'What do you think of Labour's election pledges?' The BBC might regret asking this question

The BBC 'Have Your Say' section was recently 'improved' to get rid of the 'most recommended' feature, many assumed because the most recommended comments were usually those most opposed to the BBC's house point of view. Today's Have Your Say on Labour's election pledges does not seem to be going the way the BBC might have hoped. Here are the first 10 comments:

'# . At 10:22am on 27 Mar 2010, The Uncivil Servant wrote:

A joke? Five vague statements.

We pleadge that 1. the day will begin at dawn, 2. rain will be wet, as will 3. the sea, 4. those bits of the plannet that are not wet will be dry and 5. the moon's made of green cheese. All as measurable as Gordon's effort.


# 2. At 10:32am on 27 Mar 2010, D Johnson wrote:

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
# 3. At 10:35am on 27 Mar 2010, grainsofsand wrote:

Based on Labour’s past performance – can I suggest that the following would probably be more appropriate for Labours election pledges:

To wreck the economy
To Lower living standards
To Let foreigners take control of our industry
To Let millions more immigrants into the country
To totally destroy the country as we know it


# 4. At 10:36am on 27 Mar 2010, Tim wrote:

You must be kidding this mans track record on promises speaks for itself.
Remember the referendum that never was? and all the porkys he has been caught out on recently. Not to mention the 10p tax disaster and the promise to make ammends that never happened. Just a few more weeks of lies and spin and hopefully a hung paliament. Cant wait to see all the red face polititians.


# 5. At 10:36am on 27 Mar 2010, Peter_Wilkinson wrote:

The only thing our political representatives inspire me to do is emmigrate!


# 6. At 10:37am on 27 Mar 2010, BDZ wrote:

Sorry, they've had 13 years to fulfil their promises. We don't believe them.
Nor incidentally do we believe any of the others.
The problem is that no matter what the result of the next election we'll still be ruled by politicians!


# 7. At 10:38am on 27 Mar 2010, just_common_sense wrote:

Great!

If Gordon Brown wanted to secure the economy, why did he split the responsibility for financial regulation, letting the banking system get to the verge of collapse?

If by 'control' he means more petty rules, ID cards etc, yeah we all want that!!!


# 8. At 10:39am on 27 Mar 2010, steve butler wrote:

I think I am going to throw up.

The sad thing is, there are enough gullible idiots in this country who are dumb enough to fall for this claptrap.


# 9. At 10:40am on 27 Mar 2010, Anthony WALKER wrote:

If I believed anything Nu Labour promised at any time, I would have to be one of the most gullible person on earth! When I look at the hash that Nu Labour has made of just about everything - especially the economy - It almost drives me to despair! I want a fair, just, truthful, and happy Country for my Children and Grand Children. I know that I will never get it under Nu Labour or, especially, Mr Brown.

Neither Mr Brown, or any of Nu Labour, or Nu Labour inspire me to do anything other than leave the UK if they get another five years!


# 10. At 10:41am on 27 Mar 2010, Wreck-O-Mend wrote:

In 1997 New Labour promised a fair deal for all and the chance to make the most of one’s potential.

As a single childless male I have never had a fair deal with New Labour and all those who have already had plenty of spoon-feeding continue to qualify for more help yet workers who are living way below these standards who don’t rely on state handouts or special privileges are ignored and treated as second class.

Why take from the starving to give to the greedy?

New Labour has created a more unfair society and only the cheats will argue that it is fairer now.'

Not until comment 31 is there any comment favourable to Gordon Brown and his party and that from a Mr Whinger!

No doubt the BBC will deduce from this lack of belief in Labour's pledges that they must redouble their efforts to explain why we must vote Labour.

Now why would the BBC want to drop that feature?

The BBC have made some changes to their Have Your Say area of their website. This part of the explanation is interesting:

"Some elements of the current service - including recommendation - will not be carried over to the new system"

Now why would the BBC want to drop recommendations from the HYS service? Could it be because the top recommended comments tended not to be in accord with the BBC's approved position?

"Eponymous Cowherd" in the comments section has had similar thoughts:

"I see.

One of the most useful and informative parts of HYS is the ability to use it as a gauge of public opinion courtesy to the "recommendation" feature.

The problem for the BBC is that most of the recommendations are contrary to the BBC's left-wing liberal bias, aren't they?

The solution? Simple! Abolish the recommendation system on the back on an "improvement".

This wouldn't have anything to do with the forthcoming General Election and the BBC's desire to protect its New Labour masters from bad press, would it?

Of course not!"

Well said EC and "James Rigby" has another concern and one that chimes with the way that I tended to look at HYS 'debates':

Some HYS "debates" have thousands of entries. Clicking on the Most Recommended tab enables us to see the mood of the debate. It's not a perfect indicator by any means, but it's better than nothing. No one wades through a thousand posts (although I did once when it was a HYS asking people to post their best jokes). The blog system places prominence to those who post first - so it will be biased towards those with time on their hands.

Moving to the blog format seems like a step backwards. My hope is that the recommendation function is retained and a way is found to eliminate self-voting and multiple voting."

There is a general election very soon now and it would seem that the BBC are just making sure that their pro-Labour news coverage is not diluted by the real opinions of real people on Have Your Say. You almost have to admire the BBC's single-minded determination to get a Labour government re-elected.

The BBC and Gordon Brown

The BBC over-promoted Gordon Brown from even before the 1997 election. The BBC told us over and over how intelligent he was, how prudent he would be and how he would manage the economy so well. These lies were pumped out throughout the Blair years and as the BBC lost faith in Tony Blair they put all their eggs into the Gordon will make everything better basket. This relentless promotion of their man, the great clunking fist, ensured that with just a bit of arm-twisting by Jack Straw, Gordon was appointed without an election to become Prime Minister.

The BBC are having to face the fact that they have backed a loser but that is hard for them to do. Hence their increasingly vicious attacks on any Conservative that strays from the straight and narrow whilst they all but ignore the (often more) serious lapses by Labour politicians.

The gap between the BBC line and their paymasters (the public) is getting larger and soon may cause a rupture. The BBC have a "Have Your Say" on the subject of "What's do you think of Gordon Brown's year in office?" and the top "READERS RECOMMENDED" are a treat for the non-brainwashed:

"As predicted, this man is far, far worse than Blair & that's saying something. He has no morals whatsoever & is driven by nothing more than a lust for power for power's sake. He has turned this country into a socially engineered cess pit. Democracy has all but disappeared, the scrounger class has prospered at the expense of the hard working majority. He has thrown away our sovreignty, driven by his hatred for the English. Foreigners take priority over the indigenous population & we're over taxed

Geoff Liberty


An utter disaster. The guy's just not up to the job, which was pattently obvious from the outset.

I pity anyone who has to pick up the pieces after the mess Labour has created this time. No one outside of their inner circle knows the half of it yet, especially the total PFI debt that's been racked up. How can anyone expect the Tories to give hard promises on anything against this backdrop?

There is no point in dragging out this farce a day longer, let alone to full term.

Brown Trousers, UK


An "unmitigated disaster" are not strong enough words!

Blair obviously knew something that we didnt know with his reluctance to name Brown as his successor.

Sandra Smith, Southampton, United Kingdom


Gordon Brown thinks he is the right man for the job. Robert Mugabe also thinks he is right for the job.

The vast majority think otherwise!

Give us ALL a break Brown, call an election!

Gerupta Singh "

Meanwhile the BBC have to resort to mixing up poll-ratings on their news captions (again)...

BBC Have Your Say

I haven't commented on a BBC Have Your Say for a while but the one entitled

"Should council snooping powers be changed? - Councils in England have been urged to review the way they use surveillance powers to investigate suspected crime. Should their powers be curbed?"

As ever the "Readers Recommended" is well worth a perusal:

"Sorry? Access to phone and email records by my council? What? You mean arbitrary access at will without judge’s permission? When did this happen?

Backdoor legislation introduced by a backdoor ‘government’; why does this have echoes of the old East Germany?

Don’t worry though, sheeple, there is nothing to worry about; they are here to protect us, aren’t they? All of their intentions are honourable. We have nothing to fear!

I am bereft of further comment; what have THEY done to this country?

Steve B, Wilts, United Kingdom


This is an astonishing example of how powers brought in to deal with terrorism can be extended to cover the most mundane aspects of daily life. It should serve as a check against any complacency on ID cards. The Government says that the vast amount of information the ID card database will make available will be used to counter terrorism, but do not recognise that any future government may take a different view of things and put hte information to more intrusive uses.

David, Bristol



They brought thes laws in to deal with terrorism, but they seem to have been used to spy on dog-walkers.

Then they wonder why so many people object to 42 days

David Potts, Grayswood, United Kingdom



I work for a large engineering company - we are out on the road all day in single occupancy vans - no passengers allowed. A colleague of mine stopped to have lunch in his vehicle at a layby in a torrential downpour, after eating he lit up a ciggie.

Surprise, Surprise next day he is called into managers office as the local council have sent in a photograph taken on a telescopic lens capturing the "offence".

This country is a joke - terrorists walk free.

Brendan Olear



What would be more beneficial is for tax-payers to set up CCTV to spy on councilors to see where our council tax is being used!

Some councils cannot be bothered to collect rubbish once a week - do the Government honestly expect them to fight Terrorism!

[Star-boy], Somewhere between boredom and sexual frustration, United Kingdom



It is a pity they don't use the powers to snoop on potholes in the road and get them fixed.

Unbelievable, that this amount of power be put in the hands of petty minded town hall officials. Leave the defence of the realm to the police and the forces, and switch this ridiculous law off.

[InTheNameofSanity], London, United Kingdom



Too late. Nulabour are already turning this country into a police state.

If you don't like being spied on, this is about the last country on Earth you should be living in. Nulabour see everything you earn as being theirs, and feel they should know everything you do.

Get used to it.

Steve Butler, Basingstoke, United Kingdom



I think this is an extremely dangerous situation. Council officials should not be granted such obscene powers to spy upon people.
I am concerned that they have been so casually awarded the rights to access phone and email records. They are as fallible as anyone with such awesome power and it seems there are no proper checks in place. We have less freedom to even breathe unobserved in the UK than under any of the old communist regimes. Bar codes on our foreheads next?

[sharpshooter1], Sandhurst, United Kingdom "

As ever the BBC viewers have a better grasp on "liberty" than the BBC.