Also while catching up with comments here at ITBB, Mishal Husain's new BBC Radio series From Our Home Correspondent contained a remarkable report from the Corbynistas' bête noire Laura Kuenssberg on the EU referendum debate.
Given that Laura is the BBC's Political Editor, I'd have hoped for her to be scrupulously neutral here. 'Scrupulously neutral' she most certainly wasn't though.
Why was it biased? Well, try this:
When the Chancellor marched onto the gleaming floor of a high-tech factory to deliver the economic Exocet at his rivals who want to leave the EU...
Was it really an "economic Exocet" (as pro-Remain types might say) or merely a rain-soaked sparkler (as pro-Brexit types might say)?
A clip of George Osborne sternly making the economic case against Brexit was then played.
Laura then gently mocked some of the more apocalyptic claims of the Remain side while continually stressing the seriousness of the issue:
Of course, it is the case that our decision on staying in or leaving the European Union is a significant decision, probably the biggest choice we've taken as a country for decades. The consequences of leaving might be economically disastrous. It is certainly a risk.
As for the Leave side? Punters wanting to hear Boris. "Gags" flowing from Boris. Selfies...
Knickers, and the fictional excesses of the EU.
"Fictional excesses of the EU"? Impartial BBC commentary??
And Laura continued, sarcastically:
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| An example of lefty Laura-bashing |
So what of those pesky hard questions from journalists? 'Dear Public, ignore those hacks who want us to explain how life outside would work'.
She then used two adjectives to characterise both campaigns. For the 'In' campaign she chose "sober". For the 'Out' campaign she choice 'garrulous'. The former is a more positive term than the latter.
She then chose two more phrases. For the 'In' campaign "authority". For the 'Out' campaign "striking political exuberance".
She then chose some more phrases to characterise the experts backing each campaign. For the 'In' campaign, she called their experts "an alphabet soup of economic heavyweight organisations". For the 'Out' campaign, she called their experts "less conventional backers".
The whole thing she then characterised as "the classic head versus heart" - as if reason was on the 'In' side. "Safety" versus "daring-do", she continued.
The 'Out' side, Laura said in conclusion, are "having more fun" though.
I don't think you need a degree in English to comprehend where the bias of that piece of BBC reporting lies.
