Stephen Doughty: Labour MP’s on-air resignation ‘prearranged by the BBC’
![Stephen Doughty's resignation provoked a storm on the social media [Image: Daily Mail].](https://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/160108doughtymail.jpg)
Stephen Doughty’s resignation provoked a storm on the social media [Image: Daily Mail].
Laura Kuenssberg (Tory) got wind that Stephen Doughty was resigning over the Labour reshuffle.
She then arranged for him to do it live on the BBC’s Daily Politics show, chaired by Andrew Neil (Tory) – right before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, in order to ensure it had the maximum adverse impact on Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
The evidence seems incontrovertible: Of course it shows right-wing bias by the BBC’s newsgathering department; of course the BBC engineered the news.
Now all the apologists are scurrying around, trying to justify what happened after the Corporation was called out over the matter.
Too bad, boys and girls. You thought you could get away with it but you can’t.
They’ll do it again if they can, because – like the Tories they support – they don’t learn from their mistakes.
The BBC has been criticised after it emerged it arranged for shadow foreign affairs minister Stephen Doughty to quit live on air.
The Labour minister dramatically resigned on the BBC’s Daily Politics show moments before the start of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Mr Doughty was one of three shadow ministers to step down following the sacking of Europe spokesman Pat McFadden, who had criticised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s “soft” stance on terrorism.
In a blog post for the BBC’s Journalism Academy – which has since been deleted – the output editor for the programme, Andrew Alexander, explained how Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg had “sealed the deal” for Mr Doughty to exclusively break his resignation live on air.
But critics on Twitter have claimed this is a sign of the Corporation’s right wing “bias” and have accused it of “engineering the news”.
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Good for Laura. Smart idea.
You think it’s a smart idea to bring the BBC further into disrepute?
It furthers the Tory agenda, so if you’re a Tory, I suppose that makes sense.
For the rest of us it isn’t smart at all.
No, I’m just a member of the Labour Party for 30 years and want to see Corbyn gone within the next few months. Anything longer will be terminal.
So you’re a supporter of neoliberal New Labour, then?
I can understand why you would want Corbyn out in that case.
Of course, a return to the ways of Blair, Brown, Miliband and their supporters would be terminal for the Labour Party and would plunge the UK into perpetual Tory rule, so I’m sticking to my assumption that you have adopted a pro-Tory position.
Here’s me, silly fellow, thinking that the BBC was unbiased. Although the BBC is tory at heart, the tories still want to destroy it. A funny old world. The last several BBC political correspondents have all been tory. Whither democracy?
I reckon there should be a few Labour MPs selected for deselection come the next General Election.
In Scotland we get sold Labour, in England it’s Tories.
The BBC is a cesspit of corruption and propaganda outlet for the establishment and robbed us of our independence
In one of the articles about the BBC’s engineering of the Doughty resignation, Labour’s John Woodcock makes reference to your point about Scotland:
“Another Labour MP, John Woodcock, also came to the BBC’s defence, tweeting: ‘We rightly deride SNP for their unhinged claim that BBC was biased in the referendum. We shouldn’t let unnamed sources drag us to that level.’”
I’m with him on the subject of the SNP’s claim – but not when it comes to pro-Tory bias.
As an SNP supporter, you see what you want.
We were constantly lied to and still are: Fact is fact; https://youtu.be/5EMLOTsimSs
This instance you cite is one about which I myself complained to the BBC. While the response was utterly unsatisfactory (look it up on This Blog) it in no way signifies “constant” lies.
Disgraceful Manipulation by the BBC
This also says a fair bit about Doughty
the guy who resigned is s creep. we need to get rid of all the closet tories and blairites.
how many more to resign. hilary benn should out a few more when he eventually resigns.