Swimmer on the run...?

More daft misuse of words from lazy journalists - this time by a BBC sports commentator at the Commonwealth Games in Dehli who should surely no better.

He's just broadcast on Radio4's PM programme that a particular swimmer was so fast that "she has stolen the medal - and I do mean stolen the medal".

How unsporting!

Let's hear Cameron's excuses...

New Labour Leader Ed Miliband today demonstrated the nonsense of The Tory Sun's 'Red Ed' label when he urged union leaders to call off a planned broadcast black-out of the Prime Minister's Conservative Conference speech next week.

Everyone should have the opportunity to hear Mr Cameron's words. We all need to know how he can justifies unfair cuts to make pensioners and the low-wage workers pay for the mistakes of the greedy bankers who sent us into world recession.

BBC unpicks Cameron's claim of 'Broken Britain'

Glad to see I wasn't alone in raising an eyebrow at David Cameron exploiting the horrific Edlington torture case last week.

Today, the BBC's Mark Easton questions how honest Cameron is being on his claims.

Read and make your own judgement who's telling porkies...

Same old Tories, eh?

Spending your BBC licence fee...

Revelations this week that more than two dozen BBC executives are paid more than the Prime Minister seem to put the parliamentary expenses scandal into some sort of perspective...

Golly-gosh: Boris defends Carol Thatcher in BBC row...

Not surprised Boris Johnson defends Carol Thatcher after she described a black tennis player as a 'gollywog'...

After all, wasn't it Boris himself who described African people as 'piccaninnies with water-melon smiles...?'.

Same old Tories eh?

BBC accused of denying humanitarian aid to Gaza...

The BBC stands accused of being 'complicit in denying humanitarian aid' in Gaza.

And if the BBC bosses who refuse to allow a non-political appeal for aid for Gaza, maybe this article will help them see sense and change their minds.

BBC has lost the plot over Gaza appeal...

The BBC has taken a shameful and outrageous decision for totally spurious reasons NOT to broadcast an appeal by the respected Disasters Emergency Committee to send aid to Gaza.

It is a decision that MUST be overturned without delay to help save children and show the world that at least the British people have some compassion for the suffering innocents.

UPDATE: The Times says the BBC has been isolated by ITV, C4 and C5 who have all agreed to boradcast the appeal on Monday. There's also all-party pressure from Government Ministers and the Opposition to the BBC's bizarre decision.

But so far, BBC bosses has stuck their heads in the sand and refuse to do the decent thing.

Unless the BBC acts very quickly with an immediate u-turn, far from protecting their worldwide reputation, the BBC are shooting themselves in the foot.

With both barrells.

Questions about Israeli utube propaganda strike...

The chilling utube video I just posted HERE is one you may have seen on television a few days ago. It was released by the Israeli propaganda machine which claimed it showed 'rockets being loaded onto a Hamas truck' .

The Israelis vapourised the truck - and all those around it - with one of their ‘precision’ missiles.

But guess what?

Now the BBC website is reporting on new evidence that suggests the ‘rockets’ may have been nothing more than oxygen tanks, and that this one Israeli attack may have killed eight Palestinian civilians.

A Gaza trucker has now apparently produced the charred oxygen tanks which he says he and his family were moving after his neighbour’s had been bombed by the Israelis.

The Israelis exploited their apparent propaganda coup by putting the video of their handiwork on u-tube, attracting more than a quarter of a million hits so far.

Let me be clear: I don’t know whether the Israelis destroyed Hamas rockets or innocent oxygen tanks.

And I don’t expect the Israelis will be impressed with the alternative view of their air-strike…

But I do wonder how many of the world’s media which lapped up the Israeli video will now revisit the story...in the interests of balance, you understand.

The truth is that few broadcasters will want to admit that they may have been sucked in by the Israeli propaganda machine. It's on the BBC website, but not sure if even the BBC have actually broadcast an update in view of the new claims from Gaza.

So don’t hold your breath…

Apologies for posting my comments separate from the video - for some reason, the ability to post comments with the video has been removed.

I can't think why, can you?

Lincs Police and The Bill...

The BBC reports that Lincolnshire Police spends £900 a day on translation services...

BBC go over the top...and I'm right behind them!

Thanks to Brynley for pointing out that the BBC link I posted about 'sixty migrant workers arrested' in a Holbeach leek field in fact only refers to 'eight arrests'...

I wondered what Brynley's point was - until I revisted the BBC link and to my horror, saw that it had been amended. Rather than delete the original post, I thought it best to explain what I think has happened...

I picked up reports of 60 arrests from the BBC front page and judged it to be a significant 'local' story worth a mention on my blog...

It seems that a few minutes after I posted, the BBC updated their link, downgrading their earlier story of 60 arrests to just eight!

Looks like even eight may be more than double the actual number...

The Spalding Guardian says there were just three arrests...

Should I cancel my licence fee...?

Anti-sleaze rules come back to haunt Cameron...

More whiffs of Tory sleaze today - less than 48 hours after Boris Johnson's Deputy Mayor was forced to resign facing a whole series of allegations. David Cameron is now under pressure to take action against his sidekick George Osborne who is accused of breaking Tory rules by accepting up to £10,000 for a speech in Jersey.

I have to say Osborne's defence when questioned by Andrew Marr on the BBC this morning appeared decidedly dodgy...

He insisted he didn't break anti-sleaze rules by taking between £5k and £10k, as well as complimentary flights and accommodation from the Jersey Institute of Directors.

His problem is that Tory guidelines clearly state:

'Shadow Ministers should not solicit fees for broadcuasting, speaking engagements and articles. Fees should not be accepted if the subject matter relates directly to your Shadow Ministerial responsibilities.'

Ironically, we know what those rules say thanks to Mr Osborne's previous rather questionable conduct.

They were made public a few months ago when wee Georgie faced an investigation by the House of Commons Standards Committee into donations.

Then, the Committee upheld the complaints against him.

Other Tory frontbenchers now facing similar conflict of interest claims include Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said to have received a donation from the director of an independent boarding school.

And Gove's deputy Tim Loughton apparently earns up to £35k a year as director of a company that provides camera equipment for schools.

Will Cameron enforce his own rules, or will he back wee Georgie and the rest...?

What do you think?

Bizarre stunt exposes Tory splits and Cameron's weak leadership...

Today's bizarre stunt by David Davis in forcing a needless - and costly - parliamentary by-election after losing the democratic vote shows David Cameron and the Tories in disarray...

As the BBC's political editor suggests Cameron has lost the plot, it's worth reflecting on what The Sun says today following last night's Commons vote on locking up suspected terrorists for a maximum 42 days without charge:

GORDON Brown is entitled to considerable satisfaction after his victory in last night’s terror vote.

He stood up for the fight against extremism in the face of deeply hostile criticism and predictions of disaster — not least from his own party.

The same cannot be said for the Opposition who seemed more concerned about narrow self-interest than the national interest.
We expect nothing less from the Lib-Dems. But we might have hoped for better from Conservatives who aim one day to be in charge of protecting Britain from attack.

The move to detain terror suspects for 42 days without charge is backed by police and security chiefs.

It is supported by seven out of ten voters, instinctively by many of David Cameron’s own Tory MPs and — as The Sun revealed yesterday — by his grassroots voters.
Yet they were all whipped into the Opposition lobby, apparently for opposition’s sake.

Some demeaned themselves by shabbily jeering Ulster MPs who supported the PM, knowing more than most about fighting terror.

Yes, it was a narrow government margin: just nine votes.

But that was enough to give police and security services the tools they need to test complex evidence against dangerous extremists.

We must hope we will NEVER need to detain a suspect for 42 days.

But Gordon Brown rightly argued that now is the time to act — in a period of calm debate, not in the wake of a national catastrophe.

It would have been deeply irresponsible to wait until Britain was in deadly peril before realising 28 days was not long enough.

The Commons struggle was a major victory for the PM after a torrid six months. He passed it with credit.

Now he has a precious breathing space — and the opportunity to prove to the country he has the vision and the energy as Prime Minister.

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson says:

David Cameron has lost control of his strategy. This was not his decision. He wasn't asked for his agreement.

In other words, he's lost the plot.

And while senior Tories admit they knew hadn't a clue about the intentions of the man who challenged David Cameron for the leadership of the Conservative Party a couple of years ago, LibDem Leader Nick Clegg had been informed.

All of which leaves a big question about David Cameron's leadership...


UPDATE: The Three Line Whip blog published this morning at the Daily Telegraph website puts the rest of the day's events in some kind of perspective....

After the Quake, storm damage hits home...

Just arrived home from Labour's Spring Conference in Brum to discover some of the damage caused by the weekend gales right in my back garden.

Two sections of my neighbour's fencing landed in my driveway and two more lie on top of my favourite rose-bed of climbers, floribundas and tea-roses.

Many other people have lost more than a few roses of course.

According to the BBC, Lincolnshire Police dealt with 500 calls overnight on Friday, most of them weather-related.

All this just days after Lincolnshire was the epi-centre of an earthquake.

What is the world coming to...?

Who voted for Amanda Platell...?

Last week I found myself in agreement with former Tory spindoctor Amanda Platell in her condemnation of Derek Conway, the MP who paid his son £40,000 of OUR MONEY for doing little if anything.

But today, it's back to business as normal:

Amanda was reviewing the papers on Andrew Marr's political show on BBC TV this morning. She was commenting on the controversy surrounding the Archbishop of Canterbury when she made a point of letting us know she's a devout Christian:

If I weren't here, I'd be in church.

Fair enough, perhaps. But then she added:

I know what a lot of my own constituents think...

Er, excuse me. What constituents might they be then? She's certainly not an elected MP. And as far as I'm aware, she's neither a county councillor, district councillor, or parish councillor.

Pompous or what...?

Photo that shows the miracle at Heathrow...

I just heard an eyewitness to today's crash landing at Heathrow say on BBC radio that the British Airways pilot deserves a medal as big as a frying pan for managing to land inside the perimeter fence after a total power loss...and this photo from the BBC website shows how perilously close to disaster the aircraft came.

Despite the aircraft's wheels literally falling off, a wing ripped from the fuselage and the Rolls Royce engines gouging into the tarmac, some passengers have described a bit of a bumpy landing, not realising until later that they had belly-flopped!

Tomorrow's papers will use the over-used 'miracle escape' in their headlines. For once, they will be spot on.

Low Voltage Cable switched off...

Chief LibDem backstabber Vince Cable seemed to have trouble staying awake just hours after he took over temporary leadership following Ming's resignation.

He appeared to doze off on The Daily Politics Show while being questioned by Andrew Neil.

The exchange went like this:

Andrew Neil: The leadership campaign has started and it’s only the prospect of an election that shut it down?

[Long pause]

Vince Cable: Sorry, what?

Andrew Neil: The leadership campaign had already…I know you’ve only been leader for a day but you’ve got to listen to the questions. That’s how it works.

Vince Cable: Well I was baffled by you… ...er, you weren’t terribly clear.

Poor Vince. Well, he is 64 you know, only two years younger than Ming who was seemingly judged to be past it by his colleagues at 66.

Anne tells hubby: You are the weakest link: Goodbye...

I wonder how many of tomorrow's papers will have this headline after today's news from the BBC about Anne Robinson's marriage.

I realise her nasty TV persona is supposedly an act to boost her ratings, but don't think I've managed to get through an entire episode of her show without discovering the 'off' button.

Personally, it always amazes me how people queue up to be humiliated by her icy-tongued put-downs on her awful show.

My attitude did thaw a degree or two recently when I happened to see a documentary on how Annie fought - and beat Fleet-Street-induced alcoholism, how she lost her job at the top of journalism and how she climbed (clawed??) her way back to greater fame and fortune through a break on television.

But if her long-suffering husband and one time agent John Penrose, has managed for 27-years - some of them clearly very difficult - and there's no-one else as reported on the BBC, one wonders why they don't patch up their current problems and stay the course now she's a mega-star...?

Should police hold the DNA of all of us...?

The Chief Constable of Lincolnshire is at the heart of a debate this morning after a top Judge says the entire population of the UK should be on the national DNA data-base.

DNA evidence solves 20,000 crimes a year - and helps put scores of villains behind bars for crimes they thought could never be detected.

DNA has proved a huge asset to the police, particularly in bringing rapists and paedophiles to justice for horrific sexual attacks committed a generation ago - long before the technology which has solved them was developed.

According to the BBC, Lord Justice Sedley says the entire population - and every visitor to Britain - should be on the DNA datebase.

Chief Constable Tony Lake - who chairs the national DNA Board - sensibly says the DNA of people arrested or convicted for violent or sex offences should remain on the database for life. But he says that need not be the case for minor offences.

That seems a sensible way forward - at least for the time being.

Meanwhile, Shami Chakrabarti director of the human rights outfit Liberty, is outraged at the thought of putting the entire population on the DNA database.

Maybe she should give more thought to the victims of crime. Don't they have human rights too?

If it could be shown that taking the DNA from everyone in the country could help make our communities safer, then we'd be daft not to go for it, wouldn't we?

The magic of the Edinburgh Festival...

Up at Edinburgh for the last hurrahs of the amazing three-week summer Festival. Worth the trip just to soak up the atmosphere of street theatre along the Royal Mile.

Also seen loads of comedy and Jeremy Paxman's no-punches pulled critique of his employers the BBC...

But the night is young. Much more to see and do before the fat lady sings...

Will post more tomorrow...!

Who makes John Redwood look more foolish...the BBC or John Redwood?

Tonight's London Standard picks up the BBC apology to John Redwood which I posted HERE yesterday.

The Standard says:

Faced with accusations of anti-Tory bias and gratuitously trying to make the former Cabinet minister look foolish, the corporation's director of news Helen Boaden admitted it was "wrong" to use the clip.

The BBC trying to make John Redwood look foolish...? Didn't he do that all by himself...?

Tomorrow, David Cameron will wheel out the same old John Redwood to announce policies which would lead to massive cuts in vital public services if the Tories are ever trusted to run Britain again.

Tories are desperate to airbrush out their appalling boom-n-bust record, including two recessions and mass unemployment and misery delivered by John Redwood and his Tory mates.

Shamefully, the BBC have buckled under pressure.

Fortunately, the Tories can't gag blogs. This is what the Tories don't want you to see.