I see that Secunder Kermani's report on the London mayoral election on last night's Newsnight was unusually well-received by the Corbynistas on Twitter. (Not one of them accused him of being a 'Tory'!)
And no wonder as his report wasn't at all helpful to Zak Goldsmith's campaign. In fact, it struck me as being a distinctly one-sided intervention by Newsnight in a key election battle.
The report focused on claims of Conservative Party 'Islamophobia' over their questioning of Sadiq Khan's links to Islamic extremists, and reinforced those claims by:
- Showing various Labour people, including Sadiq Khan, and some Muslim 'vox pops' complaining about the 'dirty politics'.
- Being dismissive of the allegations against Sadiq Khan, and cherry-picking the case of one that "backfired" (the Muslim preacher who has also been photographed, once, with Zak Goldsmith).
- Strongly hinting that a dark "new politics" is being brought into British politics here by Lynton Crosby.
- Describing Lynton Crosby as "controversial".
- Implying that the Conservatives are playing the 'religion' card by going after the Hindu vote - cue some Hindu 'vox pops' admiring the Tories. ("Some" have said it's "patronising" and "divisive", said Secunder.)
- Not giving the Conservatives a right-to-reply.
Was this impartial broadcasting? I very much doubt it.
