Barry Gardiner became a social media sensation last year when his interviews during the General Election campaign revealed a talent for cutting through the attempts of interviewers to interrupt or divert attention from his answers to their often inane questions.
His interview this morning on the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme showed that he hasn’t lost his touch.
Gardiner was asked – inevitably, since the media doesn’t seem to think there’s much else of import happening at the moment – about Labour’s position on the EU. That was handled with aplomb, in spite of attempts to talk over him as he showed Labour is the only party attempting to fight for both the 52% who voted leave in the referendum and the 48% who voted remain.
Then the interview moved onto John McDonnell’s supposedly-disrespectful, 4-year-old comments about Esther McVey, who has now been returned to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as its head.
After pointing out, accurately, that the BBC reports offensive comments by Donald Trump in much the same way that McDonnell was quoting someone else in the talk that Tories have attempted to misuse against him, Gardiner laid out – in his usual courteous but relentless style an aspect of the case against the new DWP Secretary that seems not to have been where the BBC wanted the interview to go:
Comment:
Gardiner was clearly making a strong, clear point that will not be at all convenient to Tory attempts to obscure Ms McVey’s character and history by claiming she is being abused.
We’re sure that the BBC’s decision to cut him off was entirely coincidental and wholly due to broadcasting time-constraints.
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The BBC actually played an audio recording of what John McDonnell said, which was a reference to a group of agitators at another meeting who had been shouting about lynching McVey. It was perfectly clear that John had not said that himself and that he thought the agitators were completely off the wall.
Brilliant response from Barry, it shows BBC are deliberately trying to smear Labour.
What’s worse deaths caused by policies and McVey saying horrible things to condone them, or someone repeating what someone said?
I’m on second round of complaint against BBC for this sort off abuse of a public company, and I will not be fobbed off.
Well done Masmit, keep up the good work you have my full support and I ma sure that of many others.
I want to know what Barry was stopped from saying.
Don’t we all.
Hopefully it was something along the lines of “To be fair, McVey IS a uniquely repellent character and lynching’s too good for her”.
In his usual courteous but relentless style, of course!
BBC have been biased against labour since Jeremy Corbyn became leader trying to cut off decent mp like Barry Gardener from saying what he wants to say it also happens on QT where their is more Torys in the Audiance than labour we pay £147 a year to keep these people in luxury i hope it changes when labour win the next election
As well a reading this site and the Guardian I read comments posted on Daily Mail online. One of the constant threads by those posters is the BBC is composed entirely of left wing liberals who are biased against the Tory party and they continually claim that the audience of QT are predominantly Corbyn supporters. I have come to the conclusion that the BBC is doing a reasonable job trying to steer a middle path- if right wingers who exist in their right wing echo chambers think the BBC is biased against them and left wingers who exist in their left wing echo chambers think the BBC is biased against them the BBC must be getting it about right.
I totally disagree Iain, everything is projected from a right wing view.
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2018/
Iain, Tories can only get away with claiming left wing bias at the BBC because many voters don’t care much about politics and don’t watch the news enough to count instances of bias.
Tory supporters constantly parrot the party line.
Some hearing that enough times will be convinced, some will assume both sides complaining of bias in the MSM must mean it doesn’t exist.
It’s all about winning the less discriminating undecideds, many of whom are swayed by Eton accents and Savile Row suits.
Yes Gardiner is a valuable part of Labour’s resistance against the whole Tory corrupt government.
It’s clear that Barry Gardiner, is not someone to be intimidated or silenced by right-wing, aggressive journalists. Well done to him for not being in the least bit intimidated and for keeping on message to the end. It was a victory for him that the only way to stop him, was by terminating the interview.
It’s good to know that he is watching Jeremy’s back. We will be hearing more from him now.
Barry is very media-savvy. Instead of taking the bait (the fake news about John McDonnell’s supposed call to lynch McVey – not true) Barry seized the opportunity to start setting out her background, the company of which she was a director etc. – which was when the interview was suddenly terminated.
Surprise, surprise the late night repeat of ‘Sunday Politics’ was replaced by an ancient episode hosted by Andrew Niele
Ian, just because the right Wingers claim the BBC is bias in favour of the left dosen’t make them unbias by defult. Indeed this is their standard response in defence of their actual proven bias. Take for instance the Tories claiming they have stopped credit card rip offs when it was an EU directive. Have the BBC flagged that up for disscusion? of course not.
The same with the plastic bag directive from the EU that they voted aghainst that and stole it as a new policy. Not a dicky bird. Diane Abbott stumbles on LBC a rival station. Repeat it over and over again on Radio 2 and Radio 4 more than six months latter. All in the interest of unbiasd journalism of course. What’s the weather like in cloud cuckoo land?
The commentry on the Carrilion fiasco will be interesting to watch/Listen to on the BBC news tonight and Torytime on Thursday evening. I bet centre left pundits will be outnumbered 2:1 at least, by neo liberal churnalists. At least James O’Brian on LBC gives airtime to alternative left of centre views and I am glad say he often pulls up the rightwhingers
for bleating out alternative facts.
If Carillion’s failure turns out to be the last nail in neoliberalism’s coffin it might be worth the pain. If Tories suffer their share of pain that would be a bonus.
If it puts an end to May calling herself ‘strong and stable’ – or Tories claiming to be the inheritors of some God-ordained economic competence – I’ll be grateful but I’m not holding my breath.
Not sure there actually is a limit to voter gullibility.