I don't think you can really claim to be 'live-blogging' something if the programme you're blogging about was first broadcast over nine hours ago, but still...
I had to smile at Andrew Marr's introduction this morning.
I'd already seen that novelist Tony Parsons and Emma Barnett of the Telegraph were going to be the paper reviewers. Writing about BBC bias, I like to place people politically for these kinds of programme and was aware that Tony Parsons has moved rightwards over the years, but (other than being a BBC Woman's Hour-presenting feminist) I wasn't too sure about Emma Barnett. Would Andrew Marr help me out with Emma? Well, no...though he couldn't have been more helpful to viewers who didn't know anything about Tony P's political opinions:
Reviewing the papers one-time Labour-supporting novelist Tony Parsons, who has now voted for UKIP and the Conservatives in recent years, and the woman's editor of the Daily Telegraph, Emma Barnett.
After initially raising an eyebrow, Tony Parsons eventually broke out into a very broad grin at that.
Is that what they call 'bias by labelling'?
I think they call it a 'health warning'.
ReplyDeleteParsons voting Conservative is more of a damning statement about them and about Labour leadership than it is about how much he's moved to the Right. He sure didn't make very many conservative comments there.
Though I've no idea what 'boothill' means, I have to say that I liked his opening contribution, re Ian Botham in the 'Sunday Times':
Delete"The people who would like us to leave the Brussels boothill have got a wonderful endorsement from Ian Botham, the celebrated national treasure. It's a short piece but I think it will have a big impact. Botham makes the points that you would expect him to make, about the way the EU haven't signed off on their accounts for 20 years, the endemic corruption, the loss of national sovereignty and all that. And he also makes the point that he's spent his professional life around sportsmen from Australia, Canada, India, South Africa - that old Commonwealth of Nations that I think we're going to be hearing a lot about this week - the week of the Queen's 90th birthday. And he makes the case for us leaving Brussels as being an embrace of the world and an embrace of those old alliances that we've been too dismissive of."
Though he's doubtless hardly short of a bob or two now, that struck me as reflecting a kind of working-class British/English patriotism that almost never gets an airing on the BBC.
Unsurprisingly, occasional BBC Woman's Hour presenter Emma Barnett appeared to on the Remain side (and cooed over Obama).
And more from Tony P, on asked about his UKIP-voting and what he thinks about the Labour Party now:
Delete"I'm a former member of the Labour Party. I think it's a 20th Century political party. I think they've completely disconnected with this country. I think the fact that they're terrified to say anything about immigration shows how far removed they are from ordinary people."
He then added - given that he's on the BBC again (after a long while) - that Labour has also betrayed women. "They've never had a woman leader in 116 years". Naturally, occasional Woman's Hour presenter Emma Barnett said, "Well observed. Well observed" to that!
My increasingly-belated 'live-blogging' seems to have now migrated down to the comments section.
DeleteI did notice Parsons saying that Labour was a 20th Century party, but it was in the context of them no longer being touch with the working class. That's more Corbyn than Grayling. Okay, I guess that's pro-Leave at a stretch. I did not get the impression that he meant they were disconnected from salt of the earth stout British yeomen.
DeletePhew - well done,you didn't use the T word.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find 'Tony' was used throughout :)
DeleteDo respect Tony Parsons-former music journalist who escaped the liberal beehive like me and so many others.Only he`ll be rich due to his novels-which are good and sell well.
ReplyDeleteIn short-another working class lad, made good-like the mighty Sir Ian Botham...and he`s one of the few who I use "Sir" for.
Will be worth a lot of votes if we can get Sir Viv and ian Chappell, Kapil Dev to agree-their input surely would show the likes of Obama and Clarkson up for the phonies that they really are.