HARRYING HARRIET..

HARRYING HARRIET..

>> FRIDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2009

Did you catch this item on Today this morning? Christine Odone vs Harriet Harman on the issue of whether a minority of women in government are steering women's policy towards "macho" values. Naughtie seemed keen to ensure that La Harman got as much time as possible not that there's any bias here....heaven forbid. Perhaps letting Harman talk on and on is not a bad idea since whether she knows it or not, the more she talks the more she digs herself into a hole.

A GENERAL QUESTION..

The reason I ask is the BBC driven faux outrage over the fact that a senior soldier should seek to serve his country amongst the ranks of the Conservative Party. Today has been making mischief on this one all week and Sarah Montague had another go this morning. It strikes me that the BBC was determined to make this week as uncomfortable as possible for Cameron and so getting an experienced military leader advising the Conservatives is presented in the worst possible light. Had he joined up with Gordon's gang, do you think the BBC would have treated the matter in this way?

YOU CAN'T TRUST 'EM

>> THURSDAY, OCTOBER 08, 2009

Anyone catch the BBC 10 O Clock News just now? They ran coverage of the Cameron speech at the Conservative conference. Then, they cut to a small vox pop in Bolton and would you believe it but the people they found couldn't quite bring themselves to support the Conservatives. Peter Mandelson will be pleased! Good old Auntie.

NICE MAN JACK

When he died, the BBC paid fulsome tribute to him. Why even living saint Tony Benn declared him "one of the finest men I have ever met." I refer to Trades Union baron Jack Jones. Then, a week ago, the BBC informed us that "he was briefly considered by the Soviet KGB as one of their agents, according to an official history of MI5." Panic not, dear reader, because " he only passed on Labour party documents, not secrets, and was last paid by the Russians in 1984." So, Jack may have "briefly" been on the KGB payroll but heck, he was only passing on Labour documents, harmless stuff surely? 'Fraid not. It appears that nice man Jack sold British secrets to the Soviets for45 YEARS. Not sure how that can be passed off as "briefly", can you? Also as f0r those innocuous sounding "Labour documents" they included plans for nuclear disarmament, military secrets, the private opinions of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, and - crucially - the names of those in politics and the unions whom Comrade Jack believed might help the Communist cause. Notably, the files are said to contain slurs about people in every position of British public life - including key figures in the Armed Forces, MI5 and MI6. Let us hope the BBC now moves to provide a somewhat more rounded portrait of this much loved...er... traitor. In the interests of balance, of course.

Good Beeb/Bad Beeb

I was delighted to hear two items on radio 4 this morning in which neither Israel nor Jews were shown in a bad light. 1. Israel has the moral high ground in this unusual report by Christian Fraser,and on Today R4 0.42.23 (too early for Listen Again.) The antisemitism of Egyptian intellectuals who are virulently opposed to any normalisation of cultural relations with Israel has prevented little if any Hebrew literature from being translated - lest it infect Egyptain readers with the Jewish virus. The few translations they will allow are to be prefaced with a “warning.” In 1994, out of curiosity, playwright Ali Salem spent 23 days in Israel, but was “completely alienated” on his return. 2. “In our Time” Radio 4. Melvyn and three Oxbridge academics discussed theDreyfus affair. A fascinating case. Startling parallels could be drawn. One odd moment - “Socialism and antisemitism went together in a kind of powerful populism that we might find difficult to understand” ...................Not really. 3. I thought the BBC hadn’t made such a meal out of the Goldstone report as it normally does with negative news about Israel, but I’m sure there’s a lot more in store. “UN Body to Debate Gaza Crimes”  If you have been following the story on other websites as I have, and you live in the UK or are an expat, you might like to sign this petition. 4. Must-read critique of Guardian Editorial Bias. Letter to the managing editor of the Guardian, but could equally be addressed to the BBC - arguably less overt than the Guardian, but with a broader reach. 5. “One in Four is Muslim, Study Says” I find this alarming. Having said that I wait for the usual cries of Islamophobia from those that know nothing about the subject.