April. Paul Lewis interviewed UKIP’s pensions spokesman at midday. One might have expected Lewis to have been his usual forensically-probing, but polite and even-voiced self. But, no. He was sharp-voiced, carping, hostile and argumentative and, furthermore, accused the spokesman of constructing policies to assist in his business. Lewis was more interested in finding fault than providing a fair platform for UKIP. Before this episode, I had considerable regard for Lewis, and it is sad that he reverted to the standard BBC stance towards UKIP.

       42 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      I must agree. Paul Lewis has always struck me as a decent and fair financial journalist, but his attitude towards the Ukip spokesman was terrible, the sort of constant interruption and clear bias one has grown to expect from Evan Davis and the like. A big fail for Money Box I’m afraid.

         32 likes

      • lock13 says:

        Let’s face it where else would Paul Lewis get a job if he did not tow the BBC party line ?

           9 likes

      • Scott says:

        It’s hardly Paul Lewis’s fault if the UKIP spokesman on pensions is evasive when asked plain questions about the subject about which he ought to be expected to be able to answer directly. I realise that on Biased BBC people seem to think that UKIP politicians are to be unquestioningly worshipped – but journalists asking tough questions, and then pressing people who evade answering, is not bias. That’s their job.

           1 likes

        • I Can See Clearly Now says:

          journalists asking tough questions… is not bias. That’s their job.

          Well, yes, but some get asked tougher questions than others:
          Re-tweeted by Evan Davis


          … and some just get smeared, in case the voters see their remarkable ability to answer questions.

             18 likes

          • Guest Who says:

            Well that response is going to take a bit of editing out for him before presenting today’s efforts to the team leader. Bazinga!

               8 likes

  3. George R says:

    ‘Diversity’ in Italy.

    Islamic jihad threat to VATICAN;

    1.) Pamela Geller-

    “Italy Arrests 18 Jihadis in planned Vatican bombing”

    http://pamelageller.com/2015/04/italy-arrests-18-jihadis-in-planned-vatican-bombing.html/

    2.) INBBC-

    “Italy investigators say Vatican link in ‘al-Qaeda’ arrests”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32447603

       15 likes

    • Demon says:

      Well if they did manage to bomb the Vatican then surely that would give the Christian countries licence to bomb Mecca and Medina.

         21 likes

      • Rob in Cheshire says:

        No, it would give our governments licence to ask “what did we do to offend the Muslims so much?”.

           35 likes

        • G.W.F. says:

          And Cameron would set up a task force to monitor twitter accounts of Catholics, and prosecute them if they expressed disapproval.

             26 likes

  4. The Old Bloke says:

    A new slant on an old word now being used by the BBC weather pundits, the word “frost” has been replaced by “chilly”. It is looking like the U.K. will have a record number of “frost” days this winter, (November 2014 – April 2015 and beyond) which, as you know, shouldn’t be happening if Global Warming was taking place. The word “chilly” is a much warmer word than “Frost” so all those putting their bedding plants out, watch out for the “chilly” what they really mean is “frost”.

       28 likes

    • Deborah says:

      Our local forecaster, one Paul Hudson, will keep talking of ‘temperatures rurally will be…..’ Mr D keeps asking what the equivalent word is for towns. I think Mr H has been making words up.

         17 likes

  5. George R says:

    For BBC-Democrat-

    “FOX News Special: The Tangled Clinton Web With ‘Clinton Cash.’ ”

    Author Peter Schweizer.

    (40 min video.)

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/04/25/fox_news_special_the_tangled_clinton_web_with_clinton_cash_author_peter_schweizer.html

       10 likes

  6. noggin says:

    “Just what is Islamophobia anyway ?
    A Humpty Dumpty word that can mean anything its speaker wants it to mean”

    Well Mark, Islam is obsessed with victimhood, but it is not a race
    so “waycism” is out, (although the BBC has been guilty on multiple occasions of equating it so).
    It is also inherently and insanely jealous of the term anti-Semitism
    because it gives Jewish people justified recourse against such hatred,(No1 perpetrator – Islam),
    Its jealousy, its simpering victim narrative, cooked up the term “Islamofauxbia”, trying to usurp, and glean profit from the similar term Homophobia, a deeper issue is that Phobia” linked to anything like “Islamo” or “homo” is a worn out cliche to generate political pity, and used for a “silence” lever.
    So brazen is the Islamic arrogance over its use, that Charlie Hebdo has been named 2015 International Islamophobe of the year, despite many of its staff having been attacked and killed by Jihadists in January, simply for standing for freedom of speech/expression, maybe CH had an” irrational fear”?
    So Islam ensures EVERYONE has a fully justified one.
    Thus, word c that the very word “Islamophobia” is a nonsense term. A “phobia” is something of which one is irrationally afraid. Yet it is supremely rational to be scared of elements of Islam and of its fundamentalist strains in particular, created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.

       31 likes

    • Leha says:

      I’m glad all this shite is going to come to a head very shortly, I would never pay a fine or do “community service” for speaking the truth as I see it.

         21 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      See my earlier post. Milliband has promised the moslems he will make Islamophobia a hate crime.

         17 likes

      • noggin says:

        Baroness Warsi, said (MEND)
        “Muslim Manifesto is something you can take to your election candidates”. ?
        UK Rep for the OIC?
        Look, Islamists have managed to influence our traitor of a Prime Minister and the government’s No10 quislings policies and yet Muslims are only 3% of the population.
        Imagine what it will be like when they are 8% or 12% of the population and have dozens of Muslim MPs?

           19 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Playing certain flaws of democracy well (that have relied on basic integrity and belief in national interest until now to work), ably abetted by the BBC, in an imperfect storm of naked ambition and self-interest.

           11 likes

      • Richard Pinder says:

        Miliband is a Jew, many Jews have Islamophobia due to anti-Semitism, mostly from the Islamic community. So with the beginning of Laws against Phobias: I suppose Jews could pretend not to have a fear of Islam, but if the thought is a crime, then they would be Guilty. But the Labour Party’s Lawyers would have to think of a way of reading the minds of Jews. Not difficult for left-wing morons, as with Climate Change, they just turn wishful thinking into assumed facts. Although, I would think that outlawing all phobias could cause the social breakdown of society. I would think that Milibands motive for anti-phobia laws would obviously be to make a lot of money for all those lefty Labour supporting Lawyers.
        But with anti-Semitism (A hatred) causing Islamophobia (A Fear), and only Islamophobia a crime, we would have a Jew, effectively making defence against anti-Semitism, illegal. Its no wonder that the only famous Labour supporting Jew that I have ever meet, has turned against Miliband.

           9 likes

        • deegee says:

          None of Ed Milibands, policies, actions or responses are in any way influenced by Jewish feeling.

          Miliband is only a Jew because of accident of birth. His marxist parents made sure he received zero Jewish education and the only Jews he met on a regular basis were similarly militantly atheist. So he picked up no Jewish culture by absorption. There is no record of him joining any Jewish society or community not even at the notoriously anti Israel London School of Economics. (Does anyone know what years he attended?) His children are not Jewish and receive no more Jewish education or connection than he did.

          At some point the politically ambitious and astute Miliband realised Jewish descent could be used as a weapon against him. One can only speculate that he was advised by Tony Blair who only formally announced he was a Catholic after it was politically irrelevant). Attack is the best defence so he made a gesture to Judaism.

          Perhaps he thought declaring himself as-a-Jew would shield him from accusations of abandoning Israel. He, as with Obama, is instinctively anti Israel although, also as with Obama, he realises some pro Israel gestures are politically necessary.

          How Ed Miliband lost the Jewish vote is worth reading. I would be interested to know whether B-BBC readers agree.

             10 likes

          • Deborah says:

            Jewish friends in Hendon used to keep quiet about voting Conservative as most of their friends voted Labour – they no longer feel they have to do so.

               16 likes

            • 43 says:

              Milliband has no feeling’s for Israel, he comes from a secular left wing family who are here because of Hitler, he should remember this, Hitler recognised his Jewishness more than his parents did, or do now. Remember Eddy boy the next holocaust is being threatened as we talk, and guess what, they will come for you too, don’t worry.
              He cannot admit to being a Zionist, he said he was once but this was soon retracted, muslim votes. His mother is a member of Jews for justice for Palestinians so you know where he gets it from.
              Same goes for my local MP, Fabian Hamilton. The problem is do I vote with my heart and vote UKIP or my head and vote Conservative and not split the right of centre vote and let labour in again. Oy vey, decisions decisions. Anyway pass the bagels, the smoked salmon is a bit fishy this week.

                 10 likes

              • Ian Rushlow says:

                The problem is do I vote with my heart and vote UKIP or my head and vote Conservative.
                The problem is that there is no longer a ‘Conservative’ party to vote for. Some of the stuff they espouse (hyper immigration, same sex marriage, massive foreign aid, diversity nonsense) puts them to the left of what the SWP were a generation ago. Better to vote with your heart and give Cameron a bloody nose, in the hope that the fallout may cause his party to come to their senses. Even if every potential UKIP vote was hoovered up by the Conservatives it could not counteract the 40-45 SNP seats that will support Milliband, whereas a decent showing for UKIP gives hope for the future.

                   11 likes

          • Up2snuff says:

            I seem to recall Ed Miliband going on record relatively recently – on Radio 4 – as saying that he is an atheist.

               1 likes

        • Andy S. says:

          Miliband is of Jewish origin but his only religion (and that of his Commie father) is Marxism. Red in tooth and claw. Miliband has been brought up on his father’s knee with Marxism as a philosophy and way of life. He’s done what many Marxists and Communists have done in the past – knowing his true political beliefs will never be tolerated by the voting public, he joined the Labour Party in the guise of a Democratic Socialist. Too many have treated Ed Miliband as something of a joke, a geek, a numpty. If he gets the keys to number 10 we will all see what he really thinks of democracy and the English people. Like all Communists he’s a totalitarian at heart and will enact laws to punish those who don’t conform. He really IS a Daddy’s Boy!!!

             8 likes

  7. G.W.F. says:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3053585/Islamic-State-unveils-ISHS-version-Britain-s-NHS-Islamists-promote-new-health-service-poster-campaign-nearly-identical-UK-s.html

    Weaponizing the NHS. That is what ISIS are doing. No waiting lists, no whistle blowers, and free limb removal .

       18 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      Far more sophisticated than Britain’s NHS. Apparently they have cures for homosexuality and for acrophobia. In fact, they are using the same treatment for both.

         14 likes

  8. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    Re-tweeted by Evan Davis:


    To sum up, yet again the BBC chose, in a flagship interview of a leading exponent of alternative policies on immigration and the EU, not to explore the main themes that concern the British public. What unfolded instead was another clumsy but brutal ad hominem attack.

    David Keighley: Latest BBC bias scores. Evan Davis interrupts Farage 50 times and speaks 3,000 words

       30 likes

  9. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    Re-tweeted by Evan Davis


    How sweet. No doubt she was much nicer that that vulgar Farage man that Davis had to interview.

       31 likes

    • lock13 says:

      A Welsh bird with the IQ of a leek. Leanne we have a Somali bloke looking for a room in Wales you put him up for a while ?

         34 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Was Red Leanne asked any embarrassing questions about her insult to the Queen? Betcha if a UKIP candidate had done the same the story would never die. .

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4060043.stm

         32 likes

      • lock13 says:

        Leanne’s family would struggle to vote for her – put the kettle on love

           25 likes

    • Umbongo says:

      Well, Leanne’s got a lot to be modest about.

         29 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      That last sentence… not stupid at all. But really not a good precedent for any professional, impartial journalist to set, especially during an election.

      Stuff like that whilst colleagues like Jasmine are sticking knives in foes rather seems the epitome of propaganda at work.

         13 likes

    • logie bored says:

      …with much to be modest about.

      (to plagiarise Sir Winston Churchill)

         10 likes

  10. Mr Glodstone says:

    O.T. but not really.

    The Stranger within my Gate

    The Stranger within my gate,
    He may be true or kind,
    But he does not talk my talk–
    I cannot feel his mind
    I see the face and the eyes and mouth
    But not the soul behind.

    The men of my own stock,
    They may do ill or well,
    But they tell the lies I am wonted to,
    They are used to the lies I tell;
    And we do not need interpreters
    When we go to buy and sell.

    The stranger within my gates
    He may be evil or good
    But I cannot tell what powers control,
    What reasons sway his mood;
    Nor when the Gods of his far-off land
    Shall repossess his blood.

    The men of my own stock,
    Bitter bad they may be,
    But at least they hear the things I hear
    And see the things I see;
    And whatever I think of them and their likes,
    They think of the likes of me.

    This was my father’s belief,
    And this is also mine:
    Let all the corn be one sheaf
    And the grapes be all one vine
    Ere our children’s teeth are set on edge
    By bitter bread and wine.

    Rudyard Kipling

       31 likes

    • MartinWW says:

      I have two books of Kipling’s poems on my bookshelves, but I had not come across that poem, and I am grateful to you for posting it. What a poem, and what insight so simply and truthfully expressed. However, It leaves one regretful and depressed over the future of our beloved country that is being disastrously transformed before our eyes.

         26 likes

    • Zytate says:

      Thanks for that poem -true words,Kipling is probably banned in schools these days.

         17 likes

      • Ian Rushlow says:

        Kipling isn’t banned in schools. Every child knows that he is the bloke wot makes those exceedingly good cakes. No dumbed down education in Britain’s wonderful school system!

           28 likes

    • dave s says:

      Kipling and GK Chesterton instinctively understood what to be English is. They belong to us and must be read and reread.
      Not that it means they are taught today in our schools.

         21 likes

  11. chrisH says:

    Note that the Folking Family of Radio 2 are giving one Yusuf Cat Stevens a Lifetime Achievement Award?
    Didn`t this used to be Yusuf ISLAM-these last near-on forty years?
    What`s up?…Cat`s got his own tongue?
    Why would the arch-minstrel for the Religion of Niceness choose to bin that adopted surname of his ISLAM?…in front of a load of lefty beardie weirdos, who never cared to check what his plans for Salman Rushdie used to be-until his Ayatollah went and rode the Piss Train to Hades?
    Nah, no contradiction at all- being followed by a Mo Shadow?
    Still-he`ll soon be Stephen Georgiou again if he gets a nomination from the Late Show, perhaps….
    Yusuf Cat Stevens…is that to be a posh double barrel name then?…surely even WORSE to those folkies being a toff isn`t it?

       29 likes

  12. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    Tactical voting was always going to be the last strong card played by the media. Surprisingly, Sky seems to be first at it today; interviews with good concerned Labour citizens, doing their duty for decency and fair play by voting Tory ‘to keep UKIP out’. Expect the Beeb to pile in before May 7th. Clearly UKIP anticipated this stunt – the response came quickly:

       32 likes

  13. Geoff says:

    bBC Points West 7min Saturday evening edition leads on a nothing more important than a ‘vigil’ of no more than 40 generic lefties in Bristol City center for the Mediterranean migrants.

    They set up a member of the Socialist and Trade Union Party to ‘debate’ the issue with a UKIP member who followed the party’s stance on the issue, the lefty just sprouted the standard crap, where will they go, its our fault etc etc. WTF is wrong with these people, do they seriously want to be 3rd class homeless citizens in their own country? But the biggest irony is that these people represent trade unions, are they that dumb that they can see that in the future these people will do their jobs for next to nothing? Turkeys supporting Christmas.

    But the biggest question has be is why did the editors at bBC West think that this non-event was worthy of top billing and half the 7 minutes?

       37 likes

  14. Brad Goulson says:

    Join over 127,000 others by signing this:

    https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/end-the-bbc-licence-fee

    Then the BBC, or what’s left of it (……is that possible ?) can be as biased as it likes.

       17 likes

    • MartinWW says:

      I do not agree with scrapping the TV licence fee. It is not the solution to very big and widespread problems with the BBC. Ending a licence fee would lead to commercialism and a “race to the bottom” as financial backers would naturally look to high-viewing programmes (i.e. most lowest common denominator ones) with a concomitant loss of important lower-viewing programmes. High quality radio would go, notably Radio 3. We only need to look to the USA, where it was discovered that high quality TV programmes had to have government finance or they wouldn’t be made.
      What we do need is a root and branch change in the ethos and political stance of the BBC, and with proper controls and a Trust with teeth, this could be achieved. I would like to see the licence few reduced to, say, £70 per annum, following measures such as a cessation of all pop channels and so-called ‘reality TV’, both far more suited to commercial organisations, a withdrawal from the mad market to broadcast football (colossal sums), and putting in place a sensible salary structure for employees, and much more …..

         4 likes

      • Leha says:

        Sorry Martin, but this behemoth has had it’s day, even if it was impartial and even handed, which it isn’t. Younger people are getting their news and entertainment elsewhere, Sell it off and refund the British public the proceeds and let Noel Edmonds bring it into the 21st century as another Netflix style entertainment hub.

           21 likes

      • Thoughtful says:

        Quality programs? Are you able to give a recent example?
        Wolf Hall was certainly amongst those, and it was watched by a large audience, so it simply isn’t true that there isn’t a demand for those type of shows.

        Radio 3 is an entirely different entity which probably should not exist as the audience is so small, it might be suitable for a niche audience, but it isn’t viable even for a publicly funded broadcaster. It’s not as though the subject matter isn’t popular, look at the success of Classic FM. The cost per listener is disproportionate especially for the audience. Some internet only shows have higher audience figures!

        The BBC has another problem though. It cannot accept criticism. Like all on the left they believe their ideology is perfect, criticism of them, is not criticism of them it must be one of the ever growing list of ‘isms and fauxbias’. No trust with teeth will ever succeed in changing its biased output. The only way would be a bias panel with the power to prevent shows from being broadcast if they were too left wing, and to force shows with a National Front / BNP slant to counter the extremism of the left wing output.

        Now that really would cause the BBC to sit up & take notice !

           16 likes

      • Chop says:

        Name me one program, made by the BBC that is aimed at your everyday, average bloke.

        Not aimed at lefty, progressive arty farty types, aimed at your every day british male.

        I can’t think of one, they do not cater for me at all, so why should I be forced to pay for them?

           23 likes

        • I Can See Clearly Now says:

          Name me one program, made by the BBC that is aimed at your everyday, average bloke.

          Sorry; couldn’t. Not one. Not for years. All we get now is diversity propaganda; ‘feisty’, intelligent, open-minded female saves the world, all the time being frustrated by a group of Neanderthal men. Started with the first Prime Suspect (1991), which I really enjoyed. Seeing the same propaganda was a bit boring the second time. Now every programme has this theme as a sub-plot; and usually not very ‘sub’.

             18 likes

        • LarryD says:

          Been saying this for years, have to resort to my box set of “The Sopranos”.

          BBC = All woman strong all men weak. ITV Ch4 & Sky just as bad. That horrible Quinton woman amongst many.

             15 likes

        • Essex Man says:

          Top Gear as it was , soon to be Multi Diversity Gear ,with an all electric tinge . It will be moved from Dunsfold Airfield to a getto in Brixton . Effink car jacking ,n robbing in a special edition, on poor non Hideously White motorists , with advice on how not to get nicked , for not having tax , MOT , & insurance .

             16 likes

          • DownBoy says:

            How about replacing Top Gear with ‘Top Tram’, where Sue Perkins, Natalie Bennett and Lenny Henry burn up the aviation fuel to go to various cities and test their public transport systems to see which are the most ‘carbon neutral’ and which system has the most diverse passengers. Then a slot where Gok Wan compares car interiors to see which is the most vibrant and colour co-ordinated – the winners getting pride of place up on the ‘gay wall’.

               17 likes

            • Guest Who says:

              “burn up the aviation fuel”

              You jest… but I am watching what appears to be a collection of long haul disaster porn groupies from the BBC block aircraft cargo capacity and hotel rooms to dash to the Himalayas to capture the perfect grief moment a la the big salt water Vanauatu adventure recently.

              I can see the need for a certain amount of location coverage, but struggle with every Jon, Don & Justin needing to ethically clog relief triage for a bit of on-site rubble emoting by a white person.

                 12 likes

              • DownBoy says:

                They are all trying to emulate Kate ‘disaster’ Adie and Orla ‘chuckles’ Guerin. No need to worry about the yeti sized carbon footprint involved in the rush to the Himalayas – it will all be ‘offset’.
                Compare and contrast with the disgraceful climate denying Ryanair plebs off to Ibiza or Benidorm. They should be forced to stay at home.

                   11 likes

        • johnnythefish says:

          Name me one program, made by the BBC that is aimed at your everyday, average bloke.

          Even if there is a drama which appears as though it’s made for the average bloke you can guarantee there will be an embedded agenda, however small, which ticks one of the leftist causes e.g race, LGBTMGBGT, women’s rights, Islam etc etc.

          I was going to say ‘Good Cop’, which was an excellent drama, but even in that the lead’s immediate superior was a black police sergeant who was the perfect role model for offering him advice on his broken marriage.

             9 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Top Gear.

          Oooops!

             5 likes

  15. thoughtful says:

    BBC presenter spells ‘education’ wrong as he reports live from classroom

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3053750/BBC-presenter-spells-education-wrong-reports-live-classroom.html

    Having said that the Daily Fails hacks are no better as it should have been wrongly !

       14 likes

  16. An English Gentleman says:

    I see the bbbc have managed to completely ignore the corruption problem in Tower Hamlets created by Lutfur Rahman and colleagues with their corrupt electoral practices.

    Mind you, on the home page of the bbbc news website they do seem to have had time to publish an article ‘Bruce Jenner: Living as a woman’ – obviously an important piece of investigative journalism.

    I’m looking forward to the Andrew Marr show this morning (well not me, actually as I refuse to watch it) where we can all get our dose of lefty, liebour, anti UKIP propaganda. I’ve no doubt that we will be told that UKIP are still trying to ‘recover’ from the ‘sausage rolls’ corrupt practices incident….

       29 likes

    • Dover Sentry says:

      I agree entirely. I may watch it just to gather ammunition of BeebBias.

         18 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Quite a lot of eyes on this, this morning; be interesting how it’s all played. No pressure, Andy.

      Of course things like tonality and facial expressions are subjective so CECUTT is set to swat any comparisons away, but numbers of interruptions are quantifiable.

      Then there is simply the BBC proven negative of editorial by omission.

      Hard to critique what isn’t even mentioned.

      Given how It has been shown Lutfer’s regime prevailed, it might be worth relating this to Ed’s latest bandwagon jump on Islamaphobia.

         11 likes

    • Andy S. says:

      Does Jenner’s transexuality trump the fact that he’s a Republican?

         2 likes

  17. Alex says:

    Why are we paying for a Gaelic BBC page when only a handful of people speak it? It’s the same with the road signs up in the Highlands; apart from small clusters of people dotted around the land, no sod understands it! But the Gaelic Mafia insist that taxpayers money is wasted on it; these types are invariably YEStapo members as well.

    I have no problem with a language being preserved – but not at a cost to us and when it is a contrived conservation; I feel that Gaelic (especially when used musically) can have a lovely lilting quality, but for too long it has been used as a ‘we the victim/minority status’ political tool with which to siphon off taxpayers money to fund a Nationalist agenda.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan

       21 likes

    • Kennedy says:

      Strangely enough, the main Gaelic speaking areas, The Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan an lar) and the Highlands, voted “No” in the referendum.

         11 likes

    • zid says:

      i’ve always thought the same about bbc alba, and s4c..a complete waste of money..there’d be more justification for a punjabi channel than a welsh one…

      although, to be fair, i’ve met more welsh with at least a smattering of the language than i have scots who can speak gaelic.

         10 likes

      • Ian Rushlow says:

        From Wikipedia: “The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, with the Outer Hebrides being the main stronghold of the language. The census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, a decline of 6,226.”
        Still, that’s a lot more people than watch VD’s new show on BBC2…
        The BBC: You pay, we play.

           16 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      You should try the electronic information signs along the A55 in North Wales. By the time you’ve worked out where the English starts you’ve driven past.

         8 likes

  18. George R says:

    QATAR, Al Jazeera, INBBC.

    No doubt INBBC politically approves of Islamic Qatar, owners of Al Jazeera, the broadcaster for which Beeboids at W1A seem to go on paid strike, taking over large sections of London, etc-

    “How the Qataris bought Britain: Top hotels. Ascot. Prime Mayfair mansions… the sheikhs have rolled into the UK – for only £11.6billion.
    “The Qatari ruling family boasts a prestigious property portfolio in Britain worth an estimated £740 million.
    “They have been quietly buying up trophy properties – including the Shard in London – over the past eight years.
    “Qatar’s Constellation Group bought a majority stake in company that owns Claridge’s and the Connaught last week.
    “Family have spent £11.6 billion buying empire and sovereign wealth fund snapped up Canary Wharf for £2.6 billion.”

    By MARK HOLLINGSWORTH

    FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3055565/How-Qataris-bought-Britain.html

       13 likes

    • lock13 says:

      Oh dear imagine if Wales went independent and Leanne was in charge that would work out well. She is going to end austerity too she has magic powers old Leanne she just says things and it happens -another deluded loon 3 men and a dog support her and she thinks she can call the shots. Shouldn’t she be running the kitchen in a nice primary school or something

         26 likes

    • Rufus McDufus says:

      I actually watched Al Jazeera yesterday for a bit. I was struck by how much less biased it was than the BBC!

         12 likes

  19. George R says:

    “BBC under fire over bias against Tories… again.

    “The BBC was last night embroiled in a fresh row over bias against the Tories in its General Election coverage.”

    By JON COATES.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/572946/BBC-fresh-row-bias-against-Conservatives

       22 likes

  20. George R says:

    “BBC forks out £50,000 on meeting rooms across the street from its brand new £1billion HQ…which bosses say lacks space.

    “New Broadcasting House in central London took a decade to build.
    “It was opened by the Queen in 2013 at least £55million over budget.
    “But the BBC has now admitted it ‘occasionally’ runs out of meeting rooms.”

    By JONATHAN PETRE,

    FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3055719/BBC-forks-50-000-meeting-rooms-street-brand-new-1billion-HQ-bosses-say-lacks-space.html

       21 likes

  21. Peter Grimes says:

    Well well! Marr apologised for his ambush gaffe (deliberate lie with a view to getting a defence of hunting out of Dave?) on his programme last week.

    I won’t hold my breath that this is the start of a little honesty from Al JaBeeBa but if it is could they bring a little honesty to their reporting on the NHS and ZaNuLaB’s part in its decline, the net TAKE not contribution by low-paid economic immigrants, the number of people using food banks and climate change.

       27 likes

  22. Jeff says:

    Not sure if anyone else has mentioned the Rhona Cameron interview on The Today prog’. Rhona, for the uninitiated, is by her own admission a “left wing lesbian Scottish comedian who detests the Conservatives”. So, the perfect pre election interviewee for the Beeb. She explained how she was deserting Labour to back the SNP because “they are even more left wing”. Nothing too wrong with any of that, she’s entitled to vote for whoever she likes. It was her poisonous remarks about Dave’s party that had me choking on my cornflakes. “They’re a cancer” she told us with a voice boiling with vitriol. It was quite staggering the hatred someone could muster over the modern day Tories. This contempt must be manufactured is some lefty finishing school where they hone the “talents” of comedians about to be foist upon an unsuspecting public.
    Can’t wait to hear her on one of the plethora of Radio 4 comedies.
    Give it six moths she’ll have her own show.

       30 likes

    • Leha says:

      Yes and you get a slightly milder form of vitriol from wee Jimmy Krankie, forgetting that millions of English voters voted Conservative, I hate this rhetoric and this is one of the reasons I stopped supporting SNP years ago, I apologise for the piss and vinegar coming from north of the border, please don’t tar us all with the same brush.

         26 likes

    • The Lord says:

      Rhona Cameron, comedian? Ha Ha, that’s a good one, jeff.

         15 likes

      • D1004 says:

        She is a typical product of a useless education. Blaming the world and the government for her useless lack of talent to do any thing worthy. Just an overarching belief of entitlement without putting in any work. The bbc breeds them from an early age. They know without the bbc they would be at best a receptionist for a double glazing company.

           7 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      left wing lesbian Scottish comedian who detests the Conservatives

      And by way of balance the next Today programme will feature a right-wing, heterosexual, English comedian who detests Labour and the SNP.

      On second thoughts…..

         12 likes

  23. Alex says:

    Thank goodness the finger-on-the-pulse BBC continue to focus on the massively important news stories from around the world…

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32471505

       7 likes

  24. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    PMQs from 3rd June?


    The ruthless ‘men in grey suits’ seem to be spinning that Dave will go quietly and Boris will take over. In theory such de-stabilization of a sitting Prime Minister breaks the first law of elections. Are they desperate… and hope the prospect of Boris will attract ‘their’ UKIP voters? Hard to know. The ‘line to take’ will be a bit of a dilemma for the Beeb. Whatever; it looks like the Tory party conversion to democracy will be short-lived and they will revert to ‘a leader has emerged…’. Mrs May will be looking even more sour than normal.

       13 likes

    • Geoff says:

      FM, if these two jokers really are the best we have to offer as leaders of our main political parties, we really are doomed, pathetic, sad and an insult to our fathers and grandfathers who fought for better.

      With alternatives such as Sturgeon, Clegg and Bennett how can anyone not vote for the only real leader? Mr Farage that is….

         27 likes

      • I Can See Clearly Now says:

        … if these two jokers really are the best we have to offer…

        Maybe a ‘grand coalition’ then? There are so few policy differences between them these days, it seems logical:

           8 likes

        • G.W.F. says:

          A Tory Lab grand coalition would make sense to Milliband and Cameron. No dealing with the riff raff left or right and loons in Scotland. Cameron could stay on as PM until his bonus from Qatar arrives, then hand over to Boris who would prepare for a Tory Labour election five years from now. BBC would back it as they would ensure protection of the TV tax.

             10 likes

        • I Can See Clearly Now says:

          Adam Boulton re-tweeted:

             4 likes

        • GCooper says:

          Why does anyone give a hoot what that vacant windbag Montgomerie thinks?

          Today on Sky there was a hatchet piece about Nigel Farage and his views on the vast sums of money being hurled at the inane windfarm project off the coast of Kent.

          For reasons best known to whichever political kommissar runs Sky News, not only was one of the tripe hounds behind the project used as a source to rubbish Farage’s eminently logical opinion, but Montgomerie was also wheeled in, plugged into the mains and inflated with gas so that he could bloviate about ‘living in the 1950s’ and the usual crap which he is told to dispense by his Cameroon owners.

          Sky is as bad as the BBC these days. It’s just an establishment mouthpiece.

          Murdoch needs to get a grip, the senile old fool.

             18 likes

          • I Can See Clearly Now says:

            Haha! It’s amusing to watch the antics. The Beeb seem to be keeping away (unless I’ve missed it). I can’t work out if there is a real coup being planned, or if Lynton, etc., think a bluff that ‘Boris is coming’ will get UKIP defectors excited enough to return.

            I suspect that Murdoch isn’t senile; more likely he remembers the harm that Cameron needlessly caused his business – Leveson, etc. – and would derive great satisfaction from Dave’s demise.

               11 likes

  25. Umbongo says:

    I’m watching the final 5 miles or so of the men’s London Marathon. I’m appalled at the lack of diversity among the leaders. The first dozen or so are all black Africans. Where are the white runners? Why have they been excluded? Why is BBC commentator Brendan Foster ignoring this blatant racism?

       34 likes

  26. George R says:

    Australia and Islam.

    INBBC (inc Donnison?) censoring-

    e.g.

    1.) ‘Jihadwatch’-

    “Australia:

    “Muslim doctor joins Islamic State medical team for ‘jihad for Islam’ against the West.”

    [Excerpt, by Robert Spencer]:

    “A doctor? But…but…poverty causes terrorism! And a ‘jihad for Islam’ in the Islamic State? But…but…the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam!”

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/04/australia-muslim-doctor-joins-islamic-state-medical-team-for-jihad-for-islam-against-the-west

    2.) And INBBC’s usual ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islam’ omissions here-

    “Blackburn boy, 14, charged over Australia terrorism ‘plot'”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32439190

       14 likes

  27. George R says:

    For Harrabin and co-

    “Booker: sheep-dip and other things”

    http://eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=85548

       15 likes

    • Dover Sentry says:

      Thanks, George. Looks like the truth is emerging at last about the great Global Warming scam.

         12 likes

  28. i say, isnt the BBC doing an absolutely marvelous job with its coverage of the 2015 General Election. This great british institution has shown its worth every penny of its unreasonably cheap licence fee in campaigning for the Labour Party and i for one will be writing to my MP asking him to raise the matter in Parliament to increase licence fee to a more fairer level of about £300 a year

    It fills me with pride every time i turn the news channel on to see some of the worlds best journalists trumpeting sexy Ed Miliband and his policies for fairer more equal Britain. I particularly like his policy in relation to making islamophobia an even more serious crime

    Well i cant stop, ive got to make sanwiches for my 2 nieces Matilda and Elizabeth-Bella who are off on a UAF picnic to raise awareness against the fascist ukip nazis. I dont think they are allowed to drink on their UAF days out. Of course my girls love cocktails, and theyre asking me for milk bottles to make molotov cocktails. I think theyre sneaking booze in. When i was their age i just had an occasional sherry. Girls will be girls wont they

    #standuptoukip

       25 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Make sure the sandwiches are halal and your nieces are covered up. Lots of jihadists in the state funded UAF and some were buddies of the fanatic who murdered Lee Rigby who was seen at one of their demonstrations.

         20 likes

    • The Lord says:

      You would have loved The West Country Politics Show, Harriet.
      They put a survey? of businessmen up on the screen. 50% said their profits ‘could’ be hit if we left Europe. Cut to reporter, ‘Well there you are then, most businessmen think it would be a disaster for them’. Cut to studio anchor talking to UKIP guest, ‘ Final proof, if it were needed, that it would be a catastrophe if you get your way and we leave Europe. What have you got to say about that?’

         25 likes

    • A says:

      But, but there is so much discrimination against the Labour party!

      Tonight’s Feedback (R4) told me so, it must be true

         8 likes

      • chrisH says:

        Typical BBC excuse to not look at their obvious bias.
        SEE?…Labour complains about us-as do the Tories-so that means we`re balanced and getting it right?
        Yet no figures on HOW MANY people from both sides complain-and are they Owen Jones types,or people who draw their own conclusions.
        Of course the lefty pawns will moan, but the right simply aren`t motivated to hate and agitate like the left-they only seek balance, and are schooled in how and why they know it`s a stitch up.
        Has been at the BBC since 1979-but never seen it quite as weird and rabid.
        If only UKIP offered to prevent the BBC from raising money from a compulsory poll tax by nobbling the useless lefty BBC-they`d do a lot better than their wilder dreams.

           11 likes

  29. Doublethinker says:

    Miliband is rapidly assuming the true mantle of a Labour leader,like Wilson he lies when his lips move. If he gets into Number 10 he will then copy Brown by thieving from hard working folks. His performance on the Marr show was so slimy I thought it would leak out of the TV. How can he seriously expect even Labour voting thickos to believe he won’t do a deal of some sort with the SNP? He won’t be able to govern otherwise! His contempt for ordinary people is obvious just like the rest of the liberal elite he treats us like stupid dumbos.

       26 likes

    • Mr Glodstone says:

      I am of the opinion that in order to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: both your parents should have been born in the U.K.
      This would preclude both Miliband (both parents) and Clegg (Dutch mother) from holding the office; I believe the potential for divided loyalties and conflict of interests is too great for someone to occupy such a powerful position, without their immediate antecedents having a solely British provenance.

      To see an obvious example of this, look at how strongly in favour of the E.U., of immigration and how supportive of the immigrant demographic within this country both Miliband and Clegg are.

         14 likes

      • Lobster says:

        Mr Glodstone, I can see where you are coming from on that issue, but Churchill’s mother was American.

           4 likes

        • Mr Glodstone says:

          My crustaceous friend, you appear to have identified a lacuna in my argument; I shall have to reconsider how I frame it in future.
          I could say that Churchill’s mother, Jeanette Jerome, was of the Anglosphere and the situation is different for someone from a country outside it…but that’s pretty thin stuff.

             4 likes

          • Steve Jones says:

            Mr G,
            I might have the answer. Given that modern politics is extremely unlikely to produce someone of Churchill’s calibre, your proposal could be implemented now and we just accept what has already happened.

               1 likes

  30. G.W.F. says:

    Here is a piece which the BBC could cover with regard to Tower Hamlets. Cameron and Ken Livingstone’s street thugs call an event to defend democracy in Tower Hamlets. Yes. Its the UAF foremost in the battle against the fascists who deposed Rahman. Note well, the UAF is a Trotskyite/Islamic outfit, which the BBC endorse.

    11065096_10155464109715366_4195164935360577766_n.jpg?oh=daa7247b80fb8d54c1c8dff9959b0294&oe=55D46762&__gda__=1440587805_d80d268e25eb5665db6172373ca23f8d

       19 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      Doublespeak.

      If only Orwell were alive to day to see his worst fears coming to fruition.

      He wouldn’t get a peep on the BBC, mind.

         16 likes

    • Jeff says:

      Can someone get me a ticket?

         7 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        If you have a ticket you still need to get past Rahman’s rangers on the door.

           10 likes

    • Charlatans says:

      Most hypocritical conundrum ever:

      The UKs ‘lefty’ pro-Islam Lobby?

      The liberal labour lefties: UAF, Hope not Hate, most Unions, some feminists, even some Gay rights activists, plus BBC ethos, Greens and plenty establishment placements in Councils, charities, Police and Quangos and the like.

      How the hell does this illogical politically active bunch square with the biggest problem facing the world today of radical Islam? This will surely destroy the ‘lefties’ same as the rest of us kafirs!

      The ‘West’ will surely have to militarily defeat militant Islam within a generation, unless an Islamic reformation miracle occurs in the meantime.

      It is inconceivable to me why ‘lefty’ feminists, for example in Tower Hamlets, are not demonstrating daily on our streets about Muslims girls suffering FGM, or Muslim/Pakistani grooming, raping, pimping underage non-Muslim females by the tens of thousand all over this land and little or no action taken by our NHS or Justice system.

      For political allegiance they appear to be quietly condoning this defiling of females, mainly facilitated within Tower Hamlets and labour boroughs and PCCs. The ‘left’ establishment has literally turned a blind eye to this Muslim misogyny for heinous political ideology and misguided multi-cultural cohesion!

      Disgusting and disgraceful and we should be ashamed as a nation for letting it happen here.

         23 likes

      • Al Shubtill says:

        Here is a short but very powerful film of what may happen in Europe if its leaders don’t get a grip – it’s sobering to say the least.
        If you don’t learn from history, you are destined to repeat it.

           4 likes

    • flexdream says:

      If you disagree with Wikipedia, and think that UKIP is mainstream and so it is wrong to say that UAF has support from ‘all mainstream parties”, then feel free to contribute here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Unite_Against_Fascism#Change_to_Introduction
      If you’d like to contribute but don’t know how then I can give some links to help.

         4 likes

  31. Betty Swollocks says:

    BBC Election 2015, BBC Rules,Always say Ed Miliband at the top of any election story…Barstewards

       16 likes

  32. Guest Who says:

    @bbcnewsnight has posted this harrowing tale:

    Three teenage migrants describe the horrors they saw on the way to Europe http://t.co/HkZT5LvZJ9

    Thing is, it seems these… migrants… appear to have made their way through most of Africa to get to a warzone, to pay some scumbuckets for a roll of the dice chance at a better life in Europe by illegal means.

    Just what… is the BBC proposing here?

       23 likes

  33. Guest Who says:

    Susana Mendonca, who is a BBC journalist apparently, has posted this on twitter:

    “Where’s Boris? I’m at a hustings in Uxbridge with an empty chair and a cardboard cutout of @BorisJohnson #GE2015 http://t.co/66PHYJBBmB

    Thing is, the tweet is a bit shy on context to assess if where she is, Boris should be too. Or she’s just ‘avin a go, as yer do.

    Interesting precedent. Not stupid at all. Jasmine would approve.

       9 likes

  34. George R says:

    Tower Hamlets ‘diversity’.

    Are Beeboids still empathising with ‘three little Muslim maids from school’?:-

    “‘Take-away food… now I wanna behead some kafirs’:

    Tower Hamlets schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to become Jihadi brides tweet about their new lives with ISIS.”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3055981/Take-away-food-wanna-behead-kafirs-Tower-Hamlets-schoolgirls-travelled-Syria-Jihadi-brides-tweet-new-lives-Isis.html

       10 likes

  35. Jeff says:

    Why do the BBC keep on about this ghastly tale regarding some bloke (?) I’ve never heard of called Bruce Jenner who now wants to be thought of as a woman? FFS I’ve got enough problems without this awful tripe.
    Anyway I always thought Bruce Jenner was the alter ego of The Incredible Hulk.
    Sorry, I’ll get back to my book…

       17 likes

    • Al Shubtill says:

      “If you have a penis you’re a man. If you’re a man who cuts off his penis and pretends to be a woman, you’re still a man: albeit a very sick one.” Scoop Staton.

         10 likes

  36. Alun says:

    After the Daily Politics show today Jeremy Vine presented a program called Points of View. Top story was the conduct of the appalling interviewing techniques of the BBC’s political presenters. It showed clips of there behavior, constant interrupting there obvious bias and aggressive interviewing demeanor. Jeremy Vine produces a senior executive from the BBC to explain there conduct and the thousands of serious complaints from the public. The pathetic lefty sod said he couldn’t see any problems and had the utmost confidence in his presenters and there conduct.
    Folks we are flogging a dead horse if the biased top brass thinks there behavior is acceptable. At the end of the interview with the prat from the BBC Jeremy Vine said ”that went well perhaps its because i didn’t interrupt ”….nice one.

       31 likes

    • GCooper says:

      I’m afraid you are right – the BBC really does believe its own propaganda and will not change. That is why change must be forced upon it.

         20 likes

    • chrisH says:

      Sounds like Vine was-on this occasion-actually doing his job.
      For which I`m grateful, given that he is usually a typical soft lefty prat.
      Sad isn`t it?…that Vines flippant comment at the end of his interview represents the edge of BBC rebellion within its ranks of steeped Lefties.
      So well done this time Jeremy Vine!

         13 likes

    • Richard Pinder says:

      They ask questions, and then habitually interrupt the answer. So the viewer can only complain about the interviewer, and not get to think about whether the answer would have been informative or waffle. As BBC journalists are usually less intelligent than the questioned and the viewer, then all we get is the politically correct views of the idiot in the room. With only one in 16,000 complaints being upheld in a system that is similar to a murderer being asked if they are a murderer, I don’t think the W1A morons care about the complaints.

         6 likes

  37. Alun says:

    Hi..

    I genuinely believe not all people from the BBC are biased although they are very thin on the ground.
    The fact that senior politicians are actually starting to make comments during interviews must be making the BBC sit up and take notice,Boris Johnston did so today on the Andrew Marrs show calling him a BBC lefty.
    Things really cant go on as they are, the BBC is almost dictating who gets elected,shameful.
    Lets hope that Labour dosn’t get elected as a matter of principal.

       18 likes

    • Angrymanupnorth says:

      (Sticks neck out)

      I agree. Not all, but thin on the ground. I’d offer:

      Tanya Arnold – does her homework, good on Rugby League.
      Clare Balding – Always does her homework, professional and impartial on screen.
      Andrew Neil – Knows his job, and its a tough one, and does a damn good job most of the time.
      Steph McGovern. (although I haven’t been watching her lately). Has given the most comprehensive run down of the deficit/debt I’ve seen (once) on Breakfast, before 7.00 one morning a couple of years ago. Don’t know if she’s been absorbed by the Groupthink yet. Clever girl.
      David Dimbleby. (only joking!)

         9 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        Thin on the ground? Well I reckon the handful you name constitute a mono molecular layer when spread across the the thousands of lefties. As to the BBC caring that a few Tories protest don’t kid yourself. For every Tory protest they will get an extra £ on the LF from a grateful Labour Party.

           6 likes

    • I Can See Clearly Now says:

      The fact that senior politicians are actually starting to make comments during interviews must be making the BBC sit up and take notice.

      Indeed. You would expect the arrogant BBC to loudly protest their innocence on these occasions, but they don’t. That says to me they don’t want a spotlight on their ‘impartiality’, because it wouldn’t end well for them.

         12 likes

    • flexdream says:

      It’s such a close election that both the politicians and BBC are more agitated. I think that the anti-UKIP attacks are being particularly noticed. I have seen many comments online of the form ‘I am not a UKIP supporter but I noticed the anti-UKIP bias’.

         20 likes

  38. Dazed & Confused says:
  39. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    Last month, we are told, the world enjoyed “its hottest March since records began in 1880”. This year, according to “US government scientists”, already bids to outrank 2014 as “the hottest ever”. The figures from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) …

    But here there is a puzzle. These temperature records are not the only ones with official status. The other two, Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and the University of Alabama (UAH), are based on a quite different method of measuring temperature data, by satellites. And these, as they have increasingly done in recent years, give a strikingly different picture. Neither shows last month as anything like the hottest March on record, any more than they showed 2014 as “the hottest year ever”.

    Top scientists start to examine fiddled global warming figures

       14 likes

    • Angrymanupnorth says:

      Beat me to it!

      http://www.tempdatareview.org/

      I guess this news item won’t appear prominently on the BBC before the election. Why isn’t the impending doom of Global Warming and Climate Change at the forefront of this election campaign? My next door neighbour asked me this just two days ago. I explained, but she thinks I’m deluded. She reads the Guardian every day. To many, the scam is too big for them to believe it is a scam.

         15 likes

      • MartinWW says:

        It is clear from Rupert Darwall’s magnificent and revealing book that the principal force behind the ‘global warning’ scare was about money – i.e. a UN demand that money must be transferred direct from the developed world of the north to the undeveloped of the south. ‘Global Warming’ was seized upon as a reason for re-balancing the world economy (as they saw it). Evidence-based science was deemed much less important than the propaganda.

           13 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          The problem is that, UN desires notwithstanding, the economic effects thus far appear to me to be:
          1. Transfer of income & wealth from low paid & poor to high paid & rich, and,
          2. Reinforcing of First World hegemony.

          Can’t help feeling that they may have been an alternative Plan or ‘Plan B on the back of Plan A’ all along.

             0 likes

      • 60022Mallard says:

        Anyone think that the home of “Climategate” near me will be rushing to advise their “adjustments” to the figures to this enquiry.

        I believe that the latest is that by using the extra computing power now available and re analysing older data the “pause” was there to be seen .

        Anyone seen from CRU their prediction of how long the “pause” is going to last?

           5 likes

    • Bonzo says:

      I live in the Canaries, and I know it’s only weather but this winter has been the coldest, most miserable, most depressing for 30 years. Anita told me at the local supermarket checkout. And I trust her far more than Al Gore.

         9 likes

  40. I Can See Clearly Now says:

    Professor Dawkins is not a happy camper:


       17 likes

    • flexdream says:

      I like Dawkins when it comes to biology and his liberal instinct, and I know he is dismayed by the racist islamophilia of some pseudo-liberals.

         11 likes

    • noggin says:

      The Tories are up to their necks in the same nonsense, and they already have form … wish they would “outlaw the scourge”
      of Islamophilia

         9 likes

  41. Kennedy says:

    I don’t know how many of you would be regular listeners to the World Service, but I am getting very annoyed with their regular ads for a vote on the woman footballer of the year. I seem to be growing ever more reactionary as I near the Psalmist’s three score years and ten.

       15 likes

    • flexdream says:

      I used to listen regularly and liked it. I’ve given up though as it’s become agenda driven and promotes a point of view rather than report news. I even remember them ignoring an England men’s football international while mentioning a foreign one.

         11 likes

      • GCooper says:

        Because the World Service largely does its work out of sight, it has been able to become the cutting edge of the BBC’s propaganda war on behalf of Left wing ideas.

        The danger is that it is actively promoting a false impression of the UK – a very false one indeed.

        It seems likely that many of those who attempt to migrate here learned the ‘land of milk and honey’ myth from the World Service.

        That’s just one example of how dangerous it is.

           11 likes

  42. The Old Bloke says:

    Global Warming this week for Great Britain. Look out for “Wintry Precipitation” and “Chilly” comments. In other words, “snow” and “frost”. Not everyone in the U.K. will see the “Global Warming” events, but you never know, waxing the skis might be prudent for some.

       11 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      ‘Global Warming this week for Great Britain’

      I can’t help but notice the marked decline in snow and sleet these days and the unusual increase in ‘wintery showers’ – on BBC weather forcasts that is – not in our actual weather.

         9 likes

  43. Guest Who says:

    http://order-order.com/2015/04/27/biased-bbc-election-website-at-it-again/

    “Was that really the only angle they could find?”

    Possibly it depends on where the BBC looks?

    One could ask, but likely would run up against those exemptions to questions about BBC editorial integrity that exist so they basically remain unaccountable.

    Once Ed gets in he’ll make sure they are not bothered by even being asked, BBC sources have lear… are expecting.

       7 likes

    • Flexdream says:

      The gloves are definitely off at the BBC as they realise Labour are struggling to get a majority. However the scales have not fallen off the Coalition in recognising that the BBC is more message than it is medium, UKIP are under no illusion, and I don’t think the SNP gets much support from the BBC.

         6 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        This is the BBC News Facebook page:

        Would this #GE2015 pledge help you?
        Labour to help first time buyers with stamp duty
        The cost would be scrapped on homes under £300,000

        Shaping up as quite a campaign to match the website home page.

        It’s ‘just a question’ of course, but some may say that it also looks awfully like a crafty way to plaster Labour PR everywhere.

           10 likes

  44. AsISeeIt says:

    Katman-don’t

    BBC tv thrilled to bits with the Nepal earthquake this morning. In 20 minutes they have run the same piece of mobile phone footage 4 times.

    If you are one of those people who suffer foreign aid fatigue then groan now – the BBC are going to make this bigger than Poldark meets…. oh, I don’t know…. Meet the Midwife. BBC tv hits are thin on the ground these days.

    Meanwhile a Labour policy rabbit from a hat on Stamp Duty gets headline top billing (natch) with a nice film package of housebuilding then the BBC’s Tory campaign reporter tells us the Tories will continue to “bang on” about the economy.

    Bias, what bias?

       15 likes

  45. Dave666 says:

    Sofa sloths. Liebour are promising… yep leading with Labourstory again followed by conservative story.
    Meanwhile Oxfam, “Oxfam’s chief executive was paid £119,560 (2013) , pop up as charity of the day. Over the weekend it was someone from the plan.
    Who will be the charity / think tank tomorrow I wonder.

       9 likes

    • Dave666 says:

      Oh now a sloth add for BBc program of living as a Victorian. Multi cultural Victorian that is.

         6 likes

    • GCooper says:

      Regarding Oxfam and its misuse of donations, on one of R4’s fake news programmes over the weekend they have a section in which readers’ ‘approved thoughts’ are read out – approvingly.

      One in particular that struck me this weekend was from some angelic Guardianiista who, on being offered privately funded remedial treatment for a damaged tooth by his dentist, opted instead to have it removed ‘on the NHS’. He then added that he sent the balance to Oxfam. It was several hundred pounds.

      As this smug, sanctimonious drivel was being broadcast, the vast salary paid to the head of this morality Mafia organisation flashed through my mind.

         13 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:

        If I wanted to do such a thing it would be a very private matter. Not some Smashie & Nicey “look what I’m doing for charidee” self-promoting smugfest.

           7 likes

  46. Grezza says:

    I noted this too on breakfast TV. Also a chance for them to bang on about the usual suspects, bankers and landlords, to fund it. An unbiased reporter should have said, ‘meanwhile, the conservatives continue to remind the voters that without a sound, solid economy to underpin public spending, the loony left will have to plant more magic money trees.’

       14 likes

  47. AsISeeIt says:

    Andy Marr caught with his hand down the back of Labour’s pants

    Just watched his apology

    Funny how he falls victim to the Norman Smith-style cough cough

       9 likes

  48. Old Goat says:

    Was it my imagination, or did Hilary Benn get an easy ride this morning?

       8 likes

  49. George R says:

    “Watchdog must get to grips with BBC bias

    The BBC’s election coverage is fast becoming as farcical as W1A.”

    http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/572999/Watchdog-must-get-to-grips-with-BBC-bias

       11 likes

    • GCooper says:

      I never thought I’d type these words but thank God for the Express!

      Someone needs to blow the whistle on the BBC and no one else is doing it.

         3 likes

      • Philip says:

        Well, GCooper – we are and that makes up for it I suppose. I noted that the Daily Mail newspaper has started a ‘BBC Watch’ to monitor the news bias. But we all know the drill for the BBC is to mislead and falsely claim itself as ‘representative’ when it never has been and never will be. But I agree the Express is probably doing it ‘better’ than the Mail…

           0 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Golly. No messing around there.

      My only slight concern is agin OFCOM being seen as the panacea to solve all ills. On past performance and current composition… no.

         1 likes

  50. Robert Jones says:

    Bit of a ‘tour de force’ performance by the BBC this morning. The ‘Today’ programme news led with one of those ‘the Labour Party will say’ pieces, this time about housing and rent controls. Then an expert from RICS gave a prepared opinion (which wasn’t particularly favourable) and subsequently Hilary Benn was allowed to set out his stall on the subject almost unchallenged. Guido has also pointed out that the morning’s BBC election website is dominated by an Ed Miliband pronouncement about helping first-time buyers.

    It’s all so beautifully orchestrated, rehearsed and prepared in advance. It’s almost as if the BBC wanted the Labour Party to win!

       13 likes