The BBC: still as pro-EU as ever after all these years

Lord Tebbit gets close:

'I value the BBC. It often produces programmes unmatched by other broadcasters. I like the absence of commercial advertisements, though I regret the increasing intrusion of advertisements for its own programmes and the deplorable prevalence of background music which swamps the voices of those to whom I am trying to listen.

I fear, however, that its inability to recognise its Left-wing, pro EU-bias may destroy a great British institution.…'

Personally I'd say that it was too late to save the BBC. 

More here http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/normantebbit/100254284/the-bbc-still-as-pro-eu-as-ever-after-all-these-years/

Sunday morning catchup

1) The Blaze spots that scientists have discovered a planet with a Death Star revolving around it...

2) The Mail wonders at the labour party's definition of equality.


3) Richard Littlejohn wonders how history would have differed had the IRA not bombed The Grand hotel in Brighton. Would Norman Tebbitt have succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister rather than John Major. I wonder what that would have done to the UK's dalliance with the EU.


4) Watts Up With That isn't falling for thE LINe that Arctic ice is reducing and has the figures to prove it.


5) Max Farquar is not impressed with Anthony Richardson's 'apology' for that video - I remember blogging about the incident at the time.


6) The Anger of a Quiet Man is not happy that he cannot say what a representative of an ethcic minority can say:

'It comes to something when we have to rely upon a representative of an ethnic minority group to say in the MSM what all the rest of us are thinking and occasionally saying to our friends about certain ethnic minority groups. Such is the hold of political correctness and not saying the "bleeding obvious" on our political representatives that for your average (white) politician to say what Baroness Flather did say would be tantamount to political suicide complete with ritual disembowelment from certain sections of certain sections of the media lead no doubt by politicians of the left.'

The subject?

'BRITAIN’S first female Asian peer has stirred up a storm by claiming that some immigrant families have large numbers of children simply to milk the benefits system.'

7) Christopher Booker is still pointing out the absurbity of wind farms in the UK. Christopher Booker talks more sense about thissubject than almost anyone else I read, and certainly more than Chris Huhne.


8) The Globe & Mail have some ideas for alternativeafternoon teas in London. Here's my favourite from their list:

'Men’s Afternoon Tea
TWIST: Men are invited to a tea of their own, complete with more “manly” fare – mini-cheeseburgers and steak sandwiches instead of egg mayonnaise with watercress – and an optional glass of single-malt whisky. Diversions such as backgammon are also offered.
BIGGEST PLUS: Steak and whisky – what’s not to like?
ADDED BONUS: One table may order from multiple tea menus, choosing from the Men’s Tea, the Fashion Ladies Tea or the Gluten-Free Tea.
REASON TO RETURN: At $9.50 (£6) a dram, the selection of whiskies offered is not only broad, but also economically priced.
NOT SO GREAT: Finding the hotel on foot based on the woefully inadequate map available at the website is a frustrating task.
DETAILS: 1 to 5:30 p.m. at The Mandeville Hotel, 8-14 Mandeville Place; West End; mandeville.co.uk. From $42 (£26.50, £32.50 with a glass of whisky or champagne).'

9) Israel National News report that 'Clinton Adviser Greenberg is Behind Israeli Protests'. An interesting article that you won't hear of on the anti-Israel BBC.


10) Watts Up With That also have some facts and figures to show that reporting of Antarctic ice levels are often misleading and alarmist.

Thursday morning catch-up

More Firefox tabs that I need to clear up.

1) The Telegraph report that

'Plastic bags may not be as bad for the environment as previously assumed, and may in fact be better than their “eco friendly” alternatives, government research suggests.'

This would be interesting enough but what is fascinating is that

'The report was commissioned in 2005 and due to be published in 2007, but has still not been released. '

Why has this report not been published? It is almost as though the last Labour government were more concerned with positioning than the truth.


2) The Spectator reported that the rather spectacularly nasty Damian McBride 'has a new job – head of media at the Catholic overseas aid charity CAFOD. He will be doubtless be brilliantly effective at briefing against its enemies (in CAFOD's case, hunger and the devil).'
Actually with Damian McBride's track record it is Oxfam and Christian Aid that have the most to fear.


3) Climate Depot report that according to Time Magazine 'Greens move on from 'climate change' to organic food movement'. It is almost as though the watermelons (green on the outside red on the inside) just want control and the destruction of the West's standard of living and they don't care which cause they have to espouse in order to achieve their goals.


4) Norman Tebbit's headline 'Where is Cameron leading us? To a Big Society gay wedding in Westminster Abbey? ' struck me as typical of the man; controversial, very un-PC but with more than a germ of truth. Read the whole article and note that Norman Tebbit must be the most polite of bloggers, he really gets into a conversation with the people who comment on his blog.


5) The Indian Economic Times informs us that

'Gold demand is set to stay high this year as Indian and Chinese appetite for the metal sharpens, but fresh buying in developed markets of jewellery in particular will depend on economic outlook , the World Gold Council said. '

Indeed gold is moving back up this week, although that could be due to the instability in the Middle East and Arab North Africa.


6) David Horowitz manages to get a US student to admit her support for a genocidal terrorist organisation, Hamas, that is illegal in the USA; has any action been taken against this student? What a lovely person for saying yes to supporting Hamas and Hezb'allah even after David Horowitz explains what they want to do with all Jews. This student's attitude is not unusual in the USA and indeed the UK which is why the time for Jews to flee is not far off.



7) Apparently I may be a Tory chihuahau - ChIHUAHuas are Conservatives In their Heads, Ukip At Heart


8) The Mail reported the shock horror story that London's Labour lead Camden Council was indulging in a piece of petty policy showboating:

'Samantha Cameron was last night at the centre of a row over the closure of a flagship symbol of her husband’s ‘Big Society’ policy.

The axing of a community centre championed by Mrs Cameron has sparked an exchange of insults between Conservative Chairman Sayeeda Warsi and the Labour council leader who took the decision.

Ms Warsi claims Nasim Ali has pocketed almost £100,000 in expenses, allowances and perks since 2007 – money she says could have been used to help keep the centre open.

Mrs Cameron was filmed in the run-up to last year’s General Election serving curry at the Surma Centre in Camden, North London, praising it as a ‘perfect example’ of the Big Society in action.

But Mr Ali, Camden’s Labour leader, is now stopping the centre’s annual £125,000 funding, blaming a £100 million black hole left in the council’s finances by Chancellor George Osborne’s cutbacks.

Conservative Chairman Sayeeda Warsi says £100,000 claimed by Camden Council leader Nasim Ali in expenses and perks could have been used to help keep the centre open

Mr Ali was quoted by journalist Tom Foot, the great-nephew of former Labour leader Michael Foot, as telling members of the centre: ‘Samantha Cameron came and cooked here for votes. Where is she now? If you want to lobby, lobby Sam Cam.’'

9) The Telegraph reported on part of the legacy of Gordon Brown and his right-hand man Ed 'second choice' Balls:

'Young people starting work this year will pay taxes for the Government’s Private Finance Initiative until they are nearly 70, an investigation by The Daily Telegraph has found.'

The Labour party's use of PFI was a scandal and one that a decent investigative media would have crucified them for. As it was only Private Eye really took Labour to task over PFI; shame on the rest of them.


10) Steven Goddard at Real Science reports something that the Met Office and the BBC will not tell you: 'Global Temperatures Have Dropped 0.5C In The Last 12 Months'


More later...

Where the cuts should be made

'The place to cut expenditure in local government is not among frontline staff doing useful work but among the £50,000, to £150,000 coordinators, managers and mutual backscratchers in the back offices.

There is not that much overmanning these days on the shop floor, or even in private sector management either. It isn’t like the 1970s and 1980s. The fat that needs cutting out is to be found in the town halls, not on the dustcarts.'

Lord Tebbit making sense; I note that it is the number of '£50,000, to £150,000 coordinators, managers and mutual backscratchers in the back offices' that increased under Labour at least partly to increase the number of Labour voters.

Americans discover their version of the Norman Tebbit cricket test

American Power Blog discovers that not all Americans support the USA, in this case preferring Mexico, just as in the UK so many British born Pakistanis support Pakistan rather than England at cricket.

The Saville Inquiry and Martin McGuinness

It seems that I am not alone in my wondering about Martin McGuinness's role in Bloody Sunday and afterwards. The Telegraph report that David Cameron has said that:

"I do find it painful that I now sometimes sit around a table with Martin McGuinness and I think about what that man did..."

Meanwhile Guy Walters also in The Telegraph wonders 'Martin McGuinness on Bloody Sunday: Do we know his full story? ' and asks many pertinent questions, some of which I have also posed over the past few days. However it is the end of this piece that deserves wide coverage, certainly the BBC should bear it in mind when fulimanting on the evil Paras:

'... relatively few Provisional IRA men came forward to assist the Inquiry. Fewer than 20 of the estimated 40-50 members of the Derry PIRA gave evidence, and it is unlikely that the remainder, despite the hazards of their occupations, have all died. In fact, potential Provisional IRA witnesses were actively discouraged from giving evidence, and it is conceivable that they may have been threatened.

Future historians should be aware that Lord Saville’s report, despite its length, is ultimately only as reliable as the testimonies and submissions given to it. In the words of paragraph R2A-4 of the Reply Closing Submission, the submission given by Martin McGuinness is “simply incorrect” and “flawed”. None of this diminishes the dreadful actions of the Parachute Regiment that day, but it does remind us that we do not know the full story.'

Lord Tebbitt whose wife was maimed in the Brighton bombing and who saw many other people murdered or maimed makes some fine points, including these:

'For my part, I hope that Mr Cameron’s unwillingness to contemplate any more costly open-ended inquiries will not exclude a public inquiry into the Brighton murders at the Conservative Party Conference in 1984. Just as the families of the victims at Londonderry had a right to know whether people in high places had plotted the killings, so the surviving victims and the families of the dead of Brighton deserve to know if the killer Magee acted on his own, or whether the murders were plotted by people in IRA/Sinn Fein – and, if so, who those plotters were.

The victims of Brighton are no less important than those of Londonderry. They should not be treated as second-class victims.

I think that as we study the details of the Saville Report there will be more pointed questions than those asked in the House of Commons. Although it was not mentioned there today, one of the innocent victims was probably carrying nail bombs, as one does on a peaceful protest. We know, too, that while Saville was able to conclude as a matter of fact that the Army should not have been ordered into the Bogside (a matter of opinion, I would have thought), he was less able to be unequivocal about Mr McGuinness. He, it seems, was present at the scene, but only “probably” carrying a submachine gun, which it was “possible” that he may have fired. (This McGuinness denies.)

On the other hand, Saville was able to conclude without qualification that “we are sure that Mr McGuinness did not engage in any activity which justified the shooting”. I may be a trifle old fashioned about carrying submachine guns around the streets and “possibly” firing them, but it does seem to me a practice which, had it happened, might provoke a sharp reaction from potential targets.'

Meanwhile the BBC still report that

'Martin McGuinness has said he hopes the Saville Inquiry will say that everyone killed or injured on Bloody Sunday was unarmed and posing no threat... Mr McGuinness said: "The citizens of Derry, to a man and woman, want Saville to make it absolutely clear that the 27 people who were shot on that day - murdered and injured - were completely innocent people and that those people who inflicted those deaths and injuries were the guilty parties." '

Unarmed apart from the 'nail bombs' presumably?

Norman Tebbit update

I see that Norman Tebbit is today covering the threat of the BNP and putting the BNP firmly where it belongs, on the left not the right of the political spectrum. I have been saying for many years that the BNP are a left wing organisation but that the BBC and others describe them as right wing as that way they can taint all right wing parties with the stigma of racism.

As Norman Tebbit writes:

"So what about the BNP? The trouble is that it is a national socialist party. Take a look at its 2005 election manifesto. You won’t find much about reducing the power of the state and increasing that of the individual. It has a curiously dated air of the 1960s and 1970s, with talk of controlling the commanding heights of the economy and building barriers to trade. To be kind to the BNP, one might call it a corporatist party. To put it more roughly, one might say that it is a fascist party, a Left-wing authoritarian party. One thing is certain. As a socialist party, the BNP can only be part of the problem, not part of the solution."

And as I have also pointed out before:

"across the world, the greatest butchers have been socialists: Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Hitler – not a free market capitalist, low tax, small government man among them."

Quote of the day

"It seems to me that our masters these days are willing to use a carrot and stick approach, but they almost always use the stick on the poor old donkey’s nose and inflict a terrible indignity on the beast with the carrot at its other end."

Norman Tebbit in his new blog. The Chigford skinhead always did have a way with words...

The Brighton Bombing remembered

Not via the vile decision to invite the Brighton bomber Patrick Magee to a a ' forgiveness' event in the House of Commons today, but via the words and pictures of Lord Tebbit and his wife. Read the story ion today's Daily Mail and decide whether you think Patrick Magee deserved to be released from prison ridiculously early. Don't forget that Patrick Magee was sentenced to eight life terms (in 1986) with the recommendation that he serve at least 35 years; he was freed by this weak and terrorist appeasing government in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Patrick Magee should have served his full jail sentence and his bosses and handlers in SinnFein/IRA should not be sitting in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the House of Commons or local government, instead they should be in prison alongside him.

30 years ago today

30 years ago today Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC along with The Dowager Baroness Brabourne, The Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull and local teenager Paul Maxwell, were killed in Ireland by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA.

Some facts about this IRA bombing that are often forgotten:
1. Nicholas Knatchbull's mother and father, along with his twin brother Timothy, survived the explosion but were seriously injured. The injured are often the forgotten victims of bombings and that is as true today in Afghanistan or in London on 7/7 as it was then. Their suffering continues for long after the attack and may like Lady Tebbit's last a lifetime.

2. Sinn Féin's then vice-president Gerry Adams said of Mountbatten's death "The IRA gave clear reasons for the execution. I think it is unfortunate that anyone has to be killed, but the furore created by Mountbatten's death showed up the hypocritical attitude of the media establishment. As a member of the House of Lords, Mountbatten was an emotional figure in both British and Irish politics. What the IRA did to him is what Mountbatten had been doing all his life to other people; and with his war record I don't think he could have objected to dying in what was clearly a war situation. He knew the danger involved in coming to this country. In my opinion, the IRA achieved its objective: people started paying attention to what was happening in Ireland." No compassion, no remorse from Gerry Adams. I wonder what Martin McGuinness has to say about the attack?

3. On the same day that Earl Mountbatten and his companions were killed, the IRA also ambushed and killed eighteen British Army soldiers at Warrenpoint, County Down in what became known as the Warrenpoint ambush.

4. The only bomber arrested for this murderous attack, Thomas McMahon, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in the Republic of Ireland on 23 November 1979, but was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He served less than 20 years for these murders and was released as part of the deal that gave power to the political wing of the organisation that he was part of and was responsible for the killing of so many innocent people.


Earl Mountbatten, Baroness Brabourne, Nicholas Knatchbull and Paul Maxwell - "At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them"

The BBC's view of "The Troubles"

The BBC's coverage of Northern Ireland politics was one of the reasons I got into blogging and I see they are still fixated on Loyalist violence whilst Republican terrorism just whistles past unmentioned upon. Here is a piece entitled "Burning of Bombay St 40 years on" which runs:

"When sectarian tensions exploded in Belfast and Londonderry in the summer of 1969, trouble spilled onto the streets.

However, one street suffered more than most, as the homes of Catholic families living in Bombay Street in west Belfast were burnt by loyalists.

Four decades on, Conor Macauley speaks to those who were forced to flee."

I wonder if in November the BBC will run a piece to commemorate 26 years since one person died and almost 200 were injured in bomb attacks in London; one bomb blew up outside the Old Bailey and the other went off outside Scotland Yard. One of the convicted men, Gerry Kelly, later served on the Sinn Fein delegation that negotiated the Good Friday Agreement.

I presume the BBC will be giving similar coverage to the 25th anniversary of the Brighton bombing when the IRA targeted the British government by detonating a bomb at the hotel in Brighton, where much of the Conservative cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was staying during the party conference. Five people are killed – including an MP and Normal Tebbit's wife amongst many others was maimed for life. The bomb had been planted several weeks earlier by Patrick Magee, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the attack. He was released in 1999 under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. You can read more about Patrick Magee and the Brighton bombing here. Maybe the BBC could interview survivors of the explosion such as Lord and Lady Tebbit, or are Norman Tebbit's views not acceptable to the BBC unless he is criticising David Cameron or raising the subject of Europe of course.

I wonder if the BBC will devote any attention to the 20th anniversary on 22 September of the bombing of the recreation centre at the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal which killed 11 soldiers.

I didn't notice the BBC reminding us in August that it was 30 years since the IRA blew up the Queen’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten and several others on his yacht in Ireland. A few hours later 18 British soldiers were killed in two booby-trap bomb explosions near Warrenpoint close to the border with the Irish Republic. The IRA claimed responsibility for that attack as well.

The BBC love their terrorists but are not so keen on the UK armed forces, Conservative politicians or Londoners it would seem.

Lord Tebbit cooks Evan Davis's pheasant

In reality it's too early to eat pheasant, but I love eating and cooking game and admire Lord Tebbit.

A murderer is to visit the scene of his crime

I am sickened to read in The Mail that:

"The man who blew up a Brighton hotel in the IRA's most deadly attack in Britain has been invited back to the city for the 25th anniversary of the blast.

Patrick Magee killed five people when he planted a bomb at a hotel hosting the Conservative Party conference in October 1984.

He almost succeeded in assassinating the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and killed government whip, Sir Anthony Berry, with his 30lb bomb.

An official commemoration marking the bombing is being planned at the Brighton Grand hotel and will be led by the Tory peer Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret, who was paralysed in the blast.

They will unveil a memorial plaque on 12 October, 25 years on from a bomb blast that shocked British society."

So one of the men who committed mass murder (5 people is a mass, right) is to visit the scene of his crime. Who on earth is inviting him?

"Sir Anthony's daughter, Jo Berry, has invited Magee after they became good friends since his early release from prison in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday agreement.

'I'm sure it [inviting Magee] will be a controversial move but I've thought long and hard about it,' said Ms Berry in the Independent.

'The reason why I feel OK about inviting Pat down is because the film is bigger than the two of us and it is about creating something positive from conflict. Pat's in a very different place to where he was 25 years ago.'"

Oh excellent, one
of the murdered's relatives, that's a nice touch. Anyway, why isn't Magee still in prison for this act of premeditated mass murder? Oh sorry he was released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, that was the piece of vile legislation that saw the release of murderers and other criminals so they, their associates and bosses could serve as politicians in Northern Ireland and beyond. They were released so that Tony Blair could look good by claiming to bring peace to Northern Ireland when in fact he had just sold out a part of the UK to terrorists and related scum.

Is there nobody who sees Macgee for what he is? Well there is:

"The invitation is likely to cause controversy, not least for Lord Tebbit who has said he can never forgive Magee.

He said he would only want to bump into the Irishman 'with a heavy truck'.

Margaret and Norman Tebbit were buried under tonnes of rubble as the ceiling above them collapsed. It took firemen hours to reach them and both were severely injured.

But while Lord Tebbit recovered fully from his injuries, Margaret has been paralysed from the neck down for the past 25 years and has needed round-the-clock carers.

Exact plans for the official commemoration at the Brighton Grand have still to be finalised, but Mr Tebbit and his wife will unveil a memorial plaque. Invitations have also gone out to fellow survivors."

I hope that Magee does not even try to turn up at the Brighton Grand commemoration in October, and if he does I hope someone ushers him away, as to my mind his presence their would be a vile act. After all do we invite John Demjanjuk to commemorations at the Nazi Sobibor death camp? Do we invite Oskar Groening to Auschwitz for commemorative ceremonies?

Any Questions

I am in a slight state of shock at the composition of tonight's Any Questions panel, it is not stuffed full of left leaning panellists:

Professor ROBERT WINSTON, Labour peer - Should be interesting on abortion debate

LORD (NORMAN) TEBBIT: Conservative peer - Not exactly a "Cameroonie"; maybe the BBC have invited him on to embarrass David Cameron but I think he should be too astute for that

AMANDA PLATELL: columnist and broadcaster - Her politics are varied, a Labour supporter who became the press secretary for William Hague before writing a less than complimentary election diary.

JOHN HARRIS: Guardian columnist and writer - Also a self-confessed active member of "Compass" since 2005 and in June a believer that Labour culd be saved.

So no Lib Dems on tonight's panel.

I have no doubts that Amanda Platell's links with the Conservative party will be mentioned by Jonathan Dimbleby. I am somewhat less certain that he will mention John Harris's political allegiances, after all aren't all right thinking journalists Labour supporters?


UPDATE:
Lord Robert Winston - Labour
Lord Norman Tebbit - Conservative
Amanda Platell - Links to William Hague
John Harris - Disillusioned Labour
Fairer than I feared.

Another unbiased BBC presenter

Jenni Murray is having her diaries serialised in The Daily Mail and I found these bits online.

"I, though, was Left-wing, and found (Tony) Benn utterly charming. I opened the programme with a long history of his credentials."

"Norman Tebbit - the rottweiler of the Conservative Party - known for tearing inadequate interviewers limb from limb... while we gave each other a combative turn during the interview..."

So do the BBC consider it fine for "left-wing" Jenni to open a programme with Tony Benn with a "long history of his credentials" and to have a "combative" approach to an interview with Norman Tebbit? BBC pro-left wingers at every turn.