BBC Today programme's political commentators

The Today programme this morning is indulging in a bit of Labour navel gazing, including from 08:52 - "Commentators Jackie Ashley and John Rentoul discuss a disastrous night for Labour in the European elections." So there we go again two left of centre political commentators. Jackie Ashley being the daughter of a former Labour MP. A former worker for the BBC, The New Statesman and The Guardian. And of course the wife of the BBC's impeccably left of centre Andrew Marr. John Rentoul being the chief political commentator for The Independent on Sunday. According to his own Independent newspaper profile "he has written a biography of Tony Blair, whom he admired more at the end of his time in office than he did at the beginning."

So no space for a right of centre voice in this Labour party internal discussion. The BBC would claim that that this is because this is a discussion about the Labour party's performance in the EU elections and elsewhere. That is true but I do not ever remember the BBC restricting discussion of the Conservatives poor electoral performances just prior to 1997 to Conservative commentators.