201 Responses to Open Thread

  1. George R says:

    For information of INBBC, re-beheadings and Islam.

    “Islam’s ‘Rule of Numbers’ Explains London Beheading”

    By Raymond Ibrahim.

    http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/05/30/islams-rule-of-numbers-explains-london-beheading/?

       16 likes

    • It's all too much says:

      Where is the BBC bias?

         14 likes

      • George R says:

        For you, I’m including INBBC in final sentence (above link):

        “The question is, how long will leftist media and politicians refuse to face reality, including by propagating the false ‘grievance’ claim, which, once Muslims reach enough numbers—as is projected for Europe—will be discarded for the full-blown jihad?”

           29 likes

        • It's all too much says:

          Thank you and I apologise in advance for a long pious lecture. Please don’t get too annoyed my intention is sound…., but I still see nothing that you cite as explicit BBC bias rather than a reflection of the generalised malaise and refusal to report issues apparent across the entire MSM.

          This site had a long exchange a few days ago about its credibility revolving around some totally unacceptable comments following the Woolwich atrocity and the fact that the site is clearly metamorphosising into a vehicle apparently focussed on the criticism of Islam because the BBC doesn’t and won’t. I agree that the BBC fails to report accurately about Islam and its effects on our society but then again the BBC fails to do this completely on a multitude of issues, far more than Islam. Infact the BBC has an agenda and position on virtually everything from AGW through to the implications of Zulu nationalism, because of their ideological agenda and this site has a good track record on bringing these tothe fore.

          I feel that there is an islamo obsession apparent on this blog and detracts from its primary purpose, and (and this is not a personal reflection and I don’t want to get involved in an on line arguement) the first posting on this open thread’ yet again, has an extremely tenuous if any connection with the BBC and a strong connection with Islamic issues.

          As commenters here we all know and are angered by the arrogant social, cultural and political bias of the BBC and its dreadful abuse of its dominant media position. The best way to achieve change is, as the site owners have pointed out, to retain and enhance its credibility amongst a wider readership.

             30 likes

          • George R says:

            I hope the day doesn’t dawn when B-BBC commenters treat BBC as BBC treats Islam.

               12 likes

            • It's all too much says:

              I’m hardly an apologist for the BBC, I just want to criticise it across the spectrum of its biases

                 13 likes

              • George R says:

                You do that then, and let me get on with what I do.

                   10 likes

                • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

                  It’s all too much appointed as gate-keeper by the ‘ management’. . . .?
                  Really?

                     13 likes

                  • Pob says:

                    Hardly. That is disingenuous. No point in schooling you as to why. Some people want to see a Biased BBC website with credibility but you sir/madam seem to be all out against that. You are ‘sh*tting’ in your own nest.

                    Not expecting a Dame-scene conversion but open your eyes.

                       14 likes

                    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

                      I can repeat what I said already, when we want your permission we’ll ask.
                      Until then fuck off.

                         6 likes

                    • Pob says:

                      Very classy Dysgw… I expected nothing else from you. Leave the sand pit to the grown ups. Off you trot… shooo…

                         12 likes

                • Pob says:

                  What is it that you ‘do’ ?

                     8 likes

                  • IATM says:

                    See the Turkish Tea party thread

                       2 likes

                    • Alan says:

                      IATM better known as ‘It’s all too much’….the pro BBC tag team…..Pob, IATM, Albaman, Tyler(or whatever he calls himself)…have I missed anyone off the list today?

                      Question…. are you anti-semitic…or do you support or look the other way when anti-semitic material is posted?

                      It seems you might be and do.

                      You seem desperate to shut down debate on the BBC’s failure to investigate Islam and the consequences of its growth and influence….you attack other commenters on this site who post comments and you make cheap claims of islamophobia which you don’t bother to back up with any evidence….all worthy of the cheapest ‘race hustler’.

                      And yet ‘Apothecary’ has been posting anti-semitic comments on this site for a while now…and yet we get total silence from you.

                      Why is that?

                      You defend Islam but have nothing to say about an anti-semite.

                      Why is that?

                         9 likes

          • Doublethinker says:

            I appreciate your points and in general I think that this site does hammer away at a broad range of BBC bias. However, in recent months the problems that mass immigration in general and Islam in particular, gives rise to in Britain, have been to the fore and , as you say , because the BBC and most of the MSM refuses to reflect the view of a large section of the British public on these two issues, people become frustrated and vent their feelings. Basically I think that a large section of the British public feel they are disenfranchised in their own country.

               49 likes

          • Teddy Bear says:

            Well put IATM 🙂

               10 likes

          • Pob says:

            Given David V’s attempt to get this house in order one must look no further than George R’s rabid off topic links to anti-islam sites. Does one just search for propaganda and throw it down?

            Does the ‘management’ see a problem?

            Does anyone with mod privileges see how he has nothing to say apart from InBBC (sic) BBC-NUJ ad infinitum no matter what the topic?

            No?

            More important to slap perceived lefties, right?

            I simply cannot get past his idiocy to be a contributor to BBC Bias.

            Call me troll call me whatever… I have nothing to lose.

               15 likes

            • Pob says:

              Sorry that my point was terse but enough is enough. I would happily share my real name if I saw something done about it. Hats off to those who have called it.

                 11 likes

              • Pob says:

                Alan, I genuinely feel sorry for you. Quite apart from this tag team paranoia, only you could turn this around to anti-Semitism. That is outrageous.
                Some people are capable of of respecting all traditions and religions. You might have a hard time with that but to many it won’t be a newsflash.

                Your credibility as a blogger has rightly been called into question recently and rather than addressing that fair critique you maintain your hard headed ‘principles’

                George R, Ian Hills, David Brims and Dysgw are no doubt delighted with your utter intractability.

                Get off the internet, switch off your TV and read a book or two.

                Alan’s Reply:

                Pob….You seem to be under the illusion that you can decide what is posted here…and who posts, for some reason.

                Wrong.

                You have a problem with postings about Islam which you claim this site endlessly puts up…and yet the truth is out of the last 16 posts only 2 have asked if the BBC is biased in its reporting of Islam.

                You are so concerned about Islam/religion, or so you claim above…and yet you make no comment about Apothecary who posted comment after comment that was anti-semitic…so I think it’s a fair question as to why you make no comment about that…seems highly selective of you.

                The reason is of course that you are here just to make the usual claim of the site’s ‘critics’ that this site is somehow ‘Islamophobic’…along the lines of the laughable ‘Biased BBC mentions islam 50 times in 10 days…ipso facto…racist.’ Obvious.

                You are here purely to attempt discredit the site and derail threads.

                You make comments intended to insult me, you attack other commenters on this site.

                What they post or what DV or DP or DB or myself posts here is not your concern. Unsure why you think you can decide what is posted here.

                Coming on to this site is easy…but staying on demands a bit of civility, honesty and keeping to the threads.

                All of which seem a problem for you…the majority of your comments seem directed at attacking other people.

                In future if you want to comment limit your comment to whether any post that claims the BBC is biased in some form or other is correct.

                This site is about BBC bias….it is not about you….and if you don’t like the subject of posts don’t come here….go to ‘Is The BBC Biased’ or ‘BBC Watch’…..where you might find they have even more posts about Islam.

                   11 likes

                • Pob says:

                  N.B For some reason I was unable to reply directly to your rant

                     3 likes

                • Ian Hills says:

                  Fuck off pob, this is the only comment on this post that I’ve made.

                     5 likes

                  • Pob says:

                    I’m pretty sure I was calling your entire posting history in to question rather than on this thread, specifically. Your pithy ‘retort’ says more about you than even your most astute critics ever could.

                       6 likes

                • Pob says:

                  I am under no illusions whatsoever, Alan. You are of the mindset that having a problem with overt islamophobia equates to censorship. Many of your posts could easily sit as a comment but you don’t seem to debate at all. You just type and watch. The salient point is this:

                  Yes. The Beeb gives islam a relatively easy ride but we don’t need to be told 4 times a day, every day. If you see examples of BBC bias add them to an existing thread like everybody else does. I am all but certain you won’t have to worry about us “trolls” nearly as much.

                  I am sorry if your ego is bruised. That is not my problem.

                  I am speaking common sense. My own, perhaps, but it seems so basic to me that I can’t imagine how anyone can refute it.

                  Still, thanks for your articulate reply, unorthodox as it was. At least you didn’t stoop to Ian Hills’ lofty heights but my civil reply to you both is “No. I won’t fuck off”

                     3 likes

                  • Pob says:

                    As for Apothecary and anti-semitism Why is that a problem for you? If you swap judaism with islam you would click like in a heartbeat. Why on earth would my failure to reply to a nut case invalidate my case? Seriously, that is some very warped logic. If I clapped my hands and danced while singing I love all Jewish folk and hate all Muslims would that be easier to swallow?

                       4 likes

                  • David Preiser (USA) says:

                    “The Beeb gives islam a relatively easy ride…”

                    So, Pob, how about providing an example of it for us, show us how it’s done, rather than only criticize? You’ve said elsewhere (can’t remember under which alias) that you’d like to see a website which properly holds the BBC to account, so how about it?

                    Several defenders of the indefensible in the past have made similar noises, that they think the BBC should be held to account, only we don’t do it right here. But they never provide a single example of biased reporting themselves, and simply carry on criticizing what we do. We’ve yet to see a single one of you actually demonstrate not only how to do it properly, but that you do see the kind of bias at the BBC this blog was created to highlight.

                    The only time I can recall a defender of the indefensible pointing out bias at the BBC was when the departed Jim Dandy said that an Evan Davis interview was biased in favor of UKIP. That’s not Left-wing bias at all.

                       1 likes

                    • Pob says:

                      “a defender of the indefensible” I certainly have not earned that title, David and I would gladly rise to your challenge if people where as reasonable as yourself. In this instance I am making a valid point about the editorial direction of the site. I trust you will accept that I have no wish to derail or antagonize. If my opinions are objectionable then I am genuinely sorry. I don’t expect to make fast friends with anyone here and I am addressing a broad topic in good faith. Maybe this site just isn’t for me if that is how dissent is tolerated.

                      With regards to Alan. I am playing the ball not the man. It is not for me to referee.

                         1 likes

                    • David Preiser (USA) says:

                      Pob, please don’t put words into my mouth. At no time have I said anything about dissent not being tolerated. I think you’ll find that if you took up my challenge, people will be much more reasonable than you think. It would go miles towards demonstrating what you claim your purpose is, and would lend weight to your future criticisms.

                         1 likes

  2. will says:

    The BBC’s Radio Times has this amazing revelation about life for ordinary folk in Tudor Times

    In a documentary series based on his 2012 book of the same name, the presenter begins by confronting the fact that, contrary to the abiding image of courtiers in fine clothes and lavish palaces, many who lived in the era were poor. He offers advice on how to survive on a wage of fourpence per day, and examines the realities of finding work, getting around, and living in a smoke-filled countryside hovel
    Indeed working class life in this country continued to be harsh until well into the C20. A shame that generally the BBC’s default position requires us all to share the guilt for the nation’s colonial past.

       42 likes

  3. George R says:

    “BBC interviewee Abu Nusaybah faces three terror charges”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22732630

       21 likes

  4. stuart says:

    the question time left wing hand picked audience was in over drive last night,i have this clapometer on the top of my telly and last night on 2 occasions it nearly shot through the roof.no1..when medhi hassan blamed foreign policy and isreal for all this terrorism the leftys started there usual howling and wild clapiing,no surprise there,no..2 when medhi hassan told ukip to stop demonising immigrants(which we dont) the leftys went even madder with there shouting and almost ear splitting clapping,to be honest,last nights question time just sounded like it was a branch meeting of the socalist workers partry.why dont they ever invite david vance on richard littlejiohn on question time for a bit of politacal balance

       85 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      You have a clapometer? Do you mean that most sincerely?

         10 likes

    • Bannerman says:

      I honestly thought I was living in a parellel universe where the attrocities of Boston and Woolwich had never occured. Even human nature dictates that quite an outlandish reaction came across as odd, out of place and dare I say it “staged for effect”.

         44 likes

      • noggin says:

        BBC News … Solemn faces all round
        anti muslim – fears – reprisal attacks ya da ya da!
        “The family’s plea came amid reports of a sharp rise in anti-Muslim incidents since the soldier’s murder in Woolwich.

        Faith Matters, (sheesh!) ..an inter-faith organisation aimed at tackling extremism, said it had recorded 212 incidents since last Wednesday, up from between four and six per day” … TV OFF SWITCH!

        “interfaith” – “pluralism”- “dialogue”-“wonderful atmosphere” – “understanding” bloody hell! … for crying out loud 5Live give it a rest …

        Like unrelenting pneumatic tourettes from the BBC as it wants all to know a mosque in Woolwich is flinging open its doors … one can assume its after friday hate hour … and prayers are going to be held in the street?
        (hmm like Paris you mean?)

        LOOK! what is there to discuss? –
        don t murder, don t bomb, don t behead, reject violence, learn some respect, get a moral compass? … sort it out
        and don t get back to us until you do

        opening its doors pah! … look … no one wants to know, unless its to install MI5 security cameras

           47 likes

    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

      Yeah it’s foreign policy now, funny that, I wonder what foreign policy mistakes were made in Madrid?

         15 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Or Ghana, or Argentina, or Sweden.

           15 likes

        • David Lamb says:

          Mehdi Hassan obtained applause when he stated that western oppression of Muslims had been going on for many years before 9/11. It would have been pertinent to ask him if that was an explanation for the slaughter of Christians and other non believers in Africa.

             37 likes

          • noggin says:

            “ask him if that was an explanation for the slaughter of Christians and other non believers”

            Just aquainting Mehdi,( kaffirs are animals) Hasan, and that question?
            to him it, would appear to be self explanatory.

               17 likes

      • Reed says:

        …and even if we were to concede that it was entirely down to foreign policy mistakes, which party of government was responsible for those errors?

        “err…umm…we’ve got lots to get through and we’re running short of time – our next question comes from…”

           11 likes

      • pah says:

        Spain invaded Iraq as part of the US led alliance. After the bombings they, typically, turned chicken and removed all support thus giving a victory to the Islamo-fascists.

        No matter how it is spun the invasion of Iraq will always be used, for the next millennium no doubt, as an excuse to murder Westerners.

        It is like the school bully crying to teacher after some one has had the guts to turn round and lamp them one. (For the thick the Islamo-facists are the bully).

        When you are only prepared to hear one side of an argument of lies then you can justify any atrocity.

        Things are no better here though. From 1997-2010 we had a government that was prepared to hide behind the US whilst providing our armed forces with substandard gear, who when faced with Iranians in dingys decided to order the Navy to surrender. At home they used terrorist attacks (again for the thick very bad) as an excuse to introduce oppressive surveillance of the people. Who say they have foiled plot after plot against a foe who thought driving a Land Rover into a airport building was a good way to die. Yet they still need a surveillance system that can follow a child murderer from Shropshire to Glasgow without stopping him killing. Unless of course he hadn’t paid his road tax in which case he’d have probably been caught red-handed.

        We will never solve this problem until we get a government that is prepared to act in defence of the people. We won’t see a government like that for many years yet.

           10 likes

    • Ian Hills says:

      Stuart commented “question time just sounded like it was a branch meeting of the socialist workers party”. Oddly enough the SWP and BBC share an islamist attitude to rape victims, as does the equally leftist LibDem Party –

      http://britain-today.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-silence-of-lambs.html
      http://britain-today.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/libdem-sharia-courts.html

         1 likes

  5. Pounce says:

    The bBC, its so called defence experts and what they actually know:
    Shangri-La dialogue: China’s rising power in spotlight
    Late May in Singapore. The United States’ newest warship – the USS Freedom – is tied up alongside at the Changi Naval Base and defence ministers from around the region are heading for the opulent Shangri-La Hotel.

    No its not, it was commissioned into the US Navy on the 18th September 2008. The US has commissioned quite a few Warships since then, one such being the carrier :USS GH Bush which was commissioned into the Navy on the 10th Jan 2009. Even the USS freedom’s evil twin (the class of ship it belongs to has two different Hulls) the USS Independence is newer as it was commissioned on the 16th Jan 2010. So much for being the newest ship in the US navy then.
    The Freedom is the first of a new class of vessel – controversial because it has had so many teething problems – but nonetheless a sign of where US naval power is heading.
    No it isn’t its one of two competing designs as I mentioned above.
    It’s a ship that can operate for extended periods away from its home port – the Freedom will be in Singapore for some 10 months.
    What a load of crock, its a littoral combat ship, which is defined as: The littoral zone is the part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. It was designed as a jack of all trades which could be used as a cheap substitute in the zones next to shore, thus freeing up the bigger ships to go to war.
    Its shallow draft enables it to operate close to shore, hence its name: the Littoral Combat ship. It’s a vessel intended to operate alongside the ships of Washington’s allies in the region.
    Please when it was designed its remit (And still is) to patrol of the coast of the US. which is why it has an endurance of 21 days and very little fire power. 1X 57mm gun , 4X 50 cal machine guns, 2X 30mm cannons and 1 rolling frame AAM system.

    Oh and here is what wiki has to say about it trip across the Pacific:
    Freedom left for a 10 month deployment to Singapore in March 2013. On 11 March 2013, Freedom became the first LCS to reach Hawaii. And on March 16th the ship’s diesel engines, which have had years of problems, shut down in mid-ocean, leaving the ship adrift.On April 18, the Freedom arrived at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore, set to participate in joint military exercises. On May 18-19, Freedom participated in the Republic of Singapore Navy Open House 2013 at Changi Naval Base. Visitors to the Open House were allowed to board and visit Freedom.On May 21st, Freedom’s first venture from Singapore harbour was cut short by yet another equipment breakdown.

    In a nutshell, the USS Freedom is a short range (close to shore) ship which has been found lacking when it comes to going the distance, something it wasn’t designed to do.

    The bBC defence experts should have done a google before they write such tripe. Here is a much better account of the ship which the bBC feels is being used to show the chinese just who is boss.
    LCS is not expected to be survivable in that it is not
    expected to maintain mission capability after taking
    a significant hit in a hostile combat environment.

       16 likes

  6. JimS says:

    Just now on Radio 4’s PM programme a report on measles.

    Fair enough, it is a big problem in the UK, thanks in no small part to the promotion of ‘bimbo’ science by the BBC, (that is where some bimbo actress that is into ‘nature’ gets to trump some unknown expert that has spent most of their life studying the subject).

    A report from South Wales then? No Pakistan.

    Now is it just a coincidence or does the PM programme run a ‘human interest’ story, usually by Edward Stourton, from some poor suffering country, at least once a week? They are always such nice people, ‘just like us’, probably. They all share the same religion.

    I guess the link we are supposed to make is ‘nice’ and ‘that’ religion. Pity the BBC can’t make the link, ‘that’ religion and ‘suffering’!

       17 likes

    • It's all too much says:

      As I recall, wasn’t there a degree of homicidal opposition to [Polio] vaccination in Pakistan (Dec 2012)

      “Five female Pakistani polio vaccination workers have been fatally shot in a string of co-ordinated attacks – four within 20 minutes across Karachi.”

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20767138

      The BBC measles report on the web today says “Health officials have admitted that the failure to vaccinate more than a small number of children is exacerbating the problem.” I wonder why so few children have been vaccinated. Any guesses BBC?

         20 likes

  7. stewart says:

    Will BBC be reporting this any time soon?
    http://www.ironicsurrealism.com/

       5 likes

  8. apothecary says:

    Was Lee Rigby wearing a help the heroes top as originally reported. It seems that he was returning from work at the tower of London. I guess it’s still possible. He’s been identified by a dental expert. A bit curious. Not by his family. By a dental expert. He wasn’t beheaded either was he.

       3 likes

    • stewart says:

      Don’t tell -I’ll get it- the JEWS did
      Fella you are twisted, even for an Islamic agitator

         16 likes

      • apothecary says:

        Always qui bono old chum. Always qui bono. I despise islamists. I’m a Christian who tries to read the Septuagint (earliest old testament translation from greek) everyday. I just follow this very great quote.

        There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

        Henry David Thoreau

           3 likes

        • stewart says:

          Who benefits? those that want to impose the global caliphate and they isn’t Jews

             15 likes

          • apothecary says:

            LMAO. Let me spell it out for you.
            1. Terrorise the populace.
            2. Inflame the situation between the retarded EDL loonies and the mass of swarming immigrants. Yes it is true a large proportion of muslims would have celebrated this event.
            3. Pass more draconian big brother legislation.
            4. Justification for the war on terror nonsense.

               3 likes

            • stewart says:

              And that helps the Jews do what exactly?
              Your childish conspiracy theory is based on what might have been said between people who might have been Jews at some meeting that might have taken place at some point in the past for reason that only they know
              I’m far more worried about what is being said now ,openly, by people who are jihadists and (or their apologists) have the means to back it up.
              So when well funded Saudi terrorists fly a plane into a sky scrapper, then tell me that they want to impose a world wide Islamic state and exterminate all infidels I believe them
              And that is far more a threat to me and mine then a few Jews in frock coats stringing wires around lamp posts

                 17 likes

        • Andrew says:

          Don’t want to be pedantic but it is CUI BONO and not “qui bono”; cui is a dative form of QUI/QUAE/QUOD, the last two being feminine and neuter forms of QUI.

             12 likes

          • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

            And:
            Now write it out 100 times, and if it’s not done by dawn? I’ll cut yer balls off!

               14 likes

      • noggin says:

        “he wasn t decapitated either” …
        oh thats alright then ….

        spoken like a true bastard
        just go AWAY

           39 likes

    • Pounce says:

      Well dickhead I am privy to a little more info than you:
      His attackers tried to decapitate him, but failed.
      He was wearing a help for heroes Sweat top
      Bodies are routinely identified by their dental records. Maybe that could explain the many blows to his neck and face the poor man sustained.

      If you want any more help with your questions please be so kind as to ask.

         46 likes

  9. It's all too much says:

    Inspired by a comment on clapometers above and in search of a joke I looked up the ‘incidence of clapping’ in the DoH public health database (easily available on line). It took me approx 5 mins to uncover a fascinating and concerning social/health issue that strangely has not been picked up by the multi-billion-pound best and most trusted BBC.

    Gonorrhea increased massively between 2009 and 2011 – 25% nationally. The top incidenceis all concentrated in London and is in Lambeth (+62%), Hackney, Southwark, Harringay, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Westminster, Croydon. The incidence in london is 342% of the Average for England.

    Now I would like the BBC to investigate what is causing the massive disparity in incidence and rate of increase between London and England as a whole. I say I would like the BBC to investigate but I expect nothing more than some more made up reports and re printed press releases on ‘food banks’ and other such tendencious bollocks. This topic is of vital public health interest and will not be investigated.

    BTW the sam trend is true for all STI’s

    If anyone is interested, especially any lurking BBC journalists, I can provide the links to substantiate my assertions.

       27 likes

  10. DB says:

    I noticed this morning that the BBC US/Canada web page had removed its links to Dick Meyer’s pro-Obama Viewpoint article (discussed on the previous Open Thread yesterday). Did someone at the BBC actually recognise that it wasn’t a good idea to promote such a pro-Obama piece by a senior BBC US executive? Whatever the reason, it was memory-holed from the main US & Canada page far quicker than is usual for such articles, especially when one considers it was written by one of the bosses.

       16 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      They realized it’s not as important as news of some heavy metal slob’s release on bail or a white convert to Mohammed’s religion joining the jihad in Syria and getting killed for it (which is the point). Why those stories are more important than the House Judiciary Committee investigating whether or not Eric Holder lied under oath or the serious questions surrounding the constantly changing FBI story about them killing Ibragim Todashev in cold blood – including shooting him in the back of the head, I have no idea.

      You’ll have to ask Daniel Nasaw and his colleagues what their priorities are.

         15 likes

  11. Pounce says:

    This was on the miltary Intranet system today:

    The MOD has responded to reports that detainees are being held in a ‘secret’ facility at Camp Bastion.

    The BBC today reports claims by lawyer Phil Shiner that the Ministry of Defence is holding Afghan detainees in a ‘secret’ facility at Camp Bastion. Mr Shiner’s firm, Public Interest Lawyers, has brought proceedings against MOD to determine if it is legal to hold these detainees without charge.
    Mr Shiner said:
    “They (HM Government) have chosen … to go down a route which I think is completely worrying and entirely unconstitutional, where no-one’s been told, Parliament has not been told that we have this secret facility. Whatever the solution is, flagrant breaches of the common law and international law, that’s not the answer.”
    No ‘secret’ facility
    The MOD has responded that this is not the case; there is no secret facility at Camp Bastion. Successive governments have reported to Parliament on detention operations in Afghanistan and references in Hansard as far back as 2009 confirm this; the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond updated the House in December 2012 on this issue. The number of detainees held at the facility in Camp Bastion has also been publicly released.
    Detention at Bastion
    Detainees are held by British forces where there is evidence linking them to criminal activity. Many are suspected killers of British troops or known to be involved in the preparation, facilitation or laying of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They are held pending transfer to Afghan authorities for further investigation prior to prosecution.
    In November, the Defence Secretary suspended transfers of detainees to the Afghan authorities in light of new evidence that suggested a risk of mistreatment. Since then we have been working with the Afghan authorities to identify a safe route for the transfer of detainees into the Afghan judicial system.
    Detainees are held in a temporary holding facility that is inspected regularly by the International Committee of the Red Cross. This facility has also been inspected by MPs of the cross-party House of Commons Defence Committee, who reported to Parliament on the subject earlier this year.
    Detention operations are an important part of our force protection measures for British troops, our allies and partners, and the Afghan civilian population. They directly contribute to the success of the NATO ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission in Afghanistan and ultimately to UK national security.

    Safety of our troops
    In interviews this morning, the Defence Secretary described claims that the facility at Camp Bastion was secret as ‘patently ridiculous’. He said:
    “Let’s be clear what they (Public Interest Lawyers) are asking for; they are asking the court to release these people to turn them back to the battlefield so they can carry on with the activities for which they were detained in the first place, putting British troops and other ISAF lives at risk.
    “These are people suspected of murdering British troops, facilitating or planting or being involved with IEDs. What I didn’t hear (from them) was any concern about the safety of our troops.”
    On the subject of restarting transfers to the Afghan authorities, the Defence Secretary said:
    “We’ve been working on it very intensively and I am hoping that in the very near future we will be in a position to go back to Mr Shiner and one other UK law firm, to whom we have given undertakings in court in the past not to restart transfers without notifying them, but I’m hoping that in the very near future, within a matter of days, we will be in a position to go back to them and notify them of our intention to restart transfers through a safe route into the Afghan system.”

       25 likes

  12. stuart says:

    @ roland deschain.i designed my clapometer to monitor the politacal responce from the question time audience,there is no doubt in my mind that there is a left wing bias in the question time audience every week.

       21 likes

  13. AsISeeIt says:

    Two recent offerings from the BBC approved history curriculum:

    Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome
    Professor Catharine Edwards explores the stories of women who tasted power in the Roman Empire, beginning with the wife of the emperor Augustus and mother of Tiberius – Livia. She also explains that imperial women who lacked perfect political judgement would become not leaders, but victims.

    The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England
    The Common People New series. Author Ian Mortimer refutes myths and stereotypes held of the Elizabethan period as he answers key questions that a prospective traveller to late sixteenth-century England might ask. In a documentary series based on his 2012 book of the same name, the presenter begins by confronting the fact that, contrary to the abiding image of courtiers in fine clothes and lavish palaces, many who lived in the era were poor. He offers advice on how to survive on a wage of fourpence per day, and examines the realities of finding work, getting around, and living in a smoke-filled countryside hovel. Ian also addresses the religious controversies that threatened to pull Britain apart, and reveals how society tolerated extreme cruelty towards animals, women and children.

    Agenda, what agenda?

       13 likes

    • will says:

      Just watched the Tudor life program which was fascinating insight into how grim life was for everyone. Worth watching before condemning.

         9 likes

      • AsISeeIt says:

        Ok will – you win

        England – it really has the most hateful and cruel culture and history of any nation on earth. Gosh , am I due to pay my licence fee this week?

           10 likes

      • Saxman says:

        A combination of Green Party policies and Sharia law, both supported by the BBC, would reduce England to the same state.

           10 likes

    • pah says:

      Fourpence a day? Luxury!

      When I was a lad …

         6 likes

  14. AsISeeIt says:

    Calling Paul Mason! Calling Paul Mason!
    Come on lad…. it’s kicking off everywhere… even in Turkey

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22732139

    ‘Environmentalists have been joined by gay and lesbian groups, as well as socialists, union workers, members of opposition parties from across the political landscape and even so-called “anti-capitalist Muslims”‘

    Come on Beeboids this lot sounds right up your Ali!

    Watch this space for yet another BBC endorsed rainbow revolution that ends up all pear shaped and Islamic.

       28 likes

  15. Alex says:

    Would be interesting to get DV’s and anyone else’s views on how BBC Scotland (and specifically Brian Taylor) is handling the Independence debate. In my opinion, I think BBC Scotland is perhaps the most bias part of the BBC outside London; they are given complete reign to push the Independence propaganda and seem to resent any English involvement in what is a highly politically relevant topic for the whole of the UK. You had a taster of this BBC pro-nationalism when poor old Farage was interviewed up here by BBC Good Morning. It’s unbearable, in my opinion.

       17 likes

    • Alex says:

      Here’s the link to the Farage interview, again. The arrogance of the interviewer is a disgrace!

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22566183

         14 likes

      • Albaman says:

        Perhaps the “arrogance ” of the interviewer relates to the ignorance of Farage who has yet to explain why he was in Edinburgh to launch a bye election campaign for a seat located some 130 miles further north in Aberdeen.

        Today the Express tells us that Farage ” wants to raise the profile of UKIP in the Aberdeen Donside by-election for the Scottish Parliament and plans to visit Orkney in August.”
        http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/404081/Ukip-leader-Nigel-Farage-planning-return-to-Scotland-following-hostile-reception
        Orkney is of course about 250 miles north of Aberdeen.

           7 likes

        • Alex says:

          Perhaps he just wanted to start off his journey in the wonderful city that is Edinburgh; it’s a free country and he should be able to go anywhere without harassment from Nationalist yobs. Yes, he might be a little smug, yes he’s from the South East… an area deemed as irrelevant by many Scots, but give him a chance Albaman and you might find he has a little more support in Scotland than his first visit would suggest. I predict that he’ll receive a sizable support for his Aberdeen visit. Will be interesting for sure; I might even get the train from Larbert up to visit!

             25 likes

          • It's all too much says:

            Last time I looked Edinburgh was the capital city. In Scottish parliamentry elections a (ludicrous and jerry mandering) Perty List PR system has been imposed, so any reasonable percentage of the vote would guarantee a UKIP MSP. I don’t know about the Euro ‘Parliament’ elections though.

               6 likes

            • Albaman says:

              I take it that you mean the “ludicrous and jerry mandering” system put in place by Westminster and designed to ensure that no one party would ever gain an overall majority?

              UKIP say that Farage intends to return to Scotland in August ” to help raise the party profile in the Aberdeen Donside” by election which takes place in June!!
              http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-leader-nigel-farage-plans-return-to-campaign-trail-in-scotland–despite-hostile-reception-8639279.html

                 6 likes

              • It's all too much says:

                Remind me which political party, (hint – you know the one that has depended on a bloc of Scottish seats for every single parliamentry majority that it has ever enjoyed) enacted the scottish electoral system [to protect its own position in the Kingdom of Scotland]. I stand by “ludicrous and jerry mandering system” The Scottish electoral system is virtually a reference sample for the definition of both assertions.

                Ludicrous – the first attempt at use resulted in 15% of votes being rejected because of the farcical process. 15% is a lot of lost votes which also supports my assertion of Jerry mandering – because the party list system means the party executives (no such thing a primaries are there?) and not the citizen decides how to allocate the votes.

                Anyway, so what if Farage is an idiot who knows noting about life in the taiga north of Watford – does this mean that 20 yelling tartan fascits get to abuse him in the street and the BBC can decide to portay these oafs as the legitimate voice of Scotland?

                   27 likes

          • Albaman says:

            What “Aberdeen visit” – he is planning to go to Orkney, which would mean a wasted journey for you unless you plan to catch a flight or take the ferry from Aberdeen.

               6 likes

    • Albaman says:

      DV’s views on a perceived BBC bias towards independence would be very “interesting” if this little snippet is anything to go by:

      http://www.atangledweb.org/?p=42774#comments

      If he had any knowledge of Scottish Politics he would have been aware that the proposal to ban smoking in cars when children are present was put forward by a LibDem and that the proposal to “ban pint glasses” was being debated at a local Council and not governmental level.

      I would argue that anyone displaying such a lack of knowledge would be hard pressed to be taken seriously when commenting on the BBC’s coverage of the independence debate.

         9 likes

      • uncle bup says:

        “We are pledging a light-touch regulation suitable to a Scottish financial sector with its outstanding reputation for probity, as opposed to one like that in the UK, which absorbs huge amounts of management time in ‘gold-plated’ regulation.”
        Alex Salmond 2007.

        Hey, Wee Nappy, how’s that whole light-touch regulation suitable to a Scottish financial sector think coming along?

           18 likes

        • Albaman says:

          “If we all had our time again we’d look at things differently. I think there are very few people who can justifiably say that they anticipated the full extent of the financial collapse – the financial crisis.

          “I mean I know some people claim they did but I think if you examine the record you’ll find there’s very few people on the planet – and I am certainly not one of them – who anticipated it.

          “So, yeah, of course, if we had the benefit of hindsight we’d do things differently and I am sure that is true of lots and lots of people.”

          Alex Salmond 2012
          http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-16835023

             6 likes

          • Chilli says:

            And you think that gets him off the hook? He’s a silver tongued hustler and could no doubt skillfully talk his way out of any number of the ridiculous positions he’s adopted: I’m still looking forward to the enevitable climb down from all his climate change rhetoric. But that doesn’t mean Salmon or any of the others should get away with it: They’ve wasted £billions and ruined lives thru their idiocy.

               19 likes

          • uncle bup says:

            ‘very few people on the planet… who anticipated it’ my arse.

               4 likes

  16. Dave666 says:

    So today I was down at the other property I was listening to the radio, as there is no TV there. However the latest threat letter came bouncing through the letter box telling me there is no license at the address. I note they are using UK mail so not even supporting Royal Mail.
    Having had a gutful of Radio 4 as I’ve been there most of the week I thought I’d give Radio 2 a go. They appear to have Z list celebs masquerading as djs. Steve Wright played a “Non stop golden oldies” spot that seemed to be more modern than the majority of the rest of the tunes he was playing. Around 17:15 I turned over back to Radio 4 and was instantly transferred to the world of Alice through the looking glass. I’ve heard this one 3 times already this week -a Danish TV program where 2 blokes look at a naked lady, looks like this will run and run although probably not on BBc 3. Main madness was the planned removal of Florence Nightingale from the bank note…SO THERE WILL BE NO WOMEN ON NOTES. Yes this is at least the second time BBc have run this story. They had some bloke in who is the Brixton pound (http://brixtonpound.org/) Blah Blah blah misogyny blah blah blah So is it just me or is the Queen a woman?

       22 likes

    • Andrew says:

      In fact, Elizabeth Fry is to disappear from the £5 note; Florence Nightingale used to be on the £10 note some time ago; HM The Queen remains on all of them. Remember that there are actually not that many denominations of banknotes in the UK: we now have £1 and £2 coins and the 10 shilling (50p) and £1 notes are long gone. £50 notes are still rare, so that leaves the £5, £10 and £20. To have a woman on one of the three is a reasonable gender representation (as 1.5/3 isn’t possible!) and there is always the possibility that in the future one of the men will drop off, freeing up a place for another woman. The whole issue is a non-story but typical of the bias of the BBC: in a recent Woman’s Hour discussion about the £5 note and female role models in general, one of the young women dutifully trotted out Mary Seacole as an exemplar. In fact, the whole Nightingale/Seacole binary tells you so much about modern Britain, where the young appear to be taught a version of history that justifies the present and likely future of the country, rather than the study of the past for its own sake.

         21 likes

      • Dave666 says:

        Ahh my mistake thanks for the correction.

           1 likes

      • Andrew says:

        I’ll give the BBC its due: “Great Lives” on Radio 4 from 23:00 to 23:30 today 31/5/2013 put to bed the nonsense about Mary Seacole; but the Woman’s Hour episode is more typical of the output for mass consumption on this subject.

           8 likes

      • Reed says:

        I’ll nominate Lady Thatcher.

        Those taking part in Woman’s hour will no doubt agree about her important transformational role and significance in being a female first for our nation. Go for it, Bank of England.

           18 likes

    • uncle bup says:

      Utterly beggars belief that ‘Love The Show Steve’ Wright is still stinking up the schedules, but of course Radio Two is not so much a radio station as a pension plan for favoured employees.

      Don’t for one minute think that Radio Two, or the BBC full stop, is there for you.

      It’s there for its staff – and of course the Labour Party.

         7 likes

  17. Dave s says:

    I see the BBC have a new cause. The Ex Tory MP Patrick Mercer.
    I can confidentially predict that they will never stop going on about it for at least 14 days. It will bore everybody to tears ( it took 2 minutes to bore me) and the BBC will congratulate itself on a fearless bit of journalism.
    It just shows how detached from real life the BBC hive is.

       22 likes

    • Chilli says:

      So far they’ve just got Mercer. Remind me again how many bent Labour MPs were exposed by that similar sting back in 2010: ‘Cab for hire’ Byers, Hewitt, Hoon, Moran, Ingrams, Caborn. Yeah, I don’t expect the BBC will be wanting to rake up that story though.

         26 likes

      • Bodo says:

        Indeed. Also note that the BBC emphasise “conservative” on every report of this case. If it’s aLabour MP is usually a minor notes a few paragraphs down.

        At 8 o’clock on radio four they lead with “more details have emerged about a Conservative MP…”, Which is BBC code for “we’re going to spin this out and drip feed the story to the public over the next few days to do maximum damage to the conservative party.”

        Also note; no mention that such lobbying is how the unions and Labour MPs work every day, and always has done.

        Is the BBC creating a new narrative of “tory sleaze” in the run-up to the next election. How many Labour MPs have they been conducting undercover operations against I wonder?

           19 likes

    • pah says:

      So when are we going to get the expose of Labour MPs working for foreign governments or Trade Unionists taking back handers or EU corruption or … need I go on?

      The last ‘cash for questions’ scandal turned out to be mostly lies so who wants to bet that this will be all down to editing and half-truths?

      Incidentally why was the phoney pharaoh not had up from trying to bribe a government minister. He after all admitted to it.

         3 likes

  18. George R says:

    SYRIA.

    Two differing reports on same Muslim man’s death:

    1.) ‘Daily Mail’-

    “British ‘jihadist’ killed after car was riddled with bullets by militia groups at Syria checkpoint”

    [Excerpt]:-

    “The Foreign Office was last night trying to piece together what happened and looking into whether Manasfi was involved with the hardline Al-Nusra Front, blamed for some of the worst atrocities of the war.

    “Anti-terror officials said the killings highlighted fears that many of the Britons believed to be fighting with terror groups in Syria could return to the UK to continue jihad having had firearms and bomb-making training.”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2333781/British-jihadist-killed-car-riddled-bullets-militia-groups-Syria-checkpoint.html

    2.) INBBC-

    “British man killed in Syria, Foreign Office understands”

    [Excerpt]:

    “The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said the man was Muslim and might have been working with Syrian rebels, but could not confirm this.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22728523

       15 likes

  19. Arthur Penny says:

    I ssee the Jimmy Saville thing won’t go away According to this. Now if you had an organisation where 81 members were under suspicion and 40 were still employed you would be arguing that is was a ring or a cover up – wouldn’t you?

       26 likes

  20. George R says:

    SYRIA, continued.

    INBBC can’t/won’t make the connections between Islamic jihadists.

    I’ll assist INBBC in this.

    In relation to the British ‘jihadist’ (above), ‘Jihad Watch’ had this this morning:-

    “Female convert to Islam from Michigan dies in Syria fighting for the jihadists.”

    [Excerpt]:
    “Yet another convert to Islam somehow gets the idea that jihad involves hot warfare. Yet no mainstream Muslim organization in the U.S., despite their stated opposition to what they claim is al-Qaeda’s twisting and hijacking of true Islamic teaching, has any program designed to teach Muslims (and converts to Islam) to avoid this understanding of Islam. And authorities seem completely indifferent to and clueless as to the implications of that fact.”

    Her (Western) name:- Nicole Mansfield (aged 33).

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/05/female-convert-to-islam-from-michigan-dies-in-syria-fighting-for-the-jihadists.html

    This evening, INBBC has this:-

    “US woman Nicole Mansfield killed fighting in Syria.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22727911

    What INBBC doesn’t do is link the British Islamic ‘jihadist’ with the American Islamic ‘jihadist’:

    Here’s ‘The Long War Journal’-

    “Syria.
    “Saudi Arabia has prevailed over Qatar in assuming sponsorship and supervision of the Syrian opposition. Syrian state media claimed that Ali Al-Manasfi, of London, was killed in an ambush by Syrian government forces in Idlib. Al-Manasfi was said to be traveling in a car with an American woman and another Westerner, photographing Syrian military positions for rebel forces, when they were killed. The woman, Nicole Mansfield, was a Muslim convert from Flint, Mich. ”

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/

    (Check right-hand side of page for item.)

       11 likes

    • Mice Height says:

      It’s the word ‘British’ that should be in apostrophes, not the word jihadist!

         12 likes

  21. Reed says:

    Many here will enjoy this, BBC types and Guardian readers (one and the same) look away…

    http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/sweden-apology.html

    Hat-tip – http://davidthompson.typepad.com/

       14 likes

  22. graphene fedora says:

    Here’s something to stick in the craw of Paul Mason & his posse of young ‘revolutionaries with return tickets’:
    http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3657/che_guevara_was_no_hero_he_was_a_racist

       8 likes

    • Mice Height says:

      One of his many innocent victims who wasn’t given the benefit of a trial hearing. This guy refused to be blind folded, and gave the order to shoot himself, unlike Che, who, when captured, was squealing that he’d be more use to them alive.

         6 likes

  23. thoughtful says:

    So it transpires this morning that the BBC along with the Telegraph are behind the investigations into Patrick Mercer the Tory MP for Newark. What has not been revealed was how the subject was selected, nor how many MPs were sounded out, and were completely honourable and refused the offers.

    It is of no great surprise that a Tory MP was targeted, I can imagine the BBC vetoing the selection of any Labour MP especially ethnic ones regardless of how corrupt they might be.

       15 likes

    • Framer says:

      Do we pay the licence fee for the BBC to entrap people, even if rather easily ensnared MPs?
      Would they put a fake under-age girl in Broadcasting House or a BBC TV studio to see which presenter tried to abuse her?
      Or a bottle of scotch in front of Eric Joyce MP?
      Or a line of baking soda on the desk of ……?
      Thought not.

         13 likes

      • Andrew says:

        The BBC need to construct the narrative of Tory Sleaze, as they did in the mid-1990s, to make sure their party win the election in 2015 and agree to the Charter renewal soon after that. Remember how the interest in sleaze reduced notably once Labour were in power after 1997. The BBC itself needs to be careful about sleaze, but it is happy to appeal to “petit bourgeois” notions of right and wrong when it suits the agenda.

           13 likes

      • Expat John says:

        Would they put a fake under-age girl in Broadcasting House or a BBC TV studio to see which presenter tried to abuse her?

        No; they’d put her there to find out which presenter wouldn’t…

           3 likes

    • Llew says:

      The BBC’s 2015 election campaign has begun.

         6 likes

  24. AsISeeIt says:

    BBC 5 Live is the radio channel with a secret unwritten remit to shoe horn left-wing politics into sport whenever and wherever possible.

    So this morning we go over to the Epsom Derby – not to talk about the geegees – but to celebrate the centenary of suicide-suffragette Emily Wilding Davison.

    Female Beeboid : asks a campaigner not so much about the history and context of the event but about the present position of women…. ‘obviously there was lots to do!’

    One might laugh this item off as a spot of typical BBC Political Correct silliness – except that the celebration of a violent act of politically motivated suicide carried out in the furtherance of a cause and designed to ‘wake up society’ has some dangerous contemporary resonances.

    Stop it BBC. Put this on a new BBC feminist radio channel or on a network called BBC left-wing history.

       25 likes

    • Old Goat says:

      There was an hour-long “special” on the telly the other night about this, fronted by the awful Clare (I’m-a-lesbian-and-marrying-my-partner-Alice-and-you-should-all-be-aware-of-it) Balding.

      I am becoming seriously frightened of women.

         19 likes

    • Tyler says:

      Bad BBC for exposing an MP for taking £4,000 to table parliamentary questions. Talk about defending the indefensible!

      Are votes for women ‘left-wing politics’ ? Maybe in Afghanistan!

         5 likes

      • NosmartarsemonicatodayTyler? says:

        (a) Which MP are you referring to? Not a labour one that’s for sure. Guess they leave that up to the BNP

        (b) Equal rights no But Feminism (not the same thing) Yes, direct from Frankfurt School

           1 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      I’m well accustomed to BBC news bulletin headlines. They are rarely able to actually shock nowadays. I’m so used to their Leftist wording.

      Mind you, this was quite an acheivement on their part.:
      ‘….Suffragette, killed by the King’s horse when she was making a protest at the 1913 Derby…’

      Phew those killer Royal horses!

         12 likes

  25. Old Goat says:

    An item on Toady this morning about how the energy companies would like to bribe us to use less energy. My initial thought was – if you make energy for us, why should we curtail our use of it? Then I thought, well, if you are closing down the power stations and substituting the bird killing towers of Babel in their place, maybe we should all grab every little bit of the remaining available energy that we can, whilst we can.

    Any road up, some study thinks we can be bribed into using less, with the emphasis on being be more energy-frugal-than-your-neighbours. Well that one-upmanship may well work in liberal, hand-wriniging Camden (where it’s being trialled), but elsewhere, on the sink estates? Somehow, I doubt that it’ll catch on.

    Anyway, why should a supplier of something reward people for buying less of it? Utter madness.

    And then of course, there was the item on Californian fracking. This must the same California that’s slowly going bust, driving away the businesses which generate the economy, and the same California that attracts hippy-liberal-greenie-handwringing loonies, and is also the home of Barbara “Tornadoes-are-caused-by-global-warming” Boxer.

    The BBC, of course, lap it up, with Humphrys chortling along.

    The world has past the infiltration of the lunatics stage, and is now being run by them.

       17 likes

    • Pounce says:

      The thing is Goat, is due to the last (And also the present) Government and its so called Green agenda, (Not building new power stations, closing down Coal and Nuclear ones) and thinking that a lot of hot air will suffice . We are going to experience power cuts in the not so distant future. As I live in the country , we are used to them and have made provision to have alternative power sources. Yet we are just a small number. When major centres of population start to experience the like, you can bet your bottom green Euro, that the Green agenda in the UK will take a huge hit in Polls

         17 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        At some point, everyone who has accepted the global warming sham, and those who have just shrugged their shoulders with a ‘so what, it doesn’t really affect me’ complacency, will have their waking up moment. It will come in the middle of a freezing cold winter with the first enforced power cuts.

           15 likes

        • AngusPangus says:

          Or, indeed, in the middle of a freezing cold summer, the way things are going at the moment…..

             8 likes

    • thoughtful says:

      This is the softening up prior to the installation of Nu Labours ‘smart meters’.
      You WILL use less power or they will cut you off! There won’t be any power cuts, the energy companies will simply cut off those homes which it thinks are using too much until the demand lessens and they can allow them to draw power again.

      The meters will allow for variable rate tariffs, so if you run washing machine / dishwasher at night you’ll pay less as per economy 7 but there might well be several tariffs throughout the day.

      You won’t get a choice with this, and you can be damn sure that even though this is directly government inspired, run, and policy, the blame dodgers will pass the buck on to the energy companies just like they have in the past with Bankers energy companies, and so many others. It’s never their fault!

         16 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        Can you link to any authoritative articles which support your claim? Any whiff that government is colluding with energy companies to turn off individual household energy supplies is dynamite, I would have thought.

        If it’s just your own conclusion, though, I’d have to say you are probably right anyway looking at the lunacy that’s been imposed on us so far in the name of ‘climate change’.

           1 likes

        • JimS says:

          “While the roll-out is being enforced on consumers, they still need to see tangible benefits. Some are concerned about radio transmission, data accuracy and privacy. Also, they may not be willing to allow utility companies to switch appliances on and off to load balance and operate more profitably” – Nick Collier, head of science and technology at Sagentia

          A generally ‘pro’ article from the Institute of Engineering Technology Smart Special – Smart Meters

             0 likes

    • David Preiser (USA) says:

      Beeboid Liethead made a very clever segment about frakking. Balance-compliance boxes ticked, but still able to frame it in a biased fashion. It’s pretty easy to put these reports together in ABAB form, letting the players speak for themselves, to give the appearance of balance. But here the BBC frames it in anti-frakking terms.

      After the quote from the woman expressing concerns about health and safety issues being swept under the rug, Leithead said that her side wanted to postpone frakking until safety was proven. Of course those are eternally wandering goal posts, as opponents are already convinced it’s dangerous and will not accept any proof that it’s not, so that’s not an honest description of the position. The pro-frakking side is defined as being interested only in taking advantage of a capitalist opportunity, and no mention that maybe they took health and safety seriously.

      The pro-frakking film was described as being paid for by “the Oil Industry”. Who paid for “Gasland”? We weren’t told. We weren’t told who paid for the Irish journalist’s film either, but that just makes it stand out more in contrast. The pro-frakking films are portrayed as trying to discredit Josh Fox, but his film was described simply as a documentary, not as an attempt to discredit frakking, which is obviously what it was.

      The Beeboid gives away the agenda with his closing statement:

      “California has a big decision to make: the economy versus the environment, and maybe even public safety.”

      This assumes that the environmentals are right, with the logical conclusion that choosing to go after the shale oil/gas is a callous, maybe even perilous decision based solely on capitalist ideology with no consideration for the dangers involved.

      The angle is clear. Even when making gestures towards fairness, they just can’t help themselves in the end.

         8 likes

      • David Preiser (USA) says:

        Forgot to mention that the tweet they selected to accompany the segment on the feed page was anti-Big Oil.

        Nothing to do with this bias, but is anyone else disappointed with the revamping of the Today running order page and the way they add commentary to some segments?

           4 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        ‘California has a big decision to make: the economy versus the environment, and maybe even public safety.’

        If that isn’t a clear example of the BBC expressing a biased opinion, I don’t know what is.

           8 likes

      • pah says:

        There are bound to be environmental issues with frakking. There are environmental issues with all energy source extraction. Even the Greens admit there are issues with renewables – although you have to search through the chaff to find them.

        The questions to ask are; are those issues insurmountable and can we live with the consequences? If the answer is yes to both then what is the BBCs problem? Why would they want us not to be self sufficient in energy for the next 50 years? Do they want us reliant on some foreign agency by any chance? Surely not?

        Incidentally the article blamed the ‘earthquakes’ experienced in Blackpool as a direct result of frakking. However as that area, and North Wales in particular, is the UKs epicentre for earth tremors then how do they know it wasn’t coincidence? Where is the evidence to link the two if it was not just coincidence?

           0 likes

  26. JayBee says:

    Latest Thought Crime courtesy of Big Brother Corporation and its EU-SSR comptroller.

    Big Brother gleefully tells us of a “secret vote” in the EU-SSR politburo to do away with someone who refuses to accept Lib-think.

    French far right leader loses immunity, faces charges – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739736

    I don’t vote Far Right but I would certainly vote for the right for anyone to hold any view they like. However, Liberals want to shout down anyone who does not agree with Lib-think.

       21 likes

    • Pounce says:

      The problem with the political elites in Europe , is they have all taken to standing in public waving a huge paper in the air and shouting out “We have peace in our time” after proclaiming that Islam is a religion of peace after yet another Terrorist Militant incident.

         18 likes

  27. JayBee says:

    As Columbo would say, “Just one more thing.”

    Have we all noticed how selective Big Brother Corporation is with allowing comments on news stories?

    Comments for all BBC output, now!

       15 likes

  28. George R says:

    “Auntie’s misbehaving: Make the BBC accountable.

    Eyes will be on the north west of London next week when the Bilderberg party comes to town. But a greater conspiracy is how we allow behemoths like the BBC to be so unaccountable.”

    By Simon Miller.

    http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3677/auntie_s_misbehaving_make_the_bbc_accountable?

       7 likes

  29. Pounce says:

    A new video uncovered shows one of the Woolwich crazed jihadist Muslim extremists responsible for the murder of soldier Lee Rigby attending a Harrow demonstration organised by the far-left UAF, which has a Muslim extremist as its vice-chair.
    “We are not scared of Kufar … my brothers remain in your ranks and do not be scared of these filthy Kufar. They are pigs … Allah says they are worse than cattle.”

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/351147

       13 likes

    • noggin says:

      the bbc reports the UAF have caused clashes against “far right” protestors today….WHAT! ?
      against those marching, to lay wreaths? they mean.
      at Cenotaphs across the country? …
      paying respects to murdered soldier Lee Rigby

         11 likes

      • johnnythefish says:

        I just googled ‘UAF’, ‘BBC’ and ‘far left’.

        Not a single link.

           3 likes

        • noggin says:

          “UAF’, ‘BBC’ and ‘far left”
          the bbc ARE far left 😀

             3 likes

          • noggin says:

            “The Metropolitan Police said the 58 people arrested for breaches of the Public Order Act were from the UAF protest” ….

            hope that helps,
            truth is a very strong current to swim against …
            maybe best erm … stay in the pond.

               5 likes

      • noggin says:

        bbc radio – news today,
        i ve heard it on there at least twice
        late this afternoon.

           1 likes

  30. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Is it really necessary for Today to have April Jones’ mother on to publicly shame her friends and acquaintances for not offering enough comfort? She didn’t name names, but anyone who knows her personally would recognize that this was directed at them.

    I know this is supposed to be one of those “teachable moments”, where the gatekeepers and those who feel it’s their duty to instruct the masses on how to understand things properly seize on a tragedy as an opportunity to discuss the bigger picture. In this case, it’s an opportunity to discuss bereavement in general. But it came across as a rather ugly display. They couldn’t do this from a more positive angle, like the lady at the end of the segment did?

       10 likes

    • Joshaw says:

      Without wishing to play down the seriousness of this crime, or others, I do have reservations about the way it is being treated by the MSM.

      I’m longing for the days when we had a stiff upper lip.

         2 likes

  31. noggin says:

    New York, London, Paris … Munich,
    everybody talked about and knew it …

    All the recent jihad murderers had been flagged up by law
    … not a priority?
    isn t that an important fact that should raise alarm bells?
    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130531/DA6KAA380.html

    but … not at the bbc … as usual, zilch

    so just check the chief international correspondent
    Lyse Douche – Protesters not interested in having any dialogue at moment” Ibrahim Kalin, PM advisor
    errrrrr right

       2 likes

  32. Alex says:

    In the following BBC Scotland report, it states that ‘Two people were arrested…’ in the protest stand off between the SDL and UAF. You immediately know that it was two UAF protestors who were arrested because the BBC forget to mention. If it were two SDL members, you’d know all about it!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-22742462

       15 likes

  33. stuart says:

    turkey with a population of 80 million wants to join the eu next year,no thanks,i dont want that type of rioting in britian in future years by unhappy radical islamists.

       10 likes

  34. It's all too much says:

    ****Sigh**** Copied from the Turkish Tea Part Thread

    It is time for me to “Flounce”

    I have now been accused by Alan of being part of an ‘anti-semitic pro BBC tag team’. This is because I questioned the Islamo obsession of a few commenters on this site – following a policy statement by the Blog Owners in response to people calling for the burning out of sub-humans and the destruction of mosques on this site.

    I am not sure how Alan concluded that I am an anti-semite. I most certainly am not, and if you look at my past comments you will see that I am not a racist or homophobe either but that I do loathe the BBC in all its incarnations. Then again I am not sure how he concludes many things.

    It seems that there are many who find my intervention to be deeply offensive and presumpious so I think It is best if I stop commenting here for a few months. Please, don’t bother telling me that you are better off without me and that I can fuck off etc – if you want a site that looks and sounds like islam obsessed echo chamber, I agree in advance, I am no loss.

    I’ll look in in a couple of months.

       16 likes

    • Not too much at all says:

      Please don’t be put off.
      B-BBC regulars will know you’ve been a regular here for years and that you’re a friend of the site.

         15 likes

      • Reed says:

        Yep.

           9 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:

        Indeed. Sadly it was something Alan seems not to have been aware of before shooting his mouth off. Don’t be discouraged. Some of us know what you were trying to get across and perhaps have not said as much as we should in the past.

           9 likes

    • Dysgwr_Cymraeg says:

      You tell me that I am shitting in my nest and I will tell you to fuck off, in fact I have .

         3 likes

    • Teddy Bear says:

      I hope you’ll reconsider IATM,
      I can’t answer for anybody else but I believe you are a valuable contributor.

         9 likes

    • Reed says:

      Stay put – you’re one of the more reasonable commenters.
      I too think that some of the language on this site regarding the topics of Islam and especially homosexuality occasionally leaves a lot to be desired.

      If all of the more polite commenters were to leave…well…there’s a reason I don’t bother commenting over at Guido’s!

      (not that I think the comments on this site are anywhere near THAT level of cesspittery)

         9 likes

    • Alex says:

      It’s all too much, don’t forget about the site as I feel that you always have interesting and valid posts. So long as we keep to the topic and refrain from heated ripostes (I am guilty of the latter!) then there’s room for all on this site surely, and I think it’d be a shame to lose intelligent posters such as yourself. Just avoid what you don’t like and interact with what suits you!

         8 likes

    • Deborah says:

      And I thought you were helping this site by trying to keep commentators on topic. I am sure others welcome your comments – something must have been read wrongly. Like the rest of us (mostly ie Dez and Co excepted) we want others to realise what is really happening in the world rather than what the BBC want us to know. Please, It’s all too much. keep posting.

         3 likes

  35. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Spot the missing political party in this BBC article about how Detroit is rapidly spiraling down the toilet thanks to 40 years of government corruption and mismanagement.

    It’s so bad that local businesses have had to buy the city’s police cars and ambulances, while closing a quarter of the stations. And they’re considering selling the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, like selling grandma’s wedding ring to pay the bills after you’ve snorted up the family savings. At least the BBC’s commitment to diversity didn’t prevent them from reporting it at all.

    The BBC has form on censoring the name of the political party responsible for screwing up a major US city.

       19 likes

  36. Bigt says:

    From Saturday’s Daily Telegraph
    It’s the summer of 2043. A father and his eight-year-old son trudge across the tundra of north London. Despite the watery August sun, the frozen grass crackles under their heavy boots.
    “Look!” says the man. “Do you see the ruins on top of that hill?”
    Silhouetted against the sky are the remnants of grand houses. The roofs have fallen in, the grey stucco has buckled and crumbled. It’s hard to imagine that these villas and terraces were once a visual feast of pastel pink and yellow.
    “You’re looking at the remains of Primrose Hill,” says the father.
    “Daddy, what’s a primrose?”
    “A lovely creamy yellow flower.” He sighs wistfully. “They all disappeared in the Great Freeze. Like so much else.”
    “And who lived on Primrose Hill?”
    “They were a tribe called the liberals, but they don’t exist any more.
    “Do you remember me telling you about the Mayans, who disappeared almost overnight? It was a bit like that. Things started going really badly for the liberals in about 2013…”
    The boy perks up. “Did they do human sacrifices like the Mayans? Did they worship savage gods?”
    “No human sacrifices,” chuckles his father. “But, yes, they had some very bizarre religious beliefs.
    “For example, they thought the centre of the earth was in a place called Brussels in Belgium. Like the primroses, it doesn’t exist any more, but it was a mixture of Holland and France and it printed toy money that no one wanted.
    “Brussels was famous for its nosey parkers who bossed everyone around. They pretended they were emperors of Europe. Everyone hated them – except the liberals. Eventually the ordinary people rose up and destroyed the empire.”
    “Was it as bad as the fall of the Roman Empire?”
    “Oh, much worse. And the liberals were doubly upset because, at the same time, they were proved wrong about something called global warming.
    “You see, they thought the planet was getting very, very hot and the only way to stop it exploding into flames was to pay extremely high taxes.”
    “Global warming? That’s just crazy. It’s never warm,” says the boy, shivering in his duffle coat. “Why did the liberals think those things?”
    “Has your history teacher taught you about the BBC? It was a government broadcaster that took everyone else’s money to make programmes specially for the liberals.
    “According to the BBC, the North Pole was just about to melt and you’d see camels in Greenland. Also, it encouraged children to spy on their parents in case they were naughty and wasted energy.
    “But then some of the global warming prophets – scary rich men with names like Yeo – suddenly changed their minds. They said the planet wasn’t getting hot after all, that the scientists had been tricking them – and of course they were right.”
    “Daddy, were the liberals terribly upset when they were proved wrong?”
    The man pauses as he surveys the ghostly ruins of Primrose Hill. Should he mention the sudden rush to the Dignitas clinics?
    Best not. “Well, they cried a lot and did this strange thing called wringing your hands.” He gives a demonstration.
    “How funny,” says the boy. He copies the gesture and makes a mental note to teach it to his school chums. It will be like a secret handshake!
    “Anyway, that’s enough about the liberals,” says the father. “Let’s get back in the snowmobile and go home for tea. Mummy’s toasting some crumpets. And the Prime Minister is giving a talk on the wireless.”
    “Oh goody,” says his son. “I do like Lord Farage.”

       23 likes

  37. chrisH says:

    Been away in Tower Hamlets, having a good look around.
    The depressing catalogue of ongoing BBC bias throughout this last week is the usual stuff…the likes of Albaman, Scott etc really have no excuse for the BBC being caught out on its one bloody monorail. There is no direction of travel except into a Eurabia with Saddam type economics, and Nasser-like attitudes to anything…Socialist Sharia inshallah! Non-stop, perpetual greasing of the slide into hell.
    Totally predictable, pig-headed( can we say that?…guess not soon!) reflexes and cheap words on Syria, Turkey, Lee Rigby, austerity/Barosso…just monoculture as viewed by one eye through a rose-tinted monocle.
    In fact, it would be reassuring in its lame one-trick pony kind of way ,were we not compelled to pay for the insulting of intelligence. Tower Hamlets is not Free Derry, but give the BBC a few years more of this, and it might as well be.
    The BBC have got to go-flog it all off to Al Jazeera, who at least are honest in their agenda.

       15 likes

  38. Doyle says:

    Look at this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22739189
    It’s not until the ninth paragraph that we learn that the 58 arrested protesters are from the UAF.

       27 likes

    • Reed says:

      …and yet they picture Nick Griffin, and not one single UAF thug.

         20 likes

    • Span Ows says:

      yes this is the famous ‘under the line’ tactic used for years by the BBC online editors; I have been on about it for years but nowadays it is worse because of the number of people reading on laptops, ipads, smartphones etc.

      Even when they do mention who were arrested they write ‘Met Police say that…’

         12 likes

      • Mice Height says:

        And srtill refer to them as ‘anti-fascists’ rather than anti-British, forces-hating, terrorist-sympathithing, communist scum!
        To be fair though, the TV news made it clear from the start that all arrests were UAF. Massive own goal for the retarded thugs, and – looking at their web pages – a lot of activists swearing never to support UAF again.

           16 likes

        • Joshaw says:

          “a lot of activists swearing never to support UAF again”

          Will that include David Cameron, our PM who has put his name to an undeniably violent organisation?

             11 likes

          • Mice Height says:

            Nah, don’t be silly, he’s their most staunch advocate. In fact his government’s just given UAF’s evil twin, ‘Hope not Hate’, a considerable chunk of tax payer’s cash to tackle the racist nazi fascist . . . errr. . . UKIP

               11 likes

  39. Aerfen says:

    BBC Radio has been overboard with pro multiculti propaganda on the radio today, this morning a program about a couple of Bollywood singers that almost nobody other than Asians will have ever heard of – surely more appropriate for the World Service or Asian network than Channel four? Then later on a French Arab singer was interviewed and performed in Arabic, later on one of the arts programs they were discussing what sounded like an excruciatingly tedious play called ‘Race’ with the black star of The Wire, and currently they’re talking about race hate laws and free speech. The current program isnt too bad actually – one of the better efforts of the BBC;
    Unreliable Evidence How Free Is Our Speech?

       17 likes

    • George R says:

      Asian Network is an apartheid site for self-styled ‘British Asians’ and should be closed down, as once promised but then reneged on by ex-D.G., Mark Thompson.

         12 likes

  40. George R says:

    “Cuts, BBC? What cuts?
    “What neither Chancellor George Osborne nor Evan Davis want to admit is that public spending, far from being reduced, is still racing upwards”

    By Christopher Booker.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/10092749/Cuts-BBC-What-cuts.html

       11 likes

    • johnnythefish says:

      Unsurprisingly. You don’t cut Gordon’s £150 billion annual deficit overnight – not that you’d ever hear that sentiment on the broadcasting arm of the Labour Party.

         11 likes

  41. George R says:

    Muslim’s death threat to Prince Harry.

    Contrasting reports:-

    1.)

    ‘The Sun’-

    “Jihad Brit in Harry kill plot”

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4951618/Brit-Muslim-convert-tells-police-of-Prince-Harry-kill-plot.html#ixzz2V222yY7B

    2.) INBBC –

    “Prince Harry threats man pleads guilt”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22744769

    ‘Atlas Shrugs’ has-

    “Another devout Muslim ‘hijacking’,’ misunderstanding’ and taking at its word the actual texts and teachings of Islam. The British media always refer to race. ‘White Muslim convert.’ It’s not about race. Islam is not a race. it’s the ideology, stupid. ”

    http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/06/british-jihadi-in-plot-to-kill-prince-harry.html

       7 likes

  42. noggin says:

    TBQs … expect an enviroey-ecoey-climate changey-propagandy drone.
    somebody gotta book out? … worst read newspaper around? coughguardiancough .. good luck i won t be tuning in

       2 likes

  43. noggin says:

    yesterday anoon. al beeb radio
    the bbc reports the UAF clashes against “far right” protestors ….WHAT! ?

    against those whose intention was to march, to lay wreaths? .. they mean?
    at Cenotaphs across the country? …
    paying respects to murdered soldier Lee Rigby? …

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22739189

    The UAF continually blocked the march, 52 of them arrested?, the Woolwich muslim murderer spoke at their rally?, Azad Ali muslim extremist on their board?, have recently been caught again attacking women and the police? always caused more violence/damage than those they “supposedly? have to protest?, including at the bbcs own premises?.

    now who? … is it who has the hotline?, to the only
    “supposedly” open call ins “Your Call” or “J. Whine” on the bbc eh? …
    and i ll give you a clue it isn t, the BNP or the EDL

       17 likes

    • noggin says:

      here is a prime example.

         1 likes

      • Stewart says:

        Catch ‘game show’s’ total panic when the Jewish caller names the wrong culprits
        I thought he was going to bring up his muesli

           1 likes

  44. AsISeeIt says:

    BBC 5 Live has a remit to serve up sport with a generous side portion of PC politics.

    This morning we sit down to the À la carte BBC talk about football – but very soon our radio garçons bring us the bowls brimming full of hot steaming ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’.

    I didn’t order this! Our less than attentive waiters care not. It is printed on their BBC menu, we have paid for it within our cover charge (a bargain at £145) so they are jolly well going to make us eat it.

    We talk to an Aussie famale ‘lawyer’ who has been ‘co-opted’onto FIFA – whatever that means?

    The problem is this: I’m not suggesting that sexism is a good thing. But – for example – the result of this morning’s discussion is that the Beeboids have agreed (on our behalf) to the idea that quotas for the promotion of ‘wimmin’ and ‘co-opting’ are a very very good things. Says who?

    The result : more and more liberal elitists talking alike and thinking alike (Common Purpose-wise) and further removed from the rest of us.

    BBC : The danger is in the assumptions.

       11 likes

  45. Lynette says:

    Of course it’s Sunday and a heart warming pro Muslim BBC story.about the Muslims in Bradford giving funds to the small Jewish community to renovate the synagogue.

    The truth is that the Muslims know the aging tiny Reform Jewish community of 30 people that is left there won’t be needing their building for much longer. It is a beautiful listed building and if they put money into the building they know it will belong to them anyway very soon and be a Mosque. . The building cannot be used for anything but a place of worship.and that is why they are helping with the funds to renovate it..

    .

       18 likes

  46. George R says:

    Not an INBBC piece of investigative journalism:-

    “Inside the dark world of the Woolwich Boys: The 300-strong gang of Somalis linked to Rigby murder suspect targeted by terror groups looking for jihadists of future”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334488/Inside-dark-world-Woolwich-Boys-The-300-strong-gang-Somalis-linked-Rigby-murder-suspect-targeted-terror-groups-looking-jihadists-future.html

       6 likes

  47. George R says:

    “Ukip has support of one in five voters – poll.

    Latest Obsever/Opinium poll puts support for Nigel Farage’s party at 21%, a new high.”

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/01/ukip-support-voters-poll

    BBC-NUJ is politically very selective in the polls it approves; it doesn’t like the poll above, but it approves polls of Arab/Islamic countries which inevitably list Israel as the least popular country of Middle East!

       6 likes

  48. George R says:

    “New BBC Director General takes a break just six weeks after starting his £450,000 job (which he delayed starting because he was on another holiday)”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334622/New-BBC-Director-General-takes-break-just-weeks-starting-450-000-job.html

       8 likes

  49. Bright says:

    Two Labour peers are suspended by the party and a UUP peer resigns his party whip after undercover reporters film them apparently agreeing to carry out Parliamentary work for payments.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22742327

    And who said it was just the Conservatives? That’s another BiasedBBC theory biting the dust.

       7 likes

    • Llew says:

      When I looked / listened Friday and yesterday, every headline written or spoken said “Tory MP caught….” Today and certainly this morning, it was just “Peers caught…”. The Labour bit (for 2 of them) was left out of the headlines and only appeared further down the page or news bulletin. Definite bias.

         19 likes

      • Scrappydoo says:

        When the BBC first reported the story, party affiliation was not mentioned. The blood lust is only there when a conservative is in the cross hairs.

           11 likes

    • Framer says:

      Is the licence fee meant to cover entrapment? If the police did it in public toilets the BBC would be ceaselessly enraged.
      Indeed cops are not allowed to entrap. They must have significant belief that a crime is going to be committed before trying to draw the offenders in.
      Which MPs and peers didn’t take the bait? Will the BBC tell us at least their affiliation?

         7 likes