Saturday 22 December 2018

Open Thread


Thank you for your comments. Here's another Open Thread. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

85 comments:

  1. Just like to rerun this one, because the issue is very important I think. I am referring to the Blair Conspiracy to frustrate Brexit and keep us an EU Member State, in direct opposition to the declared will of the British people.

    This is not an effusion from Monkey Brains' brain. You may have noticed that Theresa May issued a statement condemning his interventions in the media. You think she was worried about a few media interviews? Don't be naive. She is worried about an active conspiracy led by Blair which I describe in general terms below (that's the problem with conspiracies - you don't know the specifics). So, to repeat...

    To quote a previous post of mine: "May is under the misapprehension that she is negotiating with the EU, when in fact, behind the scenes, she is negotiating with Tony Blair".

    It seems the penny has dropped. Perhaps reports from the security services have confirmed it, that Tony Blair is the real Kingpin.

    I think he is working as follows:

    1. He's controlling puppets like Chuka Umunna in Parliament to make strategic interventions. We now see this through the contacts with the treasonous David Lidington over manouvering to the ultimate goal - the rigged rerun of the referendum. He can also work through Adonis in the Lords (though I wouldn't overstate Adonis's role in this poisonous web).

    2. He's in contact with senior EU officials, probably on almost a daily basis.

    3. He is in very close contact with Macron. It is through Macron that he exerts influence at the highest levels in the EU.

    4. He is in contact with Soros - and helps direct Soros money to where it can be used most effectively.

    5. He uses his media contacts to exert influence. In this he is probably helped by Alistair Campbell. Clearly his contacts within the BBC - Lord Hall and co. are extremely useful and show in the fact that he can "access all areas", being given soft interviews of 10 minutes duration on key programmes like Today.

    I believe that by all the above means it is Tony Blair who managed to persuade the EU that (a) he can deliver a second referendum (the rigged rerun, the reuslt of which will lead to Remain) and (b) therefore they should NOT throw May a lifeline, they should let her sink.

    Furthermore, May knows it and that is why she has chosen to make a public statement against Blair...it wasn't just about his media interviews. Though she can't say it, because to say it would be to tells us how our own "Deep State" works, she knows about his behind-the-scenes manipulation and that is why she has spoken out.

    I should have added he has had huge influence via the Civil Services as well, via people like Gus O'Donnell who have explicitly followed Blair's lead.

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    1. I have always sensed that the Remain lobby including the BBC consider themselves 'above' party politics, and by extension 'above' Government and Parliamentary Democracy. That's why Blair and his backers are so dangerous. By seeking to divert the course of democracy they are insulting the 17.4 million Leave voters - and I guess a good number of Remain voters who believe in democracy too.

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    2. Yes. Perhaps one of the reasons why the iron has, belatedly, entered May's vestigial soul is that she has just realised whom the 'no prosecution of former EU employees' clause might be intended to protect.

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  2. If you are a Leaver what can you do? Well, one thing is contact your MP - especially if you suspect they might be a waiverer on the Referendum issue.

    Second, if you comment on other sites, I suggest you don't use the "Second Referendum" title - you're obviously not going to call it "The People's Vote". Refer to its as "The Rigged Rerun". Remember - the question will be rigged, the franchise will be rigged and the media will be rigged (BBC will be let loose and Mail/Express will now not back Leave).

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    1. I did that, and it appears that Liz Saville-Roberts is no waiverer on a second referendum and she "would encourage you to support this campaign and when it is time to vote, if it comes, for you to campaign to stay.".

      The final sentence in her email was "Thank you for making your views known to me and I assure you I will continue to do my utmost to ensure that we don’t leave the European Union.".

      Ah yes, dear old democracy ... we won't be needing that any more.

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    2. I don't think she's got the hang of this democracy idea yet. There would no point in my case of writing to my EU-loving Lib Dem MP in this 62% pro-remain (in the referendum) constituency. He's like Osborne with a yellow badge.
      May's disastrous election did for the Conservative who'd only just got in in 2015 after 18 years of Lib Dem. The new boy was for Remain too but at least he was balanced about it and took the trouble to explain his reasoning for his stance.

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  3. Thank you. Good to see Craig back and a new Open thread.

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  4. It seems there are sinister forces at work here, we seem to have two prime-ministers, May the elected one, and Blair the self appointed one.
    In any other democracy outside the EU this would not be allowed, Blair should be arrested for his own safety.

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    1. I believe some of Blair's actions would constitute illegal acts in the USA, essentially seeking to undermine the state's foreign policy through covert contacts. It's quite clear this is what upsetting May, not a couple of media interviews.

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    2. It's outrageous the way Blair is carrying on as if he is in charge but what about the legality of the BBC's actions in facilitating and promoting his political subversion? He has no more legitimacy, position or importance than any other unelected person in the country to be given the Today 8 10 am political slot to undermine elected government ministers / MPs. What does Ofcom have to say?

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  5. I used to be an avid listener to Radio 4 plays but in recent years they've become so bad, agenda-laden etc that I have completely stopped listening. So yesterday at the end of Any Answers? I turned off the radio without waiting to hear what the play was, only to discover later on that it was The Importance of Being Earnest. Drat. And now today I see they have had another Wilde play on. More drat. Still, I suppose they'd contrive some way to ruin a couple of classics that I would have enjoyed.

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    1. I wonder if their audience numbers have been going down a hole and that is why they are using a bit of Wildean theatrics to tempt us back. I am v. much like you...don't listen to Radio 4 half as much as I used to...it's so regularly, disappointingly ideological now and all in one direction of course.

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    2. Not bias, (I think), but I'm struggling to make sense of "Turbulence" on Radio 4, a series of short stories that appear to have no endings. The continuity announcer tells me that they are 'haunting', why I have no idea.

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    3. Seems likely. I don't think they want me to listen to or watch their programmes but the people they do seem to want (presumably young) may be less likely to listen to plays on Radio 4, so if the core audience switches off, who's left?

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    4. I found an explanation here about Turbulence:
      'Twelve travellers circumnavigate the globe en route to see lovers, children, parents, or nobody at all. From London to Madrid, Dakar to Sao Paolo, Seattle to Hong Kong, and beyond, these are stories of lives in turmoil, each in some way touching the next.'

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000r79

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    5. I.e. more globalist propaganda

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  6. The Week Ahead with BBC News:

    1. May is no longer brave, stoic and resilient. She is now intransigent, stubborn and a roadblock to progress, since she decided to resist a "rigged re-run" of the Referendum.

    2. The second referendum is the only way forward but we are not going to discuss what the question will be...for the moment.

    3. We have signed up to the UN Migration Pact (it's safe to do so now you can do nothing about it - sorry we had to maintain radio silence up to now, but you know what it's like).

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  7. Someone asked for a link to Peter Lilley's Sky News interview where he talked about the preparations the EU had made to ease potential problems associated with a no-deal Brexit. Came across it on You Tube:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLHwyIgHMR4

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  8. No programme and no corner of the realm is safe from the BBC's 'race' obsession. This time it's Farming Today, where 'a country vet challenges racism'. https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl7j

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    1. BBC R4 “sports news” is always about race or gender

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    2. Sunday's Countryfile found the only three 'blacks' in the Scottish highlands, (two of them presenters), discussing the lost words of 'our' language. Bias by exception - "How the one-legged, transgendered Muslim lesbian won the Great War and other atypical stories".

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    3. They used to have a programme set on Mull, I think it was, with black characters. Maybe a children's programme. I can't remember the details now.

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    4. Ah yes, the 'colourful' Balamory - and that was just the houses.

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  9. ACROSS THE BBC

    On the midday BBC News TV Channel was a full ten minute interview with Amber's bro Roland, the head of a London PR firm and a 'People's Vote' spokesman. He explained to us that to have voted Leave was 'a fantasy'.

    A short while later, on BBC Radio2 Jeremy Vine covered the same topic. We heard from IDS on the 'Leave means Leave' tack. Vine then interviewed a Guardian Journalist (I didn't catch his name) who used the words 'a Leave vote was fantastical'. Vine also mentioned that 'Leave' voices at this stage were from 'just a group of disgruntled OAPs'. I believe many of his listeners might object to this description.

    Vine also made out that 'Leave' supporters might riot in the streets if there were a second referendum. He then took two calls - one from a well-spoken Yorkshireman (I don't know why he needed to be referred to as a Yorkshireman) who supported the People's Vote, and also from an outspoken Leaver who said he was prepared to riot - in fact he had his body-armour ready.

    To cap it all, Vine then said words to the effect that: 'The Prime Minister has ruled out a second referendum - but that probably means that it will happen'.

    There must be a level of coordinated initiatives across the BBC in support of the People's Vote. This is a disgrace.

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    1. There a link here to information about Open Britain, which has become the People's Vote, and its structure:

      http://www.dailyglobe.co.uk/comment/who-is-paying-for-remain-and-peoples-vote-the-european-movement-open-britain-ltd-and-best-for-britain/

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    2. IDS broadcasting via a piece of damp string and the journalist sounding as if he was in Vine's studio.

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  10. If Turbulence doesn't do it and Blair is not your cup of tea, look who's turned up to help Purnell out. Well, if it isn't Wee Dougie to guide us to 'Tomorrow's Stories':
    'What is required to create a society based on a shared sense of belonging? Former Cabinet minister Douglas Alexander explores the power of stories - in politics and in fiction - to bind diverse communities together. He asks what a new national story might look like and what might stand in the way of its telling. Does the huge array of media outlets mean a shared story is difficult to hear? Are our politicians up for the task? And if we don't reduce inequality will any story - no matter how compelling - fall on deaf ears?'

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001l7h

    That he's ex-Labour, the BBC conveniently omitted to mention.

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  11. If you were a responsible public broadcaster, who would you get in to produce a series on identity entitled "Belonging" (Radio 4)?

    Well I wouldn't get in a senior member of a former government that wrongly assumed migration from Eastern Europe would be 14,000 when it turned into millions...or that encouraged mass immigration as a way of "rubbing the noses" of its political opponents in the reality of a transformation of identity... or someone whose (Scottish) identity has been privileged in the modern UK over and above other identities.

    But the BBC in its wisdom chose the underachiever Douglas Alexander to present a rehash of the usual BBC PC mush:

    - Migration good, English nationalism bad.

    - Narratives can heal.

    - All religions are good and of equal value.

    The emphasis on the importance of narrative in creating healthy identities that frame our experience was ironic given the BBC has spent the last 75 years belittling, satirising and undermining "our island story" in a thousand and one ways, while treating demonstrably false religious and imported narratives as above even the mildest criticism.

    And so it goes on...we carry on with our insane mass immigration policy, our insane population growth, our insane disregard of the popular will, our insane negation of real identity, our insane lie-pie politics.

    It can't carry on forever. It won't. It will end in tears.

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    1. Of course the tears are already here. Just not reported by the BBC.

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    2. An apocalyptic Brexit is just what we need!
      Planes falling from the skies, vegetables rotting on the dockside, patients in pain!
      The Blitz Spirit! A common narrative bringing us all together!

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  12. HUW EDWARDS:

    And now, over the channel, events are going from bad to worse...

    General Antoine Martinez has written a letter signed by ten other generals, an admiral and colonel, and also the former French Minister of Defense Charles Millon accusing President Macron of treason for signing the UN migration pact without reference to France's representative Assembly.

    ...well of course you won't hear Huw Edwards intone those words. In fact I can't find any reference to this startling development anywhere on the BBC website. The website does though have time to report on a small left wing demonstration in Hungary.

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  13. Who is the very model of the modern commentator?

    Why, according to the BBC it's Rachel Sylvester. She's either on Newsnight or gets a mention it seems every single night.

    I find her one of the most unthinking, unreflective, simple-minded opponents of democracy among our commentariat, but to be fair there is a lot of stiff competition in those departments.

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  14. If any prompting is necessary to encourage the ground-swell of those in favour of a No Deal Brexit, then just take a look at Guido's story about Juncker. Who in the UK might want to give £39bn to maintain this half-soaked EU organisation?

    https://order-order.com/2018/12/18/junckers-jolly-dinner/#disqus_thread

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  15. Tonight's Sky's Press Preview turning into a Newsnight-type programme with Jenny Kleeman going on a rant about leaving the EU - self harm - hogging the discussion, interrupting Brendan O'Neill when he does get a chance to speak, only to have Anna Botting join in to do the same so it turns into a two against one barrage of rabbit rabbit, interrupt interrupt... She is supposed to be facilitating discussion, not becoming the discussion. So bl.... annoying. That's the worst Press Preview I've ever seen from a presenter. I wonder if it will be any different on the next go at 11 30.

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    1. It was. She was even worse than at 10.30.

      I'm not sure O'Neill was actually able to complete a single sentence during the first segment without Botting interrupting, or talking over him.

      Extraordinary.

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    2. Odd - because Botting often comes across as "off message" re Brexit and PC politics in general. But then {WARNING TO SNOWFLAKES - YOU ARE ABOUT TO HIT THE REALITY BUFFERS!] Otherwise pleasant and attractive women can behave quite unpleasantly to men who fall short of the standard(s) in their view!

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    3. When they came back at 11 30 the order was reversed so Brendan O'Neill went first instead of Jenny Kleeman who'd kicked off the earlier round and ran away with it. Someone must have had a word, or they'd watched themselves back and cringed. This time she had much less of the airtime overall and was quieter in manner and he got to say his piece but for a flurry of short questions, interruptions and mini jabs from Botting, rather than full-blown rants. 'Why?' was the type of interrupting question but it seemed to me to be in the cause of challenging rather than elucidating.

      It is odd because I've never seen her get into the middle of a discussion before. She usually adopts a light-hearted demeanour, takes it off topic with irrelevant remarks, cackles and lets the discussion degenerate into everyone talking and laughing at once so it all becomes unintelligible.

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  16. This is a new one from the BBC, I think.

    ‘in case the UK crashes out of the EU without a plan.’

    They have long used ‘crashing out’ as part of project fear, but using’ without a plan’ Is a new low even by their biased standards.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46617152?
    .

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    1. Don't know how the BBC a reporting it but the EU is obviously making plans to avoid air chaos, expat issues or crazy queues at ports, according to ITV News. They put a bit of a pro-EU spin on it but this is hugely good news for a real Brexit.

      In other words, the EU is going to do everything to avoid the things that Hammond, Carney, Soubry, BBC Reality Check and all the other lying Project Fear mongers claim are definitely going to happen.

      Or to put it another way: Lilley, Mogg and Johnson were and are all correct in their predictions while the BBC are purveyors of Fake News.

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    2. Sir Topham - You're quite right! The BBC are using this propaganda line tonight about "The European Commission says it has started to implement its preparations for a no-deal Brexit - in case the UK leaves the EU without a plan." This is Fake News. We would never leave the EU "without a plan". The government has already published hundreds of pages of planning on what will happen in the event of a no deal scenario.

      The BBC is deliberately sowing confusion by trying to equate "no deal" with "no plan". Totally, totally Fake News. You can have a plan without a deal. More to the point, you can have a deal without a plan, which is a pretty good description of May's deal - we pay nearly £40 billion but have no idea what our trading arrangements will be...that's hardly a plan is it?

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  17. Corbynstupidwomangate:

    Corbyn says "people" rather a lot. In fact I doubt a PM questions goes by without at least a couple of references. So it should be a fairly simple thing to put two clips side by side in slow motion - the one where we know he said people and the one where most people think he said woman, and see what his lips look like they are doing.

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    1. Ben Elton used his guest slot on Chris Evans this morning to attack ‘the Tories’, defend Corbyn, promote socialism and mock populism whilst trying to offer up the pretence of balance. Evans laughed along.
      Left wing ‘comics’ are so predictable - they are convinced that shameless political point scoring and virtue signalling is comedy.

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    3. And they also wish to ensure they continue to be employed by the BBC - much like that seeming, sometime, satirist, Ian Hislop!

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    4. Arne - Full marks to Ben...able to do all that, posing as a left wing pro-green progressive, while a multi-millionaire and extremely frequent flyer.

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  18. The Dull-o-meter was stuck on "VERY BORING" for the entirety of the Newsnight panel's discussion of the year's events.

    The panel had clearly been chosen for its political correctness.

    An Irish citizen female comedian who said nothing funny or even mildly amusing or even faintly amusing (laughing at your own alleged jokes doesn't count by the way).

    A pop star whose career is over, but who fortunately has the right skin tone which means the predictable blandness of his comments is not a problem.

    An earnest white guy straight from Guardian central casting consumed with guilt about this that and the other (while still not able to restrain himself from dominating the conversation Alpha Male style).

    Another woman who might have been American, who was also of the correct skin tone. I wasn't quite sure what her purpose was, but I'm guessing she might be the statutory Trump-basher.

    The panel was bad enough but so were the PC-choice "events" which added to the overall dullness of the discussion. Even Steven Smith's voice-over didn't sound like he had his heart in it.

    I don't think the panel disagreed about anything really. They certainly didn't say anything interesting or illuminating. But they all looked pretty pleased with themselves, like a troop of performing seals applauding their own tricks.

    The only thing that rose above the average was Emily's hemline (I think the boredom I went through allows me that sexist comment).

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    1. And the five hot topics were Justice Kavanaugh and sexism, the campaign against plastic bags, Meghan and racism, one of the Kardashian sisters saying something negative about a social media platform, and football and racism.

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    2. Craig - did you have to remind me how very crushingly boring the agenda was?

      I would have chosen:

      - Trump's incredible economic success.

      - The many proven bogus claims of climate scientists.

      - The under-representation of Chinese people, East Europeans, Glaswegians and Brummies in UK TV advertising.

      - Jordan Peterson wiping the floor with various lightweight media critics.

      - Racism in Han-ruled China.

      Would have made for much livelier debate. :)

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    3. I'll have to find the exact quote, but the funny thing was that Emily introduced those topics as being the kind of things we wouldn't expect Newsnight to consider the big stories of the year. But she couldn't have been more wrong. They're EXACTLY the kind of topics I'd expect 'Newsnight' to choose. It's staggering how un-self-aware they are!

      If YOUR choice of subjects came up I'd die of shock (but die happy)!

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  19. The report of EU no-deal arrangements in BBC ten o'clock was almost hysterically asserting "this is only being done in the interests of the EU, no-one else". So continuity of trade and travel between the UK and the EU is in their interests as much as ours ? One might almost imagine that the rapid negotiation of trade and access agreements post a "no-deal" WTO brexit might be something of a priority for the EU.

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    1. Marianne - Yes, no doubt it will be a priority for the EU - if ever the UK Government signals that it is serious about a WTO Brexit.

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    2. We are seeing the truth emerge now...we never were going to go over the "cliff edge" as the Remainiacs liked (and still like) to insist. A modicum of common sense was always going to prevail. There is nothing to fear from a no-deal scenario.

      In a no-deal scenario the money we haven't paid over yet becomes a powerful bargaining card.

      The only problem we have is that we have a Prime Minister determined to press on with the "Abject Surrender" alleged "deal" which she hopes to see through on Labour votes or possibly risk splitting her party in two by resorting to a General Election.

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  20. MB - Re:'Corbynstupidwomangate' - A Member of Parliament tells the truth in the House of Commons and all hell breaks loose. Funny old world, isn't it.

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    1. He told a lie in the House. That's no surprise. He's a Tricky Dicky. If there was anything straight about him, he would have put his hand up and apologised for a muttered insult. But it's not in him. He not only showed himself up by lying in the face of the obvious but also those fellow party members whose stock in trade is moral superiority, 'outrage' over wrong words and accusing others including 'evil Tories' of isms but have lined up to corroborate or defend it.

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    2. Not the first time has Corbyn tried to lie his way out of trouble. I do wonder if Labour have kept him away from the media in recent times for fear that he might make a fool of himself. Most of his efforts in PMQ, despite the shoutiness consist of reading out quotes from other people.

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    3. Terry- I agree, the video evidence clearly supports claims that Corbyn said 'woman', rather than 'people'. My, tongue-in-cheek, point was that Corbyn was, nonetheless, right: May is, indeed, stupid - how else can one describe someone who ignored the Attorney General's advice on the backstop and persisted in trying to railroad her 'deal' through when the arithmetic clearly showed that it was doomed?

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    4. I think that's why they keep sending out ol' smooth tongued (slithery or silky he's been called before} Barry Gardner to represent the party and argue its case.

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  21. That Maugham barrister who had a twitter exchange with Burley some months ago has had another more recently, this time about an allegation the QC has made about the BBC re coverage of Corbyn - a rather bizarre one, hinting at some senior news journalist with some control. Hm.
    I've just picked it up on looking at something in the Evening Standard of 12 Dec. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/the-londoner-bbc-s-flat-denial-of-qcs-jeremy-corbyn-bias-allegations-a4015411.html#comments

    Maugham is a very persistent character and a fanatical remain campaigner who brought that Scottish case to the CJEU over ability to revoke Article 50. “My interest in the BBC is a governance interest. The BBC’s dominance of news in the UK is such that it is vitally important it acts properly and not as the state’s broadcaster.”

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  22. Onto the Festive Fifty forms of BBC bias, I proposed at 50 Plus:

    Bias by Reiteration of Earlier Bias. See this BBC Article from today:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46641106

    'Boris Johnson 'cleared of breaking Tory rules' over burka comments'

    Firstly, why does ... 'cleared of breaking Tory rules' over burka comments'... have inverted comas? Because the BBC wish to distance themselves from the fact.

    Throughout the article, all the reporting of what BJ said is rehashed, and he remains in the dock - guilty in the eyes of the BBC of a breach of their own PC Ideology. Why waste a chance to twist the knife a little more regardless of the context of the BJ being cleared.

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    1. Ah yes...the taxonomy of bias - such rich and fertile ground for debate.

      It could be said to be a hybrid of "3. Bias by Perpetuity" and "7. Bias by Misrepresentation" (misrepresenting BJ's opinions. But on the other hand you might have spotted a new species out on the wilds of the BBC Savannah! :)

      Reminds me, I don't think the Festive Fifty includes bias by quotation marks.

      Maybe we can aim for the Hot One Hundred next year.

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    2. MB - quotes, ‘quotes’ and “quotes” are a bbc fave, and this morning on twitter alone was a bumper crop, often with no context or clue as to who is being quoted.

      Plus of course #bbcquestionasaheadline in combination, which allows them to get up in lights pretty much anything that serves.

      I think I once submitted an FOI on #bbcdditorialguidance on quotes but it came back as another ‘secret’ (see what I did there?). Must check.

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    3. This reiteration allows in the course of time for the emergence of a suitable tagline to follow - such as 'Tommy R Founder of the ...', which will accompany any reference to the target, where a broader tag such as, in BJ's case 'far-right', is not sufficiently personalised so as to cause lasting damage to the intended target.

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    4. Also at the head of this ... Boris Johnson 'cleared ... article is a photo of him against a black background looking imperious and threatening with a false perspective created from an unnecessarily low camera angle angle. All part of the continuing attack upon him by the BBC.

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    5. On Sky Press Review last night Sonia Sodha had a rant at Toby Young when he attempted to comment about Boris Johnson's remarks (context of humour etc), with much use of 'phobia'. That topic wasn't repeated when they resumed at 11 30 but she had another rant anyway, about homelessness and housing, grabbing the last word, as well as the first of both sessions and almost everything in between. He looked subdued, hunched, with head down and quiet for most of the sessions.

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    6. Yes, 'quotes' and "quotes" and then there are the times they choose not to quote, even though it would be very easy to do so, and prefer to paraphrase
      (inaccurately in order to advance the PC agenda).

      There's also Bias by Question Mark which has been mentioned here quite a lot recently when they are too scared to make a proposal themselves - so it's "Should all men be neutered?" rather than "We at the BBC think all men should be neutered because that obs would be a good idea."

      I think the Festive Fifty does need expanding next year!

      Quotes bias is quite interesting because it can be used to both distance the BBC from something ('Jihadi', 'terrorist'), helping to sow a little doubt in the mind or it can be used to add authority: Trump is "asleep at the wheel" - it's just some disgruntled ex-employee's opinion, but applying the quote marks gives it added authority as though quoting from an official report.

      One thing I have yet to understand - is there a difference in the way they use single and double quote marks?

      Other candidates

      Bias by Obituary...who is honoured on Radio 4's Last Word is very biased. They completely ignored Robert Conquest who wrote the first comprehensive account of Stalin's terror.

      Bias by Gender - deliberate engineering of all female panels for this, that and the other.

      Bias by Racialisation - The BBC has recently taken to some v. extreme racialisation of a wide range of topics.

      Many more species of bias yet to be identified, I'm sure.

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    7. You'll soon have a Heinz if you haven't already. Is there a broad Bias by Selection category, which could be selection for panels, obituaries, discussion topics, presenters, books, plays, poets, academics, posts in BBC management etc?

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    8. Ha. The BBC's now changed the headline to remove the quotation marks. Newssniffer shows it was....

      Boris Johnson 'cleared of breaking Tory rules' over burka comments

      ....for nearly nine hours. Now (late this afternoon) they changed it to:

      Boris Johnson cleared of breaking Tory rules over burka comments

      https://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/1717477/diff/1/2

      Maybe someone at the BBC has been reading us!

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  23. Did anyone hear the younger Dimbo on Today doing his trailer for Any Questions? Introducing the panel for tonight he described Jacob-Rees Mogg as 'the Militant Tendency' (of Leave or Brexit) and for Joanna Cherry the phrase was along the lines of *the remain at all costs* panel member.

    This demonstrates a quite stark difference of characterisation by language that betrays the deep bias of the BBC against the referendum result. Here, he is portrayed as the extreme upstart wanting to disrupt and overthrow, whereas it is the exact opposite in reality; she is the one who is kicking off, wanting to deny, disrupt and overthrow the referendum result, along with her extreme campaigning fellow Militant, Jolyon Maugham and sundry others of that Tendency.

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    1. The full thing:

      "An airport shuts down; more homeless die; Trump drops another bombshell; Putin backs Brexit; Theresa May turns pantomime dame; Jeremy Corbyn provides rich pickings for lip-readers; cabinet ministers are openly at odds with each other but reassure us that troops will be on standby if needed. So a festive mood for our last programme of the year with Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of Brexit's militant tendency; Joanna Cherry for the 'don't leave at any price' SNP; Shami Chakrabarti speaking for Labour's 'we have yet to decide' option; and former president of the CBI now chair of London First Paul Drechsler who would just like some certainty please. This evening at 8 o'clock".

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    2. Quotegate!

      Delete
  24. Quotation marks in the BBC's Guide:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133530

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  25. Hilarious, must-see:

    Scotsman reports Nicola Sturgeon for hate crime:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7PkypO-QcE

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    Replies
    1. That's very funny, and pointed.

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    2. Indeed, true satire as not seen on the BBC.

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  26. During an unguarded moment last evening I heard Chris Evans on The One Show telling us about his move away from Radio2 and the BBC to Virgin Radio where he will present a morning show between 7.00 and 10.00 am. His important news was that there won't be any adverts during the show.

    He went on to say that his airtime will in fact be sponsored by suitable cooperative commercial enterprises. The example he gave was F1, with coverage and broadcast rights from Sky Sports, where guests from the sport could be interviewed in order that his listeners could have access to the latest exclusive news stories.

    To me this sounded like a step away from independence by Virgin Radio as their content from a willing Evans becomes controlled by powerful organisations such as Sky. Others sponsors such as Netflix, Amazon etc are probably being lined up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ads, sponsors, mates...take your choice. The BBC operates on a mates-basis which is the worst of all because it's not declared. Evan Davis isn't going to mention that he's been offered a speaking engagement by the Resolution Foundation or the Joseph Rowntree Trust on air is he? But we see a definite web of influence in and around the BBC.

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    2. With the likes of Roland Rudd, a vociferous Remainer at the head of WPP in a position to place advertising and sponsorship to commercial TV radio and newspapers, the threat is always there that independence will be lost to on-message presenters, editors and TV producers.

      Evans is playing into the hands of the globalist.

      Delete
  27. The name Rudd seems familiar, and as we speak crops up with a tweet that was deleted, for some reason.

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  28. Anon - Thank you. Interesting. But a bit like most things BBC, they seem to enjoy exemptions from their own guidelines.

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  29. An article about hate crime or 'hate' crime or maybe even 'crime' by BBC Three and BBC data team - whatever that is; is it connected to the reality check team? - has brought accusations on mumsnet of bias in its selection of highlighted cases and misleading bar charts of hate crime against trans and sexuality.

    I couldn't help a wicked laugh at the UK map showing where the most hate crimes are.

    https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3456866-More-unbiased-reporting-from-the-BBC-about-lgbTq-hate-crimes

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  30. I was pleasantly surprised to see "Goodness Gracious Me" Christmas special from 1998 repeated on BBC2 tonight, how this ever got past the PC censor I can't imagine.
    A genuinely funny comedy from a mostly Asian cast, with no agenda, narrative or virtue signalling. Just jokes and take it or leave it humor. We'll never see the like of it again on the BBC, or anywhere.

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  31. Has Police Scotland dispatched a squad yet, and alerted BBC Airborne?

    (As this could end up anywhere, it refers to the Hate Crime vid)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the hate crime map shows the entirety of Scotland as a red zone of hate.

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  32. There is some irony that the Gatwick fuzz are desperately backtracking and trying to blame 'the media' over whirlybird owners. Or not. And using the BBC to do it, who are desperately trying to claim they are not 'the media'. Mess with a Beeboid heading to the slopes at your peril.

    ReplyDelete

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