Mark Easton does it again

Bias on the rocks

There's a discussion on the Open Thread about a Mark Easton report on Thursday evening's BBC One News at Ten, launched by this comment:

Anonymous14 November 2019 at 22:15 

A new angle from Mark Easton tonight. There is not enough immigration. Lowestoft's most vulnerable residents are at risk because they can’t get enough migrants to do jobs in public services. In the middle of the report they hastily inserted a clip intended to embarrass Priti Patel. It ended with a sympathetic Jeremy Corbyn asking for a decent and fair system where public services can be properly resourced (with immigrants?). Blatant bias, editing and manipulation on this report and very clear where the BBC sit with immigration and which party they support

Mark Easton's track record of bias, especially on the subject of immigration, has been highlighted so many times on this blog, and this week's report is just another in a long line of such biased, manipulative reports. 

As noted in the above comment, many of Mark's favourite tricks were there: 

First, Mark builds his pro-immigration argument with detailed 'facts and figures'. Then he reinforces it with an articulate, sympathetic 'talking head'. And then he goes back to building his pro-immigration argument. 

Next, he introduces a chronically edited interview with Priti Patel, the severe editing of which makes her look both evasive and stupid. He pre-prepares his viewers by telling them that she "couldn't say whether it should go down or up" and added a rising, incredulous inflection to his tone of voice while doing so. 

(The editing here makes that Conservative video showing Keir Starmer being silent in response to a question when he'd actually answered straight away look honest and agenda-free in comparison). 

Then we get the 'other side' of the argument. Or rather we don't. He just doesn't bother even trying to make it. Where are the detailed 'facts and figures' showing the impact of immigration on schools, housing, the NHS, etc? And instead of an articulate, sympathetic 'talking head', who do we get instead? Yes, three not-so-articulate vox pops speaking their minds. 

Finally, after rubbishing Priti Patel and the Conservatives earlier, Mark gives us a quick, uncritical run-through of the positions of three other UK parties - Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, before ending with a banal parting observation. 

It really is classic Mark Easton.

Here's a transcript:

Newsreader: The Conservatives say they will seek to control immigration by introducing a points based system that would be firm but fair - if they win the election. But the Home Secretary Priti Patel did not set a specific target for reducing overall numbers. The Prime Minister said immigration could come down in some sectors but he didn't want the UK to be closed to the rest of the world. Here's our Home Editor Mark Easton. 

Mark Easton: People have called Lowestoft home since the Stone Age. Its name from the Old Norse means 'homestead', but not enough people want to come and live here these days. If Lowestoft has an immigration problem, it's not that there are too many migrants coming to the town, but too few. The national immigration figures explain the problem. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016 net migration into the UK has fallen. Still historically high, but down 20%. Within that change is a more dramatic shift. Net migration from outside the EU has gone up 21%. But from inside the European Union it's down by more than two thirds in just three years. That huge fall in overall EU migration to the UK has seen some sectors that have relied on European workers struggling to adapt. In this part of the world, that's led to insurmountable recruitment problems. As chief executive of a community trust in Lowestoft, Emma Ratzer knows how desperate staff shortages can be for the town's most vulnerable citizens. 

Emma Ratzer, Access Community Trust: We don't have much immigration out here, which will be, you know, good news to hear for lots of people, but, actually in terms of finding people to fill social worker posts, GP posts, teaching jobs, it's actually a real problem for us. 

Health is a significant concern. There have been moves to bring in GPs from abroad. Care homes are closing, there aren't enough willing people locally to fill the vacancies. And it's that problem that lies behind confusion today as to what a Conservative government would do about immigration. A statement from party headquarters this morning quoted the Home Secretary saying "We will reduce immigration overall" but by this afternoon she couldn't say whether it should go down or up. 

Priti Patel, Home Secretary: The Conservative Party wants to control immigration. (edit) Interviewer: I'll ask again, do you want immigration to go up or down? Priti Patel: Well, we'll be controlling immigration, and that...Interviewer: (interrupting) Does that mean it goes down? Priti Patel: Well, we'll be able to control immigration numbers... (edit) 
Interviewer: Do you want to reduce the numbers of immigrants that come to this country? Priti Patel: We want immigration that is fair... (edit) 
Interviewer: The suggestion is you want to lower immigration, is that right? Priti Patel: We will be able to control who comes to our country, and also the reasons as to why people are coming here. 

In Middlesbrough on Teesside, one can find the other side of the argument, that migrants put extra pressure on public services. Local children recently couldn't access school places in the town because of unexpected foreign arrivals. 

Female vox pop: Well, I think they do need to bring down the population. We haven't got enough spaces. Male vox pop 1: I just think money's concentrated, and stuff like that. I think it becomes an impact on the fabric of the town. Male vox pop 2: All the parties give you all the spiel, what they are going to do, what they are not going to do, and then at the end of the day you don't see any difference with any of them. 

It's the different experiences of places like Middlesbrough and Lowestoft that explain why the parties won't be clear about immigration. Labour's talked of extending free movement, the Liberal Democrats want a system that works for the economy, and the SNP wants more immigration for Scotland. But in truth, Britain still doesn't know what controlling our borders should look like. Mark Easton, BBC News, Lowestoft.