The BBC has been caught repeatedly pushing outright fake news this evening about Labour’s Brexit position and the views of the party’s membership this evening.
A narrative piece on the state of Theresa May’s scramble for support for her Brexit agreement, her begging to the EU for meaningful concessions and the relative positions of the parties included a claim by the BBC that the party’s membership is at odds with its leadership:
That claim is completely false. It’s true that the YouGov poll to which the piece is referring suggests many Labour members would like a new referendum – although the poll’s question on the issue has been criticised as leading respondents to a particular answer.
However, it is entirely untrue that polls indicate that members want Corbyn and his team “to commit to another referendum” – in fact, the YouGov poll states clearly that far more members think the party’s current stance is the right one:
The fake news piece is being repeated at least hourly on the BBC’s news channel. The BBC has been contacted for comment.
The Guardian published almost identically misleading news about the same poll just three days ago.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
The BBC has been running workshops for schoolchildren around the country, teaching them how to ‘spot fake news’. The ‘mainstream’ media is this country’s primary source of it, but it’s unlikely that features in the ‘training’.
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“The BBC has been running workshops for schoolchildren around the country, teaching them how to ‘spot fake news’.” I am old enough to remember a predecessor of this sort of nonsense when under Thatcher every household received a booklet entitled “Protect and Survive,” which suggested that as long as you concealed yourself in the cupboard under the stairs with a few packets of digestive biscuits you would be immune to a nuclear weapons attack.
Children also have a penchant for making a mockery of adults who take themselves too seriously. My father was a child in SE London during the war, a time when doodlebugs or V2s fell short of their targets and made life pretty hit and miss, even for children. Fear that the bosch/hun might land and not be held at Dover by Dad’s Army was uppermost in people’s minds. A man from the Ministry came to their school to demonstrate how a 6″ nail could be turned with two bends executed with a pair of pliers into a very effective anti-personnel-carrier weapon, thrown at random in the path of the advancing enemy.
Unfortunately, the enemy did not immediately materialise but the knowledge of how to cripple transports had been burnt into the minds of the local youth and they wanted to see it in operation, enemy regardless. Sidcup, Chiselhurst and Bexleyheath became a graveyard for lorries attempting to cross the area.
But seriously, Messrs Cable and Campbell’s poll has not only been misreported, it only sampled individual members of Labour and not affiliates, who far outnumber individual members, and whose views about a number of issues might not concur with said individual members – and that’s only to mention those whose unions have decided to affiliate to the Labour Party, excluding the RMT for example.
If anyone happens to know where any of these People’s Vote/Get Corbyn class traitors hang out, Lords Adonis and Mandelson e.g. or the blessed Rt. Hon Tony Blair, I’ll gladly provide you with a sketch and simple instructions of what to do with a 6″ nail – you’ll just need to send me a SAE.
Really hope you are right about people, children included, seeing through the “let me tell you what is fake news” pomposity . This current approach to attacking Corbyn via the peoples’ vote has been brewing for a while and now the MSM seems to be vamping it up. Am following the government-funded attacks on Corbyn also through the Integrity Initiative, off-shoot of the Institute for Statecraft, and came across quite disturbing material on their website about targeting children: https://www.statecraft.org.uk/projects-programmes/“cyber-guardian”-cyber-responsibility-programme-children
I hope such a programme is only a notional one currently. Even so, mockery is much needed.
It’s about time Tory YouGov was put under the microscope.
The BBC being invited into schools to commence part one one of media indoctrination. You must always believe ‘Auntie’ for she is ‘the truth; the light & the way’. There is an easy way to spot ‘Fake News’, look @ the lips of Laura Kuenssberg; Emily Maitlis; John Pinaar; Andrew Marr or Andrew Neil ………simples!
Would have been fairer I think for you to present the results of the most recent YouGov poll (the one that indicates strong Labour support for a second vote) to complement the one you repeated from 21 December
Remain and “Best for Britain” in particular have been totally reliant on YouGov for “Labour members and voters” polling. Tory linked YouGov must be delighted that remain have been buying their services nearly every 2 weeks for the last couple of years. YouGov doesn’t represent a cross section of Labour members or voters, the demographic is limited to people who do market research surveys for money. They say they reach a cross section of demographics, I believe the nature of YouGov puts limitations on such claims and given the frequency of these Labour members polls it would be in the interest of any fanatical remain supporter to join YouGov and help influence what are essentially “push polls”. I accept that a majority of Labour members support remain but I don’t for a minute believe that a majority of Labour voters do. Many of those voters haven’t been voting in elections for years but they turned out for the referendum and Labour’s future depends on not alienating them again. Organisations like “Best for Britain” have been pushing Labour to change its policy because they see it as a chance to break the left completely and they are relying on YouGov polls, helped by many in the PLP to do it for them.
Anyone who uses YouGov polling to back their contentions that the Labour Party supports remain is assisting those who wish to destroy the party.
“Anyone who uses YouGov polling to back their contentions that the Labour Party supports remain is assisting those who wish to destroy the party.”
Fevered delusions. Hanging on to Tory coat tails is far more of a problem for the Party. Simply pointing out that the Tories are a shower is a statement of the bleedin’ obvious – which is not clever politics, when your policy is in essence the same!
There is no virtue for Labour. in assisting the ERG swivel eyes in their Brexit project – even in basic electoral terms.
Mentioning the ERG in every post when they don’t have any relevance whatsoever is a bit desperate. I notice you never present a case for remain, you rely on current polling of Labour that is decidedly dodgy along with denouncing the referendum and try and link Labour leave voters to right wing libertarians. Come back when you have a convincing argument for remaining in the EU with a sovereign currency and the option of creating a national investment bank and using Keynesian economics when we see fit, and I might listen to you. As it is you’re just trolling this blog for your own undeclared reasons.
I forgot to add, the economic tools I’m advocating must be available without any legal challenge.
“Mentioning the ERG in every post when they don’t have any relevance whatsoever is a bit desperate.”
I think the desperation works the other way. The Brexit impulse is entirely a creature of the right-wing swivel-eyes of the rabid right, whose prospectus is clearly laid out in ‘Britannia Unchained’. Their relevance is that they control Tory policy and, by extension, the delusions of the Leftoryists who align with them. It is interesting that in all the fulminations about the MSM, the Brexit propaganda sheets get little criticism, despite their long-term project of promoting the Brexit plutocrat dystopia against the interests of average punter. Alice through the looking glass!
You will find the arguments for staying in the EU in many previous posts – the Leftory argument about constraints on state support has some validity, but it is far outweighed by the actual possibilities, the economic hit and the loss of influence and trade arrangements in the ‘Island Britain’ scenario, with the UK subject to more powerful interests.
As to the electoral argument – the majority of Labour voters (not just member) supported ‘Remain’. The notion of a reservoir of ‘Leave’ votes is not supported by any analysis. Labour’s electoral potential strength is clearly with ‘Remain’ voters – and is growing in that direction. The Leftory image of a coherent ‘Leave’ ‘working class’ vote to be tapped is pure mythology. UKIP voters have no automatic allegiance to Labour.
‘Strong Labour support for a second vote’ is acknowledged in the article. The same poll shows far more members support the way Corbyn is handling the Brexit issue – which makes the BBC’s claim that they want him to change something outright fake news. They’re two different things.
Oh dear! What thin gruel. The facts have been gone over in this column time and time again.
In this case the BBC’s take is reasonable. It’s not ‘completely false’ (and I’ve shouted enough times at the BBC to know when they are spinning a pre-conceived line.)
There are two clear – but not actually contradictory – facts about the Labour Party membership, gleaned from good quality evidence in the ESRC study :
(1) The membership largely supports the Corbyn leadership – and, by implication are willing to go along with the present *actual* policy position, and allow room for tactical manouevering.
(2) In the longer time frame, they are clearly and overwhelmingly against Brexit, and, if there is no GE, want to see another referendum. They are clear where the tactics should lead, and show no evidence that they support going into a GE on a ‘Leave’ ticket.
No doubt, Chris Matheson, writing in the Grauniad today will be dismissed as a ‘Centrist’, ‘Blarite’ and displaying all the other politburo sins. And, of course, the opinion will be dismissed because it’s in the Grauniad.
But – in actuality – his views are broadly where most of the Party are.
Get over it.
It’s completely false. Far more Labour members support the leadership’s approach than disagree with it – so the claim the membership wants Corbyn and co to *change their approach* is flat-out fake news. That’s what the BBC said and it’s not remotely supported by the poll results.
I support the current Labour Party stance . That does not mean I support Brexit . These old figures are very misconstrued. I see this as propaganda for the converted to use as back up .
Matheson’s my MP and it’s his claim to be on the “Left” that annoys me. He’s obviously never heard of the Overton window!
His version of the Left may not see any Left justification for Brexit, but you wouldn’t expect it to. It’s about as Left as Hillary Clinton!
His piece reads like an invitation to Corbyn to alienate his Brexit voters and commit electoral suicide, which I’m sure isn’t his intention.
Much.
I couldn’t give a **** about Matheson per se – or mickey-mouse definitions of what counts as ‘Left’ in terms of suicide pacts. But my point was simply that his piece reflects – in general – the position of most Labour members.
I fear you are living a delusion – the main danger for Labour is alienating the significantly greater number of ‘Remain’ voters. For ‘Leave’ voters, the Tories do ‘Leave’ better.