Conversations

I

Peter Hitchens: The BBC has no right to meddle in this crude cheap way with Charles Dickens's 'Christmas Carol': "The BBC plans to rewrite Charles Dickens tonight, complete with the f-word and a scene showing a character urinating on a grave. It has no right to do so."  

David: No doubt done deliberately to get media backlash & increase audience figures.

Peter Hitchens: I’m not sure this is true about the ‘backlash’. Though yes, it is about numbers. The BBC genuinely think the ‘Peaky Blinders’ appproach to the past is a good one. This mad incomprehensible rubbish gets good ratings. 

II

BBC One: We are thrilled to announce that Stormzy will be bringing Christmas Day to a close this year on BBC One, telling the story of the first ever Christmas with a reading from Luke’s Gospel. On Christmas Night.

Allison Pearson: This is the man who just said the UK is “100% racist”. And he’s allowed to read the CHRISTMAS STORY on the BBC funded by the licence payer. The very people who are 100% racist? A new low for public broadcasting. #bbc

III

Iain Dale: Somewhat appalled by the idiots piling in on Owen Jones for no apparent reason other than he is Owen Jones. Grow the f**k up, He has as much right to a voice as anyone. #whycantwealljustgetalong. #ItsChristmasFFS. #SolidarityWithOwenJones.

Andrew Neil: Agreed. Even though he has run a campaign to shut me down.

Laurence Fox: Owen Jones has sought to divide people at every opportunity. I am enormously encouraged that his narrative has been so roundly rejected by the electorate. Do I feel that mocking him furthers the cause of reason? Not really, but you live in the sun and you die in the sun. X 

IV

Dr Paul Stott: If there's one thing the British are rubbish at, it's racism. After Stormzy's dad did a runner, our welfare state helped bring him up. It may not have been perfect, but it was better than what was on offer in Ghana. As a celebrity, we invite him to our schools, where he tells the next generation our society is 100% racist. Our national broadcaster (presumably funded by 100% racists) gives him a platform on the most important day of the year. Although he does not realise it, half the world would swap places with Stormzy in a shot, if they could. If there's one thing we need to hear from this young man in 2020, it is surely thank you Great Britain.

V

Michael Swadling: Are they finally starting to get it? “THE BBC is looking at restricting its journalists use of Twitter, following the waves of online criticism...It comes as Channel 4 reportedly have told non-political staff not to tweet about current affairs”.

Suzanne Evans: Ludicrous idea. Twitter is now my primary source for news and I want to read what journalists are reporting here. Shoving them off social media isn’t the answer - reinforcing principles of objectivity, factual reporting and ensuring sources are checked, is.

VI

Bruce Lawson: BBC Editorial meeting: “So who are we going to get to close Christmas Day by reading from the Bible? How about a misogynist, homophobic millionaire who thinks our country is 100% racist and shouts “f*ck Boris, f*ck the government” at every opportunity? Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

A one-off

I read a discussion this morning on Twitter re the London Bridge terrorist attack:

Ben Cobley: I wonder how the Guardian's columnists are going to deal with this. Almost everything about it fails to fit their daily narrative. My prediction - they will focus on attacking the right for how it reacts. Also they will no doubt start ordering us to not use language that might help describe events accurately - notably linking 'Islamic' with 'terrorism' as Newsnight did last night. Anyone who does this will be accused of fomenting hate against Muslims and aiding the far right.

Dr Paul Stott: We will see what I call the pivot response to terrorism. After reporting, blandly, what has happened, they will pivot coverage to what they will really want to talk about - the right's reaction, 'Islamophobia,' Tommy Robinson etc etc

That reference to Newsnight linking 'Islamic' with 'terrorism' sounded so unlikely that I checked, and (as I should guessed) it came from Newsnight's excellent Richard Watson - probably the only BBC journalist who dares to use the phrase 'Islamic terrorism' without surrounding it with audible quotation marks:

In the last hour, the press Association has reported the suspect was known to the authorities and had connections to Islamic terrorism. 

"Londonistan"

Here's an interesting thread from Dr Paul Stott from the Henry Jackson Society in response to a tweet from the Muslim Council of Britain's Miqdaad Versi:

• Miqdaad Versi: Seems like not a single Conservative MP (/gvt/potential PM candidates) has spoken out after the Trump quote-tweeting Katie Hopkins using the Islamophobic term "Londonistan" & attacking Sadiq Khan. Many say I should expect this. Yet I am so hurt & disappointed.
• Dr Paul Stott: The tweet below from the Muslim Council of Britain's Witchsmeller Pursuivant adds the term 'Londonistan' to the never ending list of things which are 'Islamophobic'. This thread unpacks what is happening here.
• The term 'Londonistan' originates in the 1990s. Foreign intelligence agencies were staggered that the UK were allowing so many Islamists and jihadists to settle here, and we were seemingly disinterested when the dangers were pointed out.
• The countries angered at the UK included liberal democracies such as France and Belgium, Arab dictatorships in Algeria and Egypt, and countries somewhere in between - notably Russia. France in particular used the word, amazed at the Franco-Algerian jihadists organising here.
• Many Islamists also delighted in Londonistan - Gilles Kepel found Abu Hamza, at the peak of his powers in Finsbury Park mosque, using the term with glee. It took until after 9/11 before the Franco-Algerians were taken seriously, and a few yrs after that before Abu Hamza was.
• In many ways the global jihad starts, not in Islamabad or Kabul, but in London, as Bin Laden's supporters from the Saudi religious awakening faxed out his declarations of jihad from the capital. The rest is history.
• And what was the Muslim Council of Britain doing? In my PhD, I went through their press releases in the pre-9/11 era. They were doing what they do now - complaining about language used to describe terrorism, declaring racism & lobbying newspapers and gov't to use different words.
• The MCB were superbly placed to have opposed Londonistan themselves, but instead declared it ridiculous to believe jihad could be declared by fax. One global war on terror later, Miqdaad and co have succeeded only in turning up their own volume.
• Newspaper editors should be wary of Katie Hopkins, a loose canon. But they should be even more wary of the Muslim Council of Britain, who seek less to fight extremism, but to censor how we may discuss it.
• Oh, and whatever else Donald Trump gets wrong, whilst others tip-toe around the issue, to have someone say clearly and openly Sadiq Khan is an awful Mayor, does us all a favour.