More on the banning of Geert Wilders

Take a listen to today's Radio 4 World at One from around 19:50 and hear Geert Wilders being interviewed and then Lord Ahmed not being asked about his threat to "to mobilise 10,000 Muslims to prevent Mr Wilders from entering the House" but being allowed to make unsubstantiated claims. Lord Pearson is also interviewed and uses the word "appeasement" to describe the banning of Geert Wilders. Lord Ahmed seems very concerned about threats to him but the threat is not from the film but the reaction of some elements of some Muslim extremists to the film. The "debate" ends oddly; Lord Pearson explains that the film will be shown with or without Geert Wilders along with another film to be followed by a discussion. Meanwhile right at the end and over the top of Lord Pearson, Lord Ahmed claims that the "Islamic scholars" who will be taking part in the debate are "scholars who hate Muslims". Hmmmm.

Maybe Lord Ahmed is getting a little anxious, after all on the 25 February he faces a court date that could result in him being sent to prison for up to two years for the admitted crime of dangerous driving that resulted in the death of Martin Gombar. "Lord Ahmed admitted sending and receiving five text messages on his phone while driving shortly before the crash, and pleaded guilty to the charge before him. He was banned from driving until his sentencing. On 22 December, Sheffield Magistrates' Court referred the case for sentencing at the crown court on 19 January due to its "aggravating features". This was later put back until 25 February. Lord Ahmed faces a maximum of two years in jail."

odd how the BBC hasn't drawn attention to this piece of back-story. As I said back in November:

"The way that the BBC report the alleged misdeeds of politicians is almost childlike in its bias. Any misdeed of a Conservative politician no matter how minor is front page news for days, to be discussed and analysed at length. Meanwhile any alleged infraction by a Labour politician, no matter how senior the politician or serious the allegation is reported as quietly and for as short a time as possible. Can you imagine the BBC coverage if this had been a Conservative member of the House of Lords? I would imagine it would be front page news for days."