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"If...", BBC, complaint, Conservative, David Cameron, James Landale, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, politics, Rudyard Kipling, Tories, Tory, Vox Political, website
Rudyard Kipling, earlier today. Oh no, it’s just some BBC/Tory reporter-goon who thinks ruining a terrific poem in tribute to a lousy politician is a good idea.
The BBC desperately needs to get some balance back into its political coverage.
I’ve just had to use the Corporation’s complaint form, after reading James Landale’s ill-advised attempt to give homage to David Cameron for the comedy Prime Minister’s speech on Europe, delivered today after much delay and to little effect.
You can read Landale’s piece here, if you really want to. Fans of Rudyard Kipling – or of poetry in general – would be well-advised to skip it.
Here’s what I said:
James Landale’s blog entry, cannibalising Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If…’ to render sycophantic praise to David Cameron over his EU speech does not belong on a website belonging to a public service broadcaster that claims to be unbiased.
It is offensive, not only to those of us who find Mr Cameron odious in the extreme and his policies inept and opportunist, but also to those of us who enjoy good poetry and Kipling in particular.
Is the BBC announcing an intention to become a minority-interest broadcaster, serving the purposes of the Conservatives? If so, will I and the other 60-odd per cent of the UK who don’t support that particular gang be receiving licence fee rebates?
If not, I suggest you remove this offensive article and apologise for ever allowing it to go up in the first place.
I know you’ve been saddled with a Tory as chairman of the board but let’s have some balance in your reporting, please. You are making yourselves look ridiculous.
Fair enough?
Mike Sivier's blog 
What’s the betting the BBC and Landale respond by saying “It’s just a bit of fun”? They should bloody well grow up.
Ban the beeb. Tory mouthpiece.
More than fair, I’d say.
A co-ordinated licence strike may well be the only way of reclaiming our public broadcaster from any government. It is very wrong that such blatant Lord Haw-Hawing should be paid for by people that have barely enough money to keep the heat on. If it were not for the web I would be tearing my hair out trying to get any decent news and analysis, I’m not talking about bias confirmation either, I want the facts reported and then I can explore the issue further and make up my own mind. That is what I thought the BBC was supposed to do.
I was thinking the same about the BBC, simply by watching the news at lunch time. All their bumff about unemployment being down, job-seekers benefits being down etc, people in work being up. Where do they count all those on the work programmes or who have simply had their benefits stopped.
Good question… maybe they’re included in the suicide figures that have increased alarmingly?
I agree the BBC is just a Tory mouthpiece and watching the lunchtime news thought exactly as you. Unemployment is not down, it is a blatant lie. I asked Grant Shapps today in the “rise” in unemployment is corporating the 100’s of 1000s of former NHS public sector workers who now suddenly find themselves reclassified as private sector workers and working for companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Care!
Falling Unemployment? Are You Sure Mr Cameron? Time To Come Clean and Stop Your Abuse of Power!
http://cameron-cloggysmoralcompass.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/falling-unemployment-are-you-sure-mr.html
I think more than 60% would strike …. Its a ridiculous tax anyway, and we are the only country in Europe that has it!
If you are referring to the TV Licence then no we are not the only country in Europe that has it. They have it in France if not elsewhere. I agree that the BBC is far to accepting of Government figures. Nobody I saw on the news today bothered to question the supposed drop in unemployment. If not biased then extremely lazy.
The Tories should pay for their own propaganda and abolish the licence fee!
I haven’t had a TV license for about three months now, purely for this reason, the blatent lies and propaganda were driving me nuts. When the license so called inspector banged on my door last week, I told him i don’t have one and nor was i about to purchase one. ” oh and why is that” he asked, i told him the reasons and he said ” fine, i’ll be back in ten minutes with the police and a warrant to search your property”. He never came back yet, but no doubt he will, and i will say the same, until the bbc start reprtorting real news without bias, there is no gain to me to purchase such a product. Especially when they tell me i’m a shirker every day.
Love your blogs Mike Silver, keep pursuing Gidiot Osborne
A TV Licence Strike would be a great idea.Most people hate paying for the Propaganda BBC.It is so blatantly biased now.
I would not mind not receiving the BBC at all,if I could opt out I would.The fee is expensive for those on low incomes.
Reblogged this on HUMAN RIGHTS & POLITICAL JOURNAL.
Reblogged this on skwalker1964 and commented:
I’ve blogged regularly about the fall of the BBC under the undue influence of the Tories. This post by Mike Sivier highlights a classic and blatant case of BBC sycophantism and bias toward the party of the rich minority. If you want to join in the complaints (though the BBC’s record on complaint responses is woeful, as I’ve also blogged several times), you can do so here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/
I have submitted a bias complaint to the BBC about the news program I mentioned above, suggesting that a report would have more credibility if it questioned where these reductions had come from rather than simply copy & paste lists from Coalition propaganda sheets. I’ll wait and see what they say but I expect it will be another copy and paste job. I doubt if they pay any more heed to the public than their masters do.
The BBC used to have a worldwide good reputation for careful and correct reporting of events from around the world, reported without real bias, unfortunately the recent reporting has been uninspiring to say the least. A total lack of fact checking.