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Sunday 12 February 2017

Is the BBC biased?: Hugh Pym says the BBC got it about right

The BBC's relentless attacks on the Conservative government over the NHS for the last week or so has been hard to ignore. Attacks that neatly tie up with the Labour Party's best chance of garnering support.

So I was intrigued to read this piece http://isthebbcbiased.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/hugh-pym-says-bbc-got-it-about-right.html at the wonderful isthebbcbiased.blogspot.co.uk.  It records the views of the BBC's Hugh Pym, you won't be amazed to learn that he thinks that the BBC had not been partial in its reporting, here's an extract:

'SAMIRA AHMED: Some complaints have been that it's felt the BBC has been politically campaigning and saying this is all about more funding for the NHS. 

HUGH PYM: Well, there is a groundswell of opinion that the NHS should have more funding, that health spending in the UK as a whole as a share of national income is below France and Germany, has fallen. The IFS during the week have made clear that spending will fall in a way it has never done before in terms of spending per head of the population. We have taken those arguments and put them forward. We've been accused in the past of not addressing lack of funding. We haven't been politicising it. We've stated what the facts are, and there is actually a cross-party move now campaigning for more funding. Equally, we have been very clear that there are some who feel the NHS could make more efficient use of its resources and we have reflected that argument, that it's not just about money, it's about better ways of joining up care, better ways of spending money. But it is an important debate and I think it's only right to address the issue of funding throughout the week. '

It's odd how this alleged "groundswell of opinion" is a good thing but votes against Brexit or pro President Donald Trump are unfortunate manifestations of populism.

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