More BBC bias?

I was listening to BBC 5 Live yesterday, only for the sport you understand. There were three news stories that were in the news bulletins that I feel need contrasting. First was the Americans transporting live nuclear warheads over the USA, this is a story from August of this year that needs reporting but you could all but hear the glee in the newscasters' voices as they could indulge in a bit of bashing of the US military. The subtext of "see how badly the Americans manage their nuclear devices, so different from those nice Russians and Chinese and could the Iranians really be any worse than the Americans". Second was the story about Andrew Pelling, the MP for Croydon Central, who was told on Friday that no prosecution will be brought in connection with the complaints of his pregnant wife, Lucy, that he had beaten her. Again, great glee that they could associate wife beating with a Conservative and Conservative was used at least twice in each report. The third report was less covered, it was not in every bulletin, and this was the story that a judge investigating vote-rigging in Birmingham's local elections has ruled there was widespread fraud and ordered new elections. Oddly the names of those accused of vote rigging and the party they were working for was not mentioned.

I went to the BBC web site for more details this morning. On the Politics home page the story about Andrew Pelling was the second lead, he story about vote rigging was a simple headline in the other top stories section.

The Andrew Pelling story manages to mention the Conservative party three times:

"MP will not face assault charges

A south London MP arrested by police after he was accused of assaulting his pregnant wife will not face charges.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to bring a case against Andrew Pelling, Conservative MP for Croydon Central.

Mr Pelling, 48, was arrested at his Croydon home last month when his wife Lucy, 26, alleged he had assaulted her.

Mr Pelling's membership of the Conservative Party was suspended after his arrest.

The Conservative Party said Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin would decide whether to lift Mr Pelling's suspension from the party after returning to Westminster on Monday.

Mr Pelling won his Parliamentary seat in 2005 with a majority of 75. He is also a London Assembly member.

The father-of-three married Lucy last year after his divorce from his first wife.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "A 48-year-old man from Croydon who was arrested on 18 September in connection with allegations of assault has been released from police bail with no further action.

"A thorough investigation was carried out by the community safety unit at Croydon.

"A report was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, as is routine, and the CPS has taken the decision not to press charges."


The vote rigging story mentions no names and no political party:
"Seven charged over 'voting fraud'
Police have charged seven people with fraud in connection with postal voting at the general election two years ago.
Each of the men has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the returning officer in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire Police said the charges come after a joint investigation with the city's returning officer.

Six are from Bradford and are aged 38, 40, 53 and 67, with two aged 49. The seventh man charged is a 37-year-old from Buckinghamshire.

The investigation looked at voting patterns and postal votes. The cases are due in court on 14 November."

Now I am not suspicious by nature, but I am prepared to think that if the accused were white BNP supporters then the BBC would have named them and placed more emphasis on the news; even worse, if they had been white Conservative supporters it would have been the top news story. The fact that it is such a small story leads me to believe that the accused might be from the Muslim community and be supporters of the Labour Party. I may be wrong, but somehow I doubt it. If you know more about this story please update me.

UPDATE:
A quick dig around has found this article from the Yorkshire Post that says "SEVEN people will appear in court next month accused of postal ballot fraud in Bradford at the last General Election....During the May 2005 election, former Bradford returning officer Philip Robinson referred 252 cases of possible election fraud to the police. In April 2006, West Yorkshire Police passed files on 11 men and two women to the CPS following its investigation in Bradford. The common law offence of conspiracy to defraud a returning officer can carry a hefty penalty. In 2005 in Blackburn, a Labour councillor admitted conspiracy to defraud the returning officer. He was jailed for three years and seven months."
Looks as though my Labour theory may be right...

A story on Yahoo News adds "Conspiracy to defraud a returning officer can carry a substantial jail sentence. In 2005, a Labour municipal councillor in Blackburn, north-west England, was jailed for three years and seven months after admitting the charge. Also in 2005, a High Court judge in Birmingham, west central England, found there had been widespread vote-rigging in the city's council elections the previous year.
Judge Richard Mawrey said the postal voting system was "wide open" to fraud and would "disgrace a banana republic". Six Labour councillors accused of doctoring about 1,500 completed postal votes, including with correction fluid, and delivering them to the count in plastic bags were banned from standing at a re-run election.
A criminal prosecution was not brought."


You might be interested in this document from the House of Commons library.


UPDATE:
According to AOL news "No personal details of the alleged offenders have been released by police." So maybe the BBC are not exhibiting bias after all, but why are personal details not being released?