Tag Archives: Newsnight

BBC ‘corrects’ Newsnight anti-Semitism lies against Jeremy Corbyn

How the BBC treats Jeremy Corbyn: remember the Newsnight backdrop making him look like a Soviet-style Communist?

Why is the BBC only ‘correcting’ its lie about Jeremy Corbyn on Newsnight? What about all the other occasions the same falsehood has been repeated on its programmes?

The corporation has issued a statement on its “corrections and clarifications” web page, as illustrated in the tweet below that juxtaposes the offence with the explanation:

The correction, dated April 13, 2023, reads:

“BBC Two, 28 March 2023

“In an item about Labour’s National Executive Committee voting to stop former leader Jeremy Corbyn running as a candidate in the next general election, we referenced the row over antisemitism in the party and Mr Corbyn’s “refusal to offer up any kind of apology for that”. We also questioned whether he would refuse to apologise “as he has all the way up to now” if antisemitism came up in an election campaign.

“To be clear, Mr Corbyn apologised for antisemitism in Labour on a number of occasions as Party Leader, including ahead of a meeting with Jewish community leaders in April 2018. In 2020, after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigated antisemitism in the party and found unlawful harassment and discrimination, Labour suspended Mr Corbyn after he said he did not accept all the EHRC findings and said the scale of antisemitism had been ‘dramatically overstated’.”

But isn’t even the correction misleading?

But what about the falsehoods in other BBC programmes, such as Politics Live?

Consider the utterances of Rafael Behr and Jenny Chapman on February 20 this year, here:

Or those of Siobahn McDonagh and Sebastian Payne on March 27 this year, here:

The BBC may well try to duck out of responsibility by saying these were the words of guests on its programmes – but of course those words were not corrected by any BBC representative, despite the corporation’s duty to report the facts.

Jenny Chapman referred to “integrity and credibility”. By failing to correct all instances in which falsehoods about Mr Corbyn were uttered on its programmes, the BBC trashes its own reputation for either.

Source: BBC apologise for Corbyn anti-Semitism slurs

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Something for the weekend: Newsnight jokers link Budget with drug song

Someone was having a laugh – but it was well-targeted.

At the top of March 15’s BBC Newsnight programme, somebody mixed Jeremy Hunt’s Budget speech with the song ‘Sorted for E’s and Wizz’ by Pulp.

The relevance was Hunt’s motif of four ‘pillars’ of the economy – each represented by the letter ‘E’.

But the clip ended with the immortal line, “In the middle of the night it feels all right but then tomorrow morning… ooh, then you come down” – which is almost certainly how we all felt after subjecting Hunt’s speech to a bit of analysis.

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Shrewsbury Tory Kawczynski is like the tell-tale at school – flings accusations around then runs like fun

Daniel Kawczynski: apparently he’s scared of being bullied by anyone. How did he get to be an MP?

What a strange creature Daniel Kawczynski is.

It seems he has refused a chance to appear on the BBC’s Newsnight because he is afraid that presenter Emily Maitlis will bully him.

Notice that Liam (above) points out that Kawczynski can’t recognise a bully when he’s working with one; Priti Patel was found to be a bully by a Cabinet Office inquiry but this is what he had to say about her when the allegations were made, in March:

It gets worse. After running away from Maitlis, cowardly Kawczynsi ran away from his own public – first by switching off replies to his tweet, so he wouldn’t have to field criticism, and then by deleting the tweet altogether:

Fat lot of good it did him. Look how many times it has been reproduced in this article alone!

Finally, it seems Kawczynski is an old hand when it comes to accusations against Newsnight:

It seems he only considered taking action, mind.

Kawczynski’s grudge against Newsnight and Maitlis goes back a long way – look it up with your favourite search engine.

He really does seem to have an axe to grind…

And absolutely no sense of judgement about where to swing it.

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Bone-head: Tory Brexiteer humiliates himself in Newsnight interview

Peter Bone: he appears to be auditioning for a role as the Ghost of Brexit Yet to Come.

Peter Bone made a name for himself as an annoyance to David Cameron during Prime Minister’s Questions, back between 2010 and 2016.

Now it seems he is embarking on a new career as an embarrassment to the whole Conservative Party.

That was certainly the effect of his Newsnight interview on September 11.

Watch it for yourself:

If your head is spinning after listening to all that self-justifying waffle, I’ve found some handy comments to clear up what he was saying and why it is tripe:

(I think maybe some of these commenters were a bit “tired and emotional” when they were typing these messages. @elisled2, above, probably meant a “waiting” game, rather than a “whiting” game, whatever that may be.)

Well, not all of the comments made sense of what he was saying…

Needless to say, his performance prompted criticism of its own:

Perhaps the best summary came from a parody account:

I’m sure some people supported what he had to say – sad, misled people.

But it seems clear that most of the UK is sick of him, of his party, and of their constant failures.

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Emily Maitlis: enemy of the State?

Record of dissent: Ms Maitlis attracted attention in April when she criticised the Johnson government’s attempts to handle the Covid-19 crisis.

The BBC has apologised to the government after Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis delivered a highly-critical account of the Dominic Cummings affair at the start of an edition of the late-night news show.

The problem is that her monologue was accurate:

‘Lefty’ columnist Owen Jones was quick to make the logical connection:

He’s right that it is not how functioning democracies behave.

It is the way dictatorships behave.

Some of us told you last year – before the general election – that Johnson wanted to run a dictatorship rather than a democratic government, but too few people listened.

Now This Site’s prediction has come to pass. And with Johnson holding an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons, matters can only get worse.

The scandal is escalating, with the BBC accused of replacing Ms Maitlis on the May 27 edition of Newsnight, which it is understood she was due to present. The person who did present the show, Katie Razzall…

… Newsnight editor Esme Wren…

… and deputy editor Stewart Maclean…

… all denied that Ms Maitlis had been forced to step back from the show. And the presenter herself…

… explained that she had “asked for the night off” (after a five-hour pause).

All very plausible. But in a dicatorship, anyone who had been coerced into such actions would have said the same.

And the BBC’s behaviour in this matter has not been honourable.

Ms Maitlis has ‘form’ for attracting ire from Tory politicians; she triggered attacks from the Tories after she criticised Johnson’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis in April:

I wrote at the time: “The speech flags up a new attitude in the BBC.

“Maitlis, and her editors, are showing more criticism of the Tory government than they have in the last, what, 10 years?

“The decision to highlight the fact that poor people are disproportionately likely to suffer, because of the way our society is currently ordered, is extremely important – if media organisations like the BBC follow through on it.

“Public opinion is hugely influenced by the media – and public opinion is what shapes our society.”

Perhaps the Tories were reading and have taken steps. But can they stop us drawing the logical conclusion?

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Coronavirus: Maitlis praised for pointing out nobody is saved by fortitude and character

Speech: Emily Maitlis laid out some facts about the coronavirus that made laid bare the falseness of Tory rhetoric.

This is an extraordinary speech:

It’s a spot-on speech; the coronavirus doesn’t affect us all equally.

She accurately states that: “Bus drivers and shelf-stackers, nurses, care home workers, hospital staff and shopkeepers are disproportionately the lower-paid members of our workforce.

“They are more likely to catch the disease because they are more exposed.”

When was the last time you heard of a member of the so-called “one per cent” – society’s highest earners – falling victim to coronavirus? If they did, it was probably due to Boris Johnson-style stupidity.

The speech flags up a new attitude in the BBC.

Maitlis, and her editors, are showing more criticism of the Tory government than they have in the last, what, 10 years?

Those of us who bother to watch the daily briefings have even seen it in Laura Kuennsberg’s questions to whichever Tory minister is standing in for Johnson at the time.

The decision to highlight the fact that poor people are disproportionately likely to suffer, because of the way our society is currently ordered, is extremely important – if media organisations like the BBC follow through on it.

Public opinion is hugely influenced by the media – and public opinion is what shapes our society.

Source: Emily Maitlis praised as she slams ‘misleading’ language used amid coronavirus crisis | London Evening Standard

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Johnson’s crime crackdown busted: ‘This is just bluster to get headlines and get votes’

Boris Johnson: He may learn very quickly that he must think before making unsupportable announcements.

All it takes to destroy Boris Johnson’s bluster is a little in-depth questioning – as Emma Barnett proved when she destroyed Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the deputy chair of the Commons public accounts committee on the BBC’s Newsnight yesterday (August 12).

The big question is: Why don’t the mainstream news media do this more often?

The public would be better-informed – so these news outlets would be carrying out their duty.

And, as far as the BBC is concerned, it would look good to Ofcom, which is currently investigating the corporation for breaches of its impartiality rule.

Here’s the video clip; it’s highly enjoyable:

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BBC defends decision to put Islamophobic white-nationalists on discussion of Christchurch massacre

Impartial? The far-right group Generation Identity was given a platform for its racism on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, where its UK leader was apparently allowed to present his views unchallenged.

Who can keep up with the proliferation of racist, far-right political organisations since the Conservatives slithered back into office in 2010 and started spreading divisive propaganda everywhere?

Political austerity tends to give fascism an opportunity to take root in a society and the UK may well become a textbook example of the phenomenon for historians of the future.

The Tories themselves have encouraged this rise, with their acts of hate against people who are sick and/or disabled, job seekers, immigrants – and descendants of immigrants, and foreigners in general.

Now representatives of these – let’s be honest and call them – fascists are being invited onto our TV screens by the BBC, which should know better.

It’s justification? Apparently it is important to challenge hateful ideologies.

That’s all very well, but is that what happened?

According to the i website, viewers were incensed that the BBC would “give an essentially unchallenged platform to Generation Identity, letting their UK leader spread their ideas and hate”.

The BBC can only claim to have “examined and challenged ideologies that drive hate crimes” if it can show that it actually did so. It seems clear that this did not happen.

This Writer hopes that Ofcom, which is carrying out an inquiry into the BBC’s claims of impartiality, takes note of this latest stain on the corporation’s character.

“BBC has defended its decision to feature the group claiming it was ‘important’ to challenge hateful ideologies.

“A spokesperson for Newsnight told i: ‘It is important we examine and challenge ideologies that drive hate crimes in a wider context, whether they have been distorted, and the connection they may have with any European or UK groups.’”

Source: BBC Newsnight defends inviting far-right Generation Identity to discuss the New Zealand terror attack

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The strange tale of the ‘Vicar of Brexit’ (Why the BBC shouldn’t host the Brexit debate part 1)

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:

But it seemed Lynn was not all she appeared to be:

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:

Nobody was convinced – especially Stevie, below:

https://twitter.com/StevieCABZ/status/1068172728010711046

“Not a leader of any real, physical church entity”? Then what kind of vicar could “Lynn” be? Well, Stevie had a few answers for us:

https://twitter.com/StevieCABZ/status/1068117406231523328

That’s “Hayter”, it seems.

“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!”

This is true, as Stevie discovered:

https://twitter.com/StevieCABZ/status/1068133169344450560

So the claim that she was a priest, if taken according to the accepted use of the term, falls. What about the claim that she is an actor?

The above profile on mandy.com suggests that she is, as does the list of credits below:

https://twitter.com/StevieCABZ/status/1068134182449233921

And here’s Evolve Politics again:

“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:

And this:

And this:

Also this:

That satirists got in on the act quickly:

https://twitter.com/GuitarMoog/status/1068186661186666496

But of course, that did not mean Newsnight should not receive harsher criticism:

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?

No.

Neither do I.

But there is worse to follow…

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Corbyn’s rating falls in ComRes poll – due to bad propaganda?

The interview that caused the problem: It seems it was only half an interview, in fact. Having got her headline, Laura Kuenssberg appears to have neglected to ask Jeremy Corbyn the most important question of all.

The interview that caused the problem: It seems it was only half an interview, in fact. Having got her headline, Laura Kuenssberg appears to have neglected to ask Jeremy Corbyn the most important question of all.

Needless to say, the Corbyn-haters were on This Writer’s back as soon as the Independent published the results of the ComRes poll that claimed Jeremy Corbyn was extremely unpopular with UK voters.

The first thought that occurs is how interesting it is that an anti-Corbyn poll result should become available so soon after one that was very much pro-Corbyn. Now why would that happen..?

The second refers to the claim that he would not adequately defend the UK against terrorism, which seems to come from a Newsnight interview with Laura Kuenssberg mentioned in the Independent article.

On that subject, I’ll pass you on to Oliver Tickell, who wrote the following in the Ecologist article I quote in a piece elsewhere on this blog:

“And then there was his interview with the BBC’s perspicacious political editor Laura Kuenssberg, broadcast on Monday, in which he said – among many other things – that he would prioritise the prevention of terrorism over ‘shooting to kill’ terrorists on the streets.

“”I’m not happy with the shoot-to-kill policy in general”, he told her. “I think that is quite dangerous and I think can often can be counterproductive. I think you have to have security that prevents people firing off weapons where you can, there are various degrees for doing things as we know. But the idea you end up with a war on the streets is not a good thing.”

“These are the words that launched a thousand attacks. Note – there was no outright refusal to allow security forces to shoot and kill terrorists in all circumstances. That’s what he meant, surely, by the words “there are various degrees for doing things as we know.”

“But first, this was just the concluding few seconds of a long (nine minute) interview in which he spoke in careful and measured terms: asking where ISIS was getting its money and weapons were coming from; demanding enhanced security in Britain and across Europe to prevent any further attacks like those in Paris; pointing out that there was no such thing as Al Qaida in Iraq before the war began in 2003; seeking the involvement of the United Nations in Syria; highlighting the role of communities in tackling extremism; calling on Cameron to rescind police cuts that would damage their ability to combat terrorism; condemning ISIS in firm and absolute terms; and seeking political rather than merely military solutions to international problems.

“In short, there was absolutely nothing that any informed and rational person could disagree with.

“And here’s the mystery. Kuenssberg is always good at nailing down the key, defining question. And the obvious follow-up to Corbyn’s reluctance to endorse “war on our streets” was, surely: “But just to be completely clear for our listeners Mr Corbyn, would you or would you not agree to the use of lethal force against terrorists if that was necessary to save civilian lives?”

“But this is the question that was not put. Did Kuenssberg know that she had what she wanted ‘in the can’ and that any further question would only detract from its impact? Was a BBC producer yelling “Cut!” into her ear?

“Because what Corbyn would have said in answer to that question is surely something like this: “The overwhelming priority must be to stop war breaking out on our streets in the first place. But obviously yes, if a terrorist attack is taking place and civilian lives are at risk, security forces must respond appropriately and at times that will mean shooting and killing terrorists – not as a kneejerk response but as a last resort. Because what we should be trying to do is to disarm and arrest them and hold them accountable for their crimes.””

Source: Shooting to kill Corbyn – the coup is on – The Ecologist

It is possible to say we don’t know Corbyn would say that. It would certainly have been welcome for him to have been given the opportunity. Instead, anti-Corbyn activists have leapt to the attack and succeeded in damaging him in the eyes of the public – an opinion that has nothing to do with the facts or with discussion of the issues, and everything to do with making an emotive response.

The third thought that occurs is that ComRes habitually puts Labour a long way behind the Tories. This allegedly catastrophic 15-point trail indicates a loss of only two points for Labour – points that go to UKIP and not the Conservative Party. This may very well be a rogue poll in more ways than one, with the Tory lead over-exaggerated and public responses skewed by the false impression from the Newsnight interview.

Twice as many voters have an unfavourable view of Jeremy Corbyn as have a favourable one, according to a ComRes opinion poll for The Independent on Sunday – an 8-point increase in his unfavourable rating since September, when he was elected Labour leader.

After Mr Corbyn appeared reluctant to say he would order British police to shoot to kill if faced with a terrorist attack similar to that in Paris, the public are twice as likely to say they trust David Cameron to keep them and their family safe (39 per cent) as they are to say they trust Mr Corbyn (17 per cent).

The change in Labour support “if there were a general election tomorrow” may not be significant in itself, down 2 points, but the Conservative lead of 15 points is the highest recorded by any pollster since January 2010.

Conservative 42% (0)

Labour 27% (-2)

UKIP 15% (+2)

Lib Dem 7% (0)

Green 3% (0)

(Change since last month in brackets.)

Labour MPs are said to be thinking of unseating Mr Corbyn after just 10 weeks as leader, but only 20 per cent of Labour voters agree that MPs “should remove” him, while 56 per cent disagree, and 24 per cent don’t know.

Source: Corbyn’s rating falls in ComRes poll for The Independent on Sunday

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