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Topic: BBC Election bias

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BBC Election bias

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As a lifelong socialist the complete & patently obvious bias towards the Conservative Party shown by our glorious "world class" BBC is nothing short of disgraceful during this election campaign.

A few (not all) examples;

Corbyn's report that trade talks between Tory ministers & US Pharmaceutical companies that were dismissed by the Tories & the BBC & hardly reported.

Weeks & weeks & weeks of the frankly laughable Question Time complete with top tory tottie Fiona Bruce complete with blue suit & tory plants in the audience (even in Blyth, Northumberland)

Really diligent researching by BBC foot soldiers trying to find & then interview working class Tories to fill in gaps in their propaganda.

Just yesterday BoJo was heckled during a stage managed "walkabout" in true blue Salisbury of all places but instead the BBC showed Mr Bumble pressing the flesh with a few 70 somethings who'll be dead when the full extent of decade after decade of Dickensian Tory horror is finally exposed, & they missed the best banner of the election campaign so far.

"Johnson is more dangerous to Salisbury than Novichok"

Andrew Neil letting BoJo get away with an interview grilling after pummelling the other leaders, instead letting cuddly Andrew Marr giving him a comfortable ride.

The "corporation's" chief political editor Laura Kuenssberg (see her twitter feed) who is so in love with the bumbling idiot she really ought to be a Tory election candidate.

The constant banging on about Anti Semites in the Labour Party & hardly anything about the constant & blatant racism, ****phobia, mysogeny & the Tories flagrant disregard for disabled rights & social justice.

I have cancelled my TV Licence which is no biggie for me as I'd rather watch the EFL show on Quest than MOTD anyday

Rant over...….Thoughts?



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Nick Robinson is "moderating" the BBC debate between Corbyn and Johnson tonight.
A bit like having Alex Ferguson referee a Manchester derby.

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I speak as a diehard socialist Brad. The privately owned media in this country is on the whole disgracefully biased. At it's most basic it represents the wealthy and powerful feeding an agenda to the electorate. The Mail is a truly ghastly publication. The BBC in my view is fairly even handed. The right think it is left wing biased and vice versa which probably means it is pretty fair. Sadly I dont think Corbyn is electable and the power in the party (Momentum) does him no favours. Recent Tory governments have been as bad as any in living memory and I think most people see Johnson for what he is - a pompous self-interested twerp who wouldn't know the truth if he fell over it. Yet despite all of that he is going to win with a huge majority. The Labour opposition is so weak and has got it so badly wrong on the main issue of the day (Brexit) that despite all of his obvious failings all Johnson has had to do to win is keep his head down and avoid disaster - something even he has been (just about) able to manage. It's all fairly depressing.

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I must agree to disagree but the one thing that we all should be aware of & frightened of is p48 of the Tory manifesto. Read it for yourself (it's downloadable) & work out for yourself the probable repercussions for everyone.

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A defeat on that scale to a failed government led by a morally bankrupt buffoon can't be blamed entirely on media bias Brad. The Labour Party's policies on many other key issues were spot on, but on the key issue that motivated the majority of voters they mis-read the electorate and got it very badly wrong - trying to face both ways which made them look weak and indecisive. The result was that Labour haemorrhaged votes in Leave areas. Corbyn was so keen to surround himself with like minded people that he alienated a lot of genuinely talented people in his own party and I'm afraid that he looked lost when he came under pressure. I'm not sure where they go from here, but they need someone with new and fresh ideas. I don't see an obvious candidate. The country needs a strong opposition party to hold Boris accountable. I dread to think what damage might be done in the next five years.

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Cant quite agree with you smiler that he surrounded himself with like minded people. I would suggest the contrary is nearer the mark. Tom Watson as deputy leader, hardly as socialist, Keir Starmer? wouldn't know a socialist from a frankfurter sausage. I think he tried to heal the divisions by appointing Blairites, to appease his detractors in the hope of finding a common ground, but just about all of them within a week or so, staged a walk out in a very well publicised mass resignation. The remainder sticking the knife in at every opportunity.

From the off they tried to unseat him by mounting a leadership challenge that failed. They tried to smear him with antisemitism and failed. They then went after his allies in the party like Livingstone and Williams to weaken him; then gradually turned on the screws. Surrounded by Blairites who publicly criticised and abused him which was mana from heaven for the bias media; openly boasting they would rather see the Labour Party destroyed rather than see Corbyn as Prime Minister. A very British Coup if ever there was one. Yet despite being 'unelectable' he won a landslide leadership challenge. He increased the membership to almost three quarters of a million and only just lost out on the 2017 election despite seeing the biggest increase in the Labour vote since 1945.All this against a bias media calling him a friend of IRA terrorism (untrue by the way) and the MI5 chief announcing he was a threat to national security. Strangely enough, The MI5 chief came out and said the same thing before this election too....If he was why wasn't he arrested, why did the queen appoint him as her leader of the opposition? Strange.

I see the hand of Blair behind this and through it all we are looking at the last days of the so called Labour party. Its as clear as day to me that the car crash result for Labour at this election has been carefully engineered from within the Parliamentary Labour party itself. Why else would they change tack on Brexit in the full knowledge that they were alienating millions of Labour voters. Why else would they come up with the nonsense proposals, if elected, to get a Brexit deal and then campaign against it. I dont think Corbyn has had much say in the matter. Its been obvious for some time that he was leader in name only. An 8 year old could see through it.

I resigned from the party in 1984 due to Kinnock's stance on the Miners strike. I rejoined after Corbyn became leader in the belief that we were seeing a renaisance of a traditional party dedicated to being the voice and representation of ordinary people in Parliament. I resigned again a month ago as I could not vote for the Party. The Benn surrender act was the last straw for me, and glad that the great democrat Tony Benn was not around to witness the betrayal not only of the party but of the millions of would be voters who need more than ever someone to stand up for them in Parliament.





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That's a great post Calypso. I think you make a lot of very valid points. When it comes down to it I ask myself whether a truly socialist party will ever be electable in this country again. If the answer is in the negative, would I rather have a truly socialist opposition party or a Blairite party in government? Principle or pragmatism? It's a difficult one. I've had John Mann as my MP for a few years so I've had the same dilemma at a local level for years. I agree that Corbyn doffed his cap to the right wing of the party and was treated very badly, but equally some of his loyalists who found themselves in the shadow cabinet were terribly ineffective. I dont pretend to have the answers. I have two teenage children and the future for them isnt as bright as I want it to be.

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I'm a LPM but unless we drop the 70's nationalise everything attitude we are going nowhere- too easy for the right wing media to play this back to people as a disaster. Tony Blair was the best we have had in actually having a credible plan to win. It's better to be a centre left government than a left wing opposition in my view. Boris Johnson is a joke of a man and any half coherent centre left candidate would have wiped the floor with him. Corbyn was a dream for The Mail from day one - a man who has courted controversy for 30 years comes with a lot of baggage and is an easy target. We have to return to centre left or we are in opposition forever.

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But the nationalisation of the water, gas, electricity and the railways enjoys substantial support on the street and is quite popular and one which I support. Harold Wilson's last manifesto was more radical left than the 2017 Corbyn manifesto. Smiler rightly points out that on many key issues Labours policies were spot on, and I agree entirely with that view. I still maintain that the big issue was Brexit and Labour reneged on their 2017 manifesto promise to honour the referendum result; potentially 17.4m votes down the pan in one fell swoop.

Why would intelligent people not see this? Were they more concerned with gaining Putney and Canterbury at the expense of the likes of Don Valley, Bolsover, Workington, Redcar et al. I dont believe they were that stupid. I can only reiterate what I said earlier that this was an inside job from the PLP to unseat Corbyn once and for all. Hitherto all attempts had failed and as many in the PLP had said that they would rather see the party destroyed than to see him as Prime Minister. Run a ruinous campaign, block Brexit and then let the voters finish it off. Once the dust had settled, blame Corbyn, Job done.

NY has a point tho that Corbyn had a lot of baggage which was just as juicy as can be for the media, whether it was true or not and this was exploited to great effect. I heard many people say that they were not voting for Labour while Corbyn was in charge and then began to spout the gutter press platitudes without even knowing or caring whether they were true or not. He also did screw up by having the likes of Diane Abbott messing up media interviews left right and centre. I can only admire NY's tenacity as a LPM for sticking with it, I couldn't



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It's good to have a proper thread with a series of worthwhile contributions and people weighing up what others are saying. It's a shame it has to be on the non-football side of the board.

Labour should do its homework and find out the real reasons why so many voters in its traditional heartland deserted it.  I suspect the views on this short thread are not untypical of what the 'man in the street' thinks.  I am sure its flip flop policy on Brexit was the main answer but it may not have been the whole answer.  That needs to inform where it goes from here.

 

Personally I fear a bit for the Labour Party. The rank and file wont accept a centrist leader and the public wont accept a left winger. They need someone fresh and electable to cut through it all and unite the Party. Im not sure who that someone might be.  Things move on.  Boris was the beneficiary of an extraordinary set of cir***stances but he will be a disaster and will be found out and Labour need to be well placed to be strong when he is.



-- Edited by smiler on Wednesday 18th of December 2019 06:59:47 AM

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Sadly I cannot think of anyone now within the inner sanctum of the PLP who could possibly fit the bill that you refer to smiler. Going back a few years, I had high hopes for the late John Smith, a man of honesty, integrity and I believe a genuine desire to represent and stand up for ordinary people; in this respect Corbyn does fit the bill but as NY states he is loathed in the PLP and the media. Unfortunately Smith died quite suddenly and never fulfilled that potential. Enter Tony Blair who quite frankly was never a Labour man, more of a careerist who rode on the back of Labour on his way to international stardom and multi-millionaireship; after all, his Labour Party was only an extension of Thatcherism but he did have charisma. Now I am revolted when I see that vile man's face.

Where does the Labour Party go from here? Who knows. But for me it's the insideous Blairites and others (whose name I fear to mention for fear of being labeled racist) who are the cause of the shamble in my opinion.

As an aside smiler, have you ever read A Very British Coup by Chris Mullins former Labour MP? Not a great piece of literalist fiction but a good read non the less. Written in the 1980's it tells the story of a Sheffield steel worker who, through the unions, becomes aLabour MP then quite unexpectedly gets elected as leader and Prime Minister and how the media, establishment, and the PLP move to oust him. Very prophetic when you compare the narrative to the real events around Corbyn.

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I havent read that but I will make an effort to do so. I have had it recommended more than once. Thanks for the pointer. John Smith passing away as he did was a tragedy. I think people tend to forget about him and I think he would have been a real.force in politics for a long time. One of my prized possessions is a copy of one of the volumes of Tony Benns Diaries signed by the man himself - one of my political heroes. I was lucky enough to meet him and asked him to sign the book. Not only did he do that very graciously but he spent half an hour or so chewing the fat just like we are now - no airs and graces. The insight into life in politics from those diaries was fascinating. He had no time for some in his own party who were disingenuous but had a lot of time for politicians of conviction even if they were on the other benches (Keith Joseph as an example). How the Labour Party could do with a man of the stature of Smith or Benn now!

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My hero too smiler and I also met him in King Lynn at a talk he was giving and he also signed his book for me. Free at Last. I was almost dumb struck meeting him but managed to mention that I'd heard him speak at the anti war demo in London back in 2003, the only demo I had been on. When I mentioned it his face lit up and with real enthusiasm he said 'Oh wasn't it wonderful' he put such emphasis on the word 'Wonderful'. A great man, sadly missed and another man of integrity who was lampooned and ridiculed by the media.

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Just going back to the OP on this and it was very interesting how the Tories used the BBC bias thing to it's extreme claiming they were the ones being wronged and even boycotting the Today programme on Radio 4. Its a classic tactic to not only cover their mates tracks who now run the BBC but also to make the public think that the easy ride they were given was a thorough examination of their proposal. It was tosh - Johnson was a bumbling misogynist and racist fool on all fronts and never actually answered a question. He also dodged Andrew Neil but was allowed a voice with softer interviewers. Threatening the BBC as they have done and getting the public to validate this is something straight from Putin's disinformation playbook.

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Well i certainly didn't know i was amongst some fellow socialists and only came about this looking to see if Gwru had put up a Cheltenham post.

I think it's fair to say people on the right believe the BBC is too left wing and people on the left have the opposite view. All i will say is Robinson was the chair of the young Tory group at university and Kuensberg is a tory supporter. Andrew Neil was editor of Tory rags and the list continues.

I have a similar profile to Calypso, party member from 71 - 84 then left when Kinnock let his class down. Re joined in 2016 when Corbyn gave me hope that we would at last represent our class like the tories represent theirs. I am still an active member and knocked on over 3,000 doors in the run up to the general election. It was clear the working class in places like Dinnington, Thurcroft, Maltby etc felt a Tory brexit was a magic bullet and Labour was stopping it. Our position was poor i agree with that. I will vote for RLB in the leaders election but feel she is not the vibrant youngish socialist leader we need . Now in a few years Zarah Sultana might just be that person who will give an old man hope for change.

One last bit on the great Tony Benn. In 1984 a car would go over to Chesterfield to campaign for the great man. We were all steelworkers and for around six to eight weeks we went over and he would call us the Steelmen from Rotherham going out of his way to thank us and talk to us. He knew us by first names. I left BSC in 1984 and started work for RMBC a year later. In 1990 we formed a group called council workers against the poll tax and invited Tony to speak at one of our meetings. Two of us met him off the train and as soon as he saw me he said i know you don't i. They call you ******* and you helped me in my campaign in 1984. Top man.

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What became apparent after the 2019 election was the complete isolation of politicians in general and the PLP in particular, from anyone living beyond the confines of the Home Counties; its my opinion the BBC reflect that aegis (if thats the right word to use).

As mentioned in my previous posts, the Labour Party were more concerned in retaining Putney and ignored the otherwise steadfast northern constituencies, and I warned of this in the last constituency meeting I attended and it was quite clear that this blatant disregard for grass root support would cost them the election. I warned that the Party would be annihilated to the point of becoming insignificant, it was clear to anyone who wanted to see that that would be the case. All except of course Labour MPs and their 'advisors' could see it. Why then did it come as such a surprise to the PLP and the BBC. Once again the answer is quite clear, there are two Britains, their Britain and that other insignificant, uneducated, ignorant, racist, anti semite Britain, that exists somewhere else, up north or somewhere around there.

This middle class arrogance is reflected in the BBC which has over time, probably quite unintentionally, become the voice of this elite which is more likely to be reflected in the audience and panel of Question Time and its Radio 4 partner Any Questions. They are more concerned with promoting a woke agenda than youth unemployment in Don Valley for example, or trans gender politics are more worthy of discussion over the return of what was once called 'slum landlords' or having another Brexit referendum. These are issues which by and large do not concern the voters living in Kimberworth Park, Sunnyside or any other northern 'working class' areas. I'd venture to say, Labour voters in these areas couldn't care less about these issues and had already voiced their opinion on Brexit and just wanted the Government to get on with it and show some balls.

As a result, the BBC is clearly bias and reflects this Fiona Bruce world of sunny holidays in Tuscany, of southern England sipping their cappuccino out of their cardboard buckets as they whizz off to the office in the rush hour or school run or collect around Parliament waving EU flags, while the rest of us, being 'all in it together', continue to pay the price of austerity.

On a final point, I include this clip of a BBC interview with the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The interviewer allows Wilson to answer the questions without interruption.

www.youtube.com/watch.

A bit long at 26 mins but worth watching just to see how interviews used to be done and not the vulgar and disrespectful shouting matches we endure these days.


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