This was an oddity. I was intrigued when the word “Marina” turned up on my Twitter trends.
Sadly, Twitter being what it is, clicking on that word produced a plethora of tweets about or by people called Marina, and I couldn’t see the relevance to politics.
Fortunately Maximilien Robespierre was around to put me out of my misery.
It referred to a commentator called Marina Purkiss, who had clashed with a caller to Jeremy Vine’s TV programme.
This person had claimed that the Labour Party is “institutionally corrupt” and should never be allowed to have power.
Here’s Robespierres‘s commentary on what happened:
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It’s a reference to a placard protest by Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russian state-controlled TV Channel 1.
Her placard read: “No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.”
She was arrested, and has been fined 30,000 roubles for breaking protest laws in that country. A lucky escape – the maximum punishment is 15 years in prison.
It was a brave protest in the face of state censorship – but it has brought on a wave of hypocrisy from the west.
News outlets here in the UK have universally praised Ms Ovsyannikova – but have shown hardly a scrap of support for someone in prison in this country for doing much the same:
But here in the UK, one is raised up for praise while the other is cast down and ignored, even though his fate may be worse than hers could have been.
Doesn’t that make the UK’s news outlets just as bad as those in Russia?
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A priest, we’re told: Lynn Hayter in one of the costumes she apparently uses on a day-to-day basis as the leader of Seeds for Wealth Ministries on Facebook, which apparently has 69 members. Gosh!
The BBC is working hard to be the channel that hosts a debate on Brexit between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. There’s just one problem – the BBC appears to be a pro-Tory fake news outlet.
It seems that, on Monday (November 26), the BBC’s Newsnight show featured a Brexit-supporting priest named “Lynn” in an apparently-genuine debate on Theresa May’s Brexit deal:
"The reason they are sitting there is that they know far more about what's going on then we do. I've been a Conservative all my life and I back Prime Minister May."
Apparently, according to @AdamBienkov, the fact a woman who is not a vicar & who appeared on Newsnight wearing a dog collar & supporting May’s Brexit deal, having previously appeared in many BBC shows, is perfectly normal & if the think otherwise you’re a conspiracy theorist
So the allegation was that “Lynn” was not a qualified vicar, but was definitely a person who had appeared as an actor in BBC productions – but the BBC was denying that there was anything shady about her, and was claiming that anyone suggesting this must be a conspiracy theorist. Here’s what the Newsnight team had to say – and a response that suggests the social media sleuths were way ahead of the game:
“Pastor at her own, minute Facebook church”? That deserves a little extra digging – but here‘s Evolve Politics, a social media news site that has already done the hard work for us:
“Whilst Lynn is not a genuine vicar, she does regularly attend church. However, the church in question is her own.
“Yes… Lynn is … the creator of the “Seeds For Wealth Ministries”, who describe themselves as a religious organisation who can help you “realize, release and walk into your financial freedom in Christ. To Educate, Equip and Empower the saints.”
“Newsnight’s claims that Lynn is “a pastor” are incredibly misleading. Pastors are merely church leaders, and anybody can start their own church with absolutely no registration or official documentation needed.
“Hayter also calls herself a “minister” on her acting profile and on her Facebook page, and anybody is free to become ordained as a minister on the internet!”
“She is, in fact, an actor – and not only that, she has previously worked as a minor cast member on numerous BBC programmes.
“Lynn’s full name is Lynn Marina Hayter, and uses her middle name for her acting work.
“Lynn’s past acting work includes playing a Drunkard on the BBC show Eastenders, playing a “Theatre goer” on the BBC show The Dresser, playing a female beggar in the BBC programme Dickensian, and was cast as a nurse in the BBC show The Chronicles.
“Having been cast by the corporation on numerous occasions, Lynn is clearly a figure well known to BBC producers.
“And… her repertoire extends through many ranges, including – one would assume – the part of a supposedly pro-Tory vicar on a prime time political debate programme.”
So: Not a genuine priest, if by that we mean a member of a recognised church. But a genuine actor, and one known to the BBC. And the BBC is unlikely to admit trying to deceive us, so we have reason to doubt its claims.
Is that enough for an ordinary person to decide the Corporation has deceived us? Consider this:
Week after week we have a procession of scam artists appearing on @BBCNewsnight@bbcquestiontime and @SkyNews under the guise of audience participants or official commentators from opaquely funded lobbyists masquerading as educational charities….who checks these people out? pic.twitter.com/3UQwdKALQi
Lies lies lies. She is a paid actor. It is her job. She is not an ordained pastor – she is a right-wing, Trump supporting fantasist who calls herself a pastor. Using an actor posing as a member of the public to support the government is a RESIGNING matter.https://t.co/y0gS2PkTQBhttps://t.co/cpbB30IM62
Jesus @BBCNews do you actively recruit actors to play the role of ardent Brexcrementalists or are you too inept to research your interviewees? https://t.co/HljwXx6mhx
Dear @BBCNewsnight I wish to apply to appear on your actor-manager show on any subject. Yours sincerely, Monsignor George Galloway, Parish of Nowhere, Archdiocese of Brigadoon, Scotland.
No one believes you. It's only a few weeks since you photoshopped a photograph of Mr Corbyn to make him look Russian. You are completly corrupt. @bbc@bbcnews#bbcnews#VicarGate
These are hard words for an organisation that claims to pride itself on its impartiality – and there is clearly enough information here to cast doubt on that claim.
But the BBC wants to host the big debate on Brexit between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. If it wins the rights to the broadcast, do you think the programme it produces will be impartial?
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