The BBC’s unconstitutional bias appears to become more naked almost daily.
On a day of ignominy and disarray for the government, with Theresa May unilaterally running away from a vote on her shameful withdrawal agreement and accused of complete disrespect for Parliament and its procedures, any self-respecting broadcaster would be lining up government ministers to face tough questions – and examining how the Opposition inflicted such a defeat.
Instead, Newsnight chose to populate its studio with centrists – and to allow arch-Blairite Peter Mandelson long minutes of unchallenged airtime to spout about Corbyn’s supposed failure to ‘lay a glove’ on Theresa May. At no stage was it pointed out to him that such an unprecedented collapse of a government propped up by the vast majority of the media estate must – can only – be because the Opposition and its leader have refused to let it off the hook or to give it room to escape or breathe.
This was followed by the dire Tory MP Anna Soubry huffing and tutting for a so-called “people’s vote” and a Tory former Number 10 adviser given free reign in the studio while Richard Burgon – the only genuinely Labour figure – appearing remotely and being frequently interrupted when he tried to rebut the nonsense.
It was an ugly spectacle:
Of course, Mandelson and some BBC personnel have been known to get quite cosy.
Presenter Emily Maitlis not only recited Mandelson’s words again butrepeatedly argued the Tories’ case, even contradicting Burgon to assert, laughably, that Theresa May wants to bring the country together. She then iced the cake by calling Soubry the real opposition after the Tory had just said she would support the government in any no-confidence motion.
But perhaps the most telling passage was when Burgon pointed out Anna Soubry’s record of steadfast support for the Tory measures that have inflicted untold misery on vulnerable people:
For all the hawking of her principled opposition around the TV studios, when push comes to shove, Anna Soubry’s supported all the attacks on working class communities.
Soubry tried to channel Thatcher, but gave away the centrist-remain agenda when she retorted “Don’t talk rubbish, we’re talking about Brexit man“.
It’s hard to imagine a better portrayal of the privilege behind the arrogantly-titled “people’s vote” campaign than a dismissal of the huge damage that has been done to ordinary and vulnerable people in this country over the last eight years – which would continue unchecked under a Tory government in or out of Europe – ‘because Brexit‘.
In reality, Labour is performing outstandingly as an opposition for the good of the country, in spite of the cynical agenda and misbehaviour of some of its back-benchers – and in spite of the best efforts of the BBC, an organisation that is not doing its job, to present an alternate reality to its viewers.
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“In reality, Labour is performing outstandingly as an opposition ”
C’mon – get real. You don’t have to like Mandelson and his ilk, or be unaware of the BBC’s flaws to see that is really not the case.
It was Richard Burgon whose name I forgot yesterday who illustrate the paucity and unconvincing nature of the Labour case as it impacts on the public at large. I felt sorry for him trying to sell a used handkerchief as a silk scarf.
Support doesn’t imply blindness, and the fact is that Labour is not currently posing any credible or distinctive alternative on the issue of the day, whilst the Tories are doing quite well at rolling in their own excrement.
I hope that my vein of optimism may prove correct, and that this will change in the near future before there is no road left.
“The public at large” is your definition of remain fanatics like yourself. Well I’ve got news for you, most people, pro or anti, aren’t fanatical, they see beyond the 24/7 black propaganda and are aware that the worst that could happen is around an 8% short term hit on the economy. They are also aware of the dangerous expansionism of the EU and it’s 20 year about turn from a trading block to a quasi federation, they recognise the benefits, are somewhat scared of change, but under no illusion that the EU can stay like it is , or, that we can forever remain hovering on the edge of Europe. Stop relying on polls commissioned by remain and try to understand that the vote went the other way. If you want to reverse it in the future that’s OK, but for now we have to leave and what we make of it is up to us. Jeremy Corbyn at least understands that another vote would be the worst thing we could inflict on ourselves and he’s done a good job so far, I for one, trust him to do the best for the country, not one group or another.
““The public at large” is your definition of remain fanatics like yourself.”
I’m afraid, lundiel, that your response is the only fanatical item on display.
I find your blind faith touching – but that’s all. I’m a member of a political party, not a cult.
It’s true that I am strongly in favour of ‘Remain’, even with all the faults of the EU. Obviously – since the alternative has been revealed as a religious faith rather than as a sustainable argument. I prefer to align myself with other European socialists rather than the extreme right Brexit gang.
But my point was not about that – it was about the patently unconvincing nature of the Labour lack of policy which fails to convince the unconverted – by any stretch of the imagination, and as measured by the polls. (Oooo … Sorry … they were ‘Remain’ rigged polls. Of course)
Don’t hang on to the notion of ‘the vote’ as something that clinched anything. It was a barely understood result of a Tory stitch-up that was essentially 50/50, with only a minority supporting Brexit.
Then there’s the fact that the Labour Party support is strongly aligned with ‘Remain’, and the leadership is out on a limb on this issue.
I’m not keen on another vote – but the pain may be the only way to enfranchise those who were excluded at the last stitch up, and to give those who were unsure whether it was shit, shave or breakfast time the chance to reconsider.
(And please don’t tell me that ‘Leave’ voters knew what they were voting for when the evidence that many didn’t is displayed on the airwaves on a daily basis.)
Odd, isn’t it, how those who consider the vote as ‘the voice of the people’ and sacred hate the idea of another one. At this rate, we might as well abolish the next election.
Get out of the echo chamber occasionally, and see how unimpressed are too many people by Labour’s lack of clarity.
“I’m not keen on another vote “…..You’re gagging for it.
“(And please don’t tell me that ‘Leave’ voters knew what they were voting for when the evidence that many didn’t is displayed on the airwaves on a daily basis.)”……Vox pops filtered by remain backing media asking loaded questions of the unwary? You’ve got to be effing joking, people had 40 years to decide whether they wanted in or out and they didn’t all see a red bus and think “Oh my God” we’ve been swindled”, they saw a trade deal become an authoritarian “Hotel California” in front of their eyes and they had no say in it. Renegotiation of that trade deal gone wrong makes perfect sense to many. It’s only the passengers on the gravy train and expats who see it as some sort of “crisis”.
““I’m not keen on another vote “…..You’re gagging for it.”
I am overcome with admiration
… at the depth of illusion.
Not only do you have a magnificent insight into a simple world that is entirely in agreement with you (apart from a few damnable conspirators who refuse assent – they’re the 63% that form an ‘elite’) … you also have the power to tell people what they think! Amazing!
“.. As soon as this pub closes – the revolution starts…”
‘…fact is that Labour is not currently posing any credible or distinctive alternative on the * issue of the day *,…’
If by ‘issue of the day’ you mean Brexit, why should it when the people have clearly expressed their will?
If you mean the deal as negotiated by the Conservative Party government, that ‘distinctive alternative’ was stated as recently as 5-days ago: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/06/jeremy-corbyn-general-election-brexit-labour-theresa-may
and so far nobody has indicated the similarities of the proposed Labour’s alternative to the current one negotiated by the Conservative Party government.
Some of us seem to recall that Corbyn was pilloried for not sharing the Remain platform with the establishment – as his was Remain and Reform, something which was interpreted as being anti-EU by the MSM and our PLP which even went as far as trying to remove him from leadership for that reason alone.
Once again, we are aware of the MSM’s and our Blairite faction’s misleading narrative that respecting the will of the people is tantamount to endorsing hard Brexit. Nothing could be further from the truth. Labour conference and front-bench position on the matter is very clear except for those with different agendas.
The reason I have mentioned the above deliberate distortion of facts is to highlight the fact that Brexit or Bremain in themselves are not binary issues respectively. We can choose either Leave or Remain for different reasons respectively. But the overriding fact is that when the issue was put before the people, the majority voted Leave – never mind the myriad of reasons. The only question is how we leave: with Conservative Party government deal, or – if Labour can be given a chance – with Labour deal, or with no deal. That is what probably has to be put before the people. But Leave we are.
” the people have clearly expressed their will?” …”Respecting the will of the people”
The Peeple Swill nonsense. Always a last refuge when faced with the actuality of democracy.
Clearly?? The whole point is that there was no clarity. The vote was split, and only just over a third of the electorate supported Brexit. Above all, there was massive lack of knowledge of the issues.
Meanwhile, Labour supporters convincingly also supported ‘Remain’ … and don’t comfort yourself with the other delusion that they were all ‘Blairites’ or ‘Centrists’.
That’s why we’re in this nonsense of a mess.
By all means support ‘Leave’ – but don’t make delusion an article of faith.
In spite of my doubts about Labour’s soft Brexit alternative, I support the attitude and the underlying principles expressed by Stewart960130 not least because the comment is supportive of Corbyn, rather realistic and principled.
I do think the very considerable problems that attach to a second referendum are being rather too casually dismissed.
“The Peeple Swill nonsense. Always a last refuge when faced with the actuality of democracy.”
Says the advocate of “The People’s vote”.
“In reality, Labour is performing outstandingly as an opposition ”
C’mon – get real. You don’t have to like Mandelson and his ilk, or be unaware of the BBC’s flaws to see that is really not the case.
Indeed, RH. Corbyn’s timid performances in the house are getting really dispiriting and I’m afraid Mandelson’s right in saying he didn’t really lay a glove on May.
Maybe he should try a stiff drink and a line first next time…
Channel 4 wasn’t doing much better. Jon Snow’s embarrassing inability to remember the names of the people he is interviewing, his constant tripping over his text, the ridiculous way he asks a complex question, then hectors the poor person trying to answer with “Yes or No!” (not that he’s alone in doing this on C4 News), is getting tiresome. He really has passed his sell-by date. Last night he kept talking over Richard Burgon, demanding to know when Labour was going to move a vote of no confidence, when anybody with more than one brain cell (I have two) knows that you only do this when know you can win – and, at the moment, the Tories and their DUP bribees would just close ranks.
C4 News is a shadow of what was once the only News programme worth watching. The standard of journalism is appallingly low. Listening as Matt Frei asks a question and then makes the rookie interviewer mistake of going “ok”, “yes” “um” etc., in the background is distracting and exasperating. Their pretty obvious Bliarite bias has meant that there is no longer a TV News that I can rely on. It’s only their overseas coverage that keeps me watching – while gritting my teeth…
Yes, I hate it when they ask a question and then try to tell the interviewee how they should answer it!
Jon Snow is popular for his socks, not his political nuance. Liberals rely on shit like that to obscure their addiction to “humanitarian intervention”.
I prefer his psychedelic ties, myself!
Yes perhaps the Tory Neo-Liberal nationalists and Tory Neo-Liberal globalists are divided with the latter wanting to remain in the Neo-Liberal EC with of course Labour’s Blairite Neo-Liberals also supporting this and wanting a peoples vote (we have already has one and it was not the wrong people).
I voted Remain as a last chance to work with EC partners including unions to try to break EC Neo-Liberalism but I accept the result.
Perhaps Jeremy has to name the root cause of all our ills (Tory Neo-Liberalism) explain it simply and in straight forward language offer our counter narrative as an example to other countries too?
Yawwwwnnnnnn ! yep it’s the BBC what to expect , truth and fair play , every time expect to have Biased Broadcasting Corruptly , delivered by this Tory mouth piece propaganda machine
Interesting you’re getting identical replies supporting the creepy Mandelson with his PV neoliberal nonsense with different names. Don’t tell me there aren’t paid trolls doing this throughout social media! Please note to ALL socialists, Progress Richard Angell said it was one of his biggest achievements to fool conference into voting for a ‘peoples vote’.
Wake up!
I’m in Labour and Leave North East. And all of this stinks!
“Wake up!”
I woke up a long time ago to the fact that the key Brexit supporters – Mogg, Duncan Smith, Davis, Redwood etc. etc. are right-wing swivel-eyes with a nose for profits based on shorting the pound and creating a deregulated economy as detailed in ‘Britannia Unchained’.
There is nothing progressive about aligning with them, and I’m always surprised at ‘progressives’ who can’t smell reactionary decay when they come across it.
I have posted this before, but I do think you need to see it again. This is a world renown academic putting the EU perspective into simple English that anyone can understand: