Author Archives: David Vance

TRICKY VICKY GOES MANUFACTURING….

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…on the BBC at least. A B-BBC reader writes…

On 5Live on Wednesday Victoria Derbyshire gave us a fine example of the BBC manufacturing a news story.

Riven Vincent. the mother of a disabled child who caught the headlines in January for her criticism of provision for respite care, was dragged into the studio by Derbyshire for an interview….she wasn’t a ‘current’ story in the news so….

Why?

This is an old story and it seems that VD intended solely to use Vincent as a vehicle to attack the Government. The summary of the inteview was that Riven Vincent has declared that she ‘no longer believes David Cameron is on the side of disabled children.’

This was then cut and pasted into 5Live News.

Why?

It wasn’t ‘news’…it was a regurgitated story from January in which Vincent said the same thing.

The conclusion has to be that this is the BBC casting around for ways to attack Cameron…this is the same 5Live that assiduously followed every anti-cuts protest and helpfully told us where and when they would be occurring.

Contrast the normal BBC reaction with the cuts which is to blame the Governemt as ‘savage and brutal’….when VD asked who was to blame, expecting ‘the government’ as the answer, what she got, to her dismay, was the callers blaming the councils. VD’s reaction was to say the councils must balance their budgets and make decisions that reflect tight budgets….isn’t that exactly what the Government is trying to do?

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COMPARE AND CONTRAST – PART ONE.

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Here’s one view on US unemployment;

The U.S. unemployment rate hit 10.3 percent in February, up from 9.8 percent at the end of January, according to the Gallup polling agency. The rate of those considered to be underemployed, meanwhile, reached 19.9 percent last month, up from 18.9 percent at the end of January, Gallup says. Results are based on a 30-day rolling average.

Here’s another;

The US unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.9% in February, down from 9% the month before. It is the third month in a row that the jobless rate has fallen, with February’s figure marking a near two-year low.

Can you GUESS which one of these comes from the BBC?

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TRANSPHOBIA

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No, I don’t listen to Woman’s Hour (or Wimmin’s Hour to be more accurate) but it happened to be on when I was in the car earlier and before I could turn it off I caught a conversation concerning how “patronising” the use of the word “lady” is when referring to a member of the contradictory gender. There was some arch-feminist on – let’s call her Millie Tant – who was suggesting that she was in no way ladylike. I am sure she is right. However the bit that really caught my attention was when she attacked David Walliams and Matt Lucas for their “I’m a lady” sketch on Litte Britain. This, she insisted, was transphobic. I think even the presenter was taken back by that one. What a pointless programme.

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OPEN THREAD

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Hi folks. It’s Wednesday, mid way through our weekly bias fest, so time for a new one of these! I’m making my re-appearance to remind you that the Ministry of Truth was never as malignant at the State Broadcaster has become. You want proof? Provide it here…

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UNIVERAL SHAMI TO RUN LONDON POLICING

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Truly nauseating interview with Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens and Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty on Today this morning. The essence, as presented by the BBC, is that the Met are trying to be more polite to street demonstrators and will be tweeting them, providing them with public toilets and bottle of water in future demonstrations. Not sure if aromatherapy is also provided but you can bet it is at least under consideration. However, Universal Shami is still not content with the tactic of “kettling” and you will share my delight that the Met have invited Liberty into their control room for the March 24th TUC coat-trailing exercise through London. Yes, Shami will get to decide if policing meets her high standards. Just two question; WHO elected her that her opinion matters so much and WHY is the Met allowing this particular pressure group such key access?

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ANTI-CONSERVATIVE DAY IS EVERYDAY

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Cracking morning for Tory-bashing on Today.  At 7.35am Nick Robinson got stuck into what he sees as David Cameron’s inconsistency on Libya. The idea that a UK PM might talk about possible military intervention in the form of an air-inclusion zone outrages BBC sentiment and this was not the last of it. Then, at 7.42am, the BBC runs an item where it brought “Big Society” Minister Nick Hurd to a small charity to see the awful impact of those dreaded Tory cuts! I thought Hurd answered the BBC trap questions pretty well but even so the BBC meme that the “voluntary” sector is under mortal threat was repeated time after time. Skipping past ANOTHER thought for the day from the fragrant Mona Siddique, our favourite Professor of Islamic studies, we arrive at the first cuckoo of spring – or Paddy Ashdown as he is technically known.

Ashdown was on to further discuss the Libyan situation – although I am unsure quite why his Balkans “experience” qualifies him. Ashdown was quick to point out that without the blessing of the UN security Council, ANY prospect of ANY sort of military action in Libya is not possible. Naturally, a tribune to Mr Moon at the UN will always be well received on the BBC.

Given the daily diatribe against the Conservative Party on Today, I fail to see why Cameron continues with accommodating the BBC. It will hollow out his policies and ensure Labour is santised. It will do everything possible to destroy the Coalition. The BBC is the enemy of a sovereign patriotic Britain and it despises anything and anyone who dares assert our national will. But if we prostrate ourselves to the will of the International Communinty – Labour policy – then the BBC will laud us.Listening to this daily dross is not good for me.

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THE SIN OF NOT ENDORSING HOMOSEXUALITY

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Fascinating interview @7.50am on Today concerning the Christian couple denied the right to foster any more children because they dare not endorse homosexuality values for 8 year olds. If you listen to the tone of the interview, there is clear BBC disbelief that ANY Christian person would not seek to convey the joys of the gay lifestyle. As ever the implication is that Christians are bigots and sexists.Having a go at Christians is now an essential aspect of the liberal judiciary and in this case it is one where the BBC is clearly content to go with the law. That said, I thought the couple concerned acquited themselves quite well although I can’t wait for the BBC asking Muslim parents their view on gay advocacy.

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AIDING POVERTY…

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Sometimes the BBC sets up interviews in such a way that whatever they go, the BBC view prevails. Take this discussion on the British overseas aid budget. As you know, the Coalition has taken the decision (wrongly in my view) to ring-fence the currently £8bn a year budget. It has, however, decided not to waste our cash on rich countries like China and Brazil. Cue faux BBC outrage and a liberal brought on to allege the “securitisation” of UK overseas aid. I wonder if the BBC would care to bring on Dambisa Moyo who argues some very interesting views on the dangers of overseas aid? The BBC adopts a paternalistic approach to aid, and the idea of a well educated African born woman suggesting that Aid is counter-productive would probably blow their minds.

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FISHY BUSINESS

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Given the relentless ruination of the UK fishing industry by the European Union, I would have expected a rather more vigorous “debate” with EU’s Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki on Today this morning. 7.13am No such luck! She was able to come on, waffle her way through a pathetic interview concerning the latest nonsense from Brussels. I wonder how many listeners take the sanguine approach to EU Fisheries policy adopted by the BBC? It’s almost as if the BBC quite like the decimation of our fishing industry but naturally that couldn’t be the case. Could it?

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