The disappearing BBC

I have written a post on the BBC for tomorrow, which wrongly triggered today. Those interested in the BBC should revisit  on friday, as we have enough to talk about under the centre ground post today. I have delayed it another day as something more urgent has come up.

19 Comments

  1. Ex-expat Colin
    May 13, 2015

    This is what’s on the back of a BBC pass.

    The heading is TRUST (their u/c):

    TRUST is the foundation of the BBC; we are independent, impartial and honest.

    AUDIENCES are at the heart of everything we do.

    We take pride in delivering QUALITY and value for money.

    We RESPECT each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best.

    We are one BBC; great things happen when we WORK TOGETHER.

    Yeah…hurry up and disappear!

    1. agricola
      May 13, 2015

      Yes to all that ,but only apply if you are an avid reader of the Guardian.

    2. Ex-expat Colin
      May 13, 2015

      Amendment:

      Heading is BBC TRUST

      Insert after QUALITY line:

      CREATIVITY is the lifeblood of our organisation

    3. Lifelogic
      May 13, 2015

      Well they may respect each other but no one sensible respects most of the institutionally “Guardian think”, lefty, green crap, EUphile, anti-science, dumbed down, enforced “equality”, dim art graduate drivel that is pushed out so endlessly by the BBC.

      I still enjoy much of radio four and radio three, but why does it have to come with such tedious & moronic political indoctrination attached?

  2. Amanda
    May 13, 2015

    Gosh: my expectation were raised then. I thought John Whittingdale had got to work quickly.

  3. acorn
    May 13, 2015

    This is a better disappearing trick than that:- 😉

    “Earlier today, we learned that, contrary to what Greek government officials had been implying for the better part of a week, Athens did not have enough money to make a €750 million payment to the IMF on Tuesday. Instead, Greece borrowed most of the money (€650 million according to unnamed officials) from its IMF SDR reserves. This money must be paid back within 30 days. This effectively means that the IMF paid itself and it sets up a hilariously absurd scenario wherein assuming Greece manages to convince creditors to disburse a €7.2 billion tranche of aid later this month, the IMF will send money to Greece, who will send it right back to the IMF to replenish an IMF fund, which was drawn down by the IMF to pay itself back for money it loaned to Greece a long time ago. Put simply: Greece has taken circular funding schemes to a whole new level.” (HT: Zero Hedge).

    1. Denis Cooper
      May 14, 2015

      There are now hints that the EU may Greece with help to leave the euro, while staying in the EU:

      http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/eu-said-to-be-considering-plan-in-event-of-greek-exit-1.2210752

      “EU said to be considering plan in event of Greek exit”

      “Euro-area governments are considering putting together aid package as ‘Plan B’”

      “With Ukraine to the north of Greece ravaged by Russian-backed separatists and Libya to the south collapsing as rival militias fight for control, the German government has made it clear that leaving the euro wouldn’t jeopardise Greece’s place in the European Union.

      “Within the EU there are a lot of financial funds which will continue to be available for Greece,” Thomas Steffen, Germany’s chief negotiator with Greece within the euro area, said at an event in Berlin last week. “There is no reason to even contemplate, that Greece would leave the European Union.””

      That is certainly a distinct change of tune, and it is what they should have done in early 2010 rather than arranging an illegal bailout to keep Greece in the euro, but for the moment I stick with my longstanding prediction that eventually there will be some fudge to preserve the eurozone intact.

      1. acorn
        May 14, 2015

        Denis, a couple of interesting bits. http://www.pimco.co.uk/EN/Insights/Pages/TARGET2-A-Channel-for-Europes-Capital-Flight.aspx .

        T2 is the Euro Area real-time clearing system. This was written three years back but is probably more relevant today. The Germans; Dutch and Luxembourgers are coining it. They don’t want anything to change. The current account deficit Euro members are stopping the Euro appreciating. Allowing the Germans to go over the 6% EU trade surplus limit with no currency fears and no questions asked.

        This more recent chart shows the capital flight out of Spain and Italy into Germany. Everything below the zero line has to equal everything above it, balance sheet style.
        http://www.eurocrisismonitor.com/img/EuroCrisisMonitor.jpg

        I don’t think the Euro Area can survive much longer, without a common fiscal policy, operated by one Treasury.

        1. Denis Cooper
          May 15, 2015

          Well, I think the economic considerations either way are much less important than the immense political will to preserve the eurozone intact so that it can continue its relentless expansion across the EU, and therefore across the whole continent of Europe and beyond as the EU continues its relentless expansion. This is a political, in fact geopolitical, project, driven by fanatics who pay scant regard to any economic or other practical obstacles.

  4. Mark B
    May 13, 2015

    Oh you tease. 🙂

    And here was me thinking the BBC was going the way of the Lib Dems.

  5. Freeborn John
    May 13, 2015

    Reports in Brussels are scoffing at what little Cameron is asking for in the so-called re-negotiation. Even less than Callaghan tried to pass-off prior to the 1975 referendum. Is the parliamentary party really going to let him get away with laughable cosmetic tweaks like this?

    http://www.eureporter.co/magazine/2015/05/12/cameron-has-set-barrier-for-eu-so-low-even-jean-claude-juncker-could-hop-over-it/?

    1. DaveM
      May 14, 2015

      Good news I think – the issue for most anti-EU folk is sovereignty, and if the PM doesn’t even address that issue in any meaningful way the likelihood of an OUT vote is far greater.

    2. Lifelogic
      May 14, 2015

      Absolutely pathetic if correct but I cannot see the UK getting much more, especially as Cameron does not even seem to be asking for anything substantive.

  6. Mondeo Man
    May 14, 2015

    Calling the BBC licence a poll tax is an excellent idea.

    Let’s stop clogging up court time with people who have not paid their licence fees. Let the BBC take out private actions.

    I don’t trust their neutrality on current affairs and HBO provides a far higher quality of entertainment.

  7. Vanessa
    May 14, 2015

    I used to be a BBC employee in the ’60s (I left in the ’70s) and thought it was a wonderful place ! Now, many years later I am horrified at the awful bias and disgusting lies the BBC peddles about the EU and global warming. Of course it gets a humungous amount of money from the EU and so it has to peddle its lies.

    I refuse to pay any fee towards it and can’t wait for it either to go with a subscription or broken up into small private media companies. State run media is an abomination of free speech and honest reporting. I watch Russian TV it is so much better !

  8. stred
    May 14, 2015

    Channel 4 should also be scrutinized. This station is supposed to provide a public service, although funded by advertising. During the election they produced misleading coverage and particularly about the effects of leaving the EU. The ridiculous film about UKIP winning the election showed an aircraft manufacturer shutting down the day after. Then they showed ex forces border police raiding existing immigrant houses. In the case of the aircraft factory, BAC actually own a share in Airbus and specialize in the parts necessary to build the aircraft, while the Swiss and Norwegians manufacture engineering parts and export them to the EU. UKIP policy is not to send home existing immigrants.

    This should not matter as most of the electorate are intelligent. Unfortunately, large numbers of even well educated voters fall for these lies. Thousands of complaints were made to OFCOM after the film. However, bearing in mind that they appoint the CH4 board, any news yet or was there any decision before the election? The media class stick together and are politically 90% from one group. Anyone in the business who has other ideas has to keep quiet.

  9. UKIP Candidate #3
    May 14, 2015

    John, one of the Tories’ greatest failings was its allowing the Labour Party’s propaganda machine to continue spewing its bias, hatred, lies and distortion over 2010-15.
    Blaming the LibDems for this inaction simply doesn’t cut the mustard; only a near-Socialist could have even seriously considered going into partnership with the LibDems in the first place! A minority government, or a call to the people for a clear mandate, would have been the way for somebody who wasn’t as challenged as “Trust Me” Dave. To evict the Bottler from Number 10 would just have taken a quick call to the SAS.
    But we are now where we are.
    The fabrications and distortions last Monday emanating from IDS and others meant UKIP loaned the Conservatives several million votes on Thursday. We will take those millions back, and a few million more besides, unless you come up with the goods, and without further delay.
    By this I mean, honour all your manifesto pledges.
    After all, your worthwhile ones were nicked by your party from UKIP – and usually the plagiarists didn’t even bother overly re-wording. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in UKIP we’re not flattered easily.
    These key promises include sorting-out the BBC immediately – a terminal sorting-out, hopefully, since this corrupt and disgusting organisation is irreformable – and giving us a fair referendum on the EU early in 2017. The latest estimate for gross inwards immigration over the past 12 months is 650,000.
    You are an intelligent man, John, which is why your own culpability, in my eyes, is rather more serious than that of your numerous, top-storey-challenged colleagues. Redeem yourself a little by pressing with everything you’ve got (and you’ve got a lot) for what is needed. You already know what that is.
    For you, a pre-filled UKIP membership form is available on request (the email address works).
    Thank you.

    1. Denis Cooper
      May 15, 2015

      I don’t think UKIP “loaned” the Conservatives any votes at all last week, any more than UKIP had previously “stolen” any votes from the Conservatives.

      We can believe that some electors who had previously been minded to vote for UKIP candidates decided to not to do that, because support for UKIP in the opinion polls had gradually fallen by about 5% over the six months or so before the election, which I work out as being about 1.5 million voters.

      Some of those decided to switch their support to the Tories, but others decided to switch their support to Labour, while others either decided not to bother at all or to give some token encouragement to a local independent candidate; meanwhile no doubt there were some electors who had been minded to vote Labour but who decided in the end to vote for the Tories for various reasons, most notably out of fear that a minority Labour government would be controlled by the SNP.

      I doubt that this decline in support for UKIP actually provided the Tories with any great net benefit in their contest with Labour, but then if Labour had got just 1% more votes and the Tories had got just 1% fewer then that would have swung the result to the Tories being some seats short of an overall majority.

  10. Jerry
    May 15, 2015

    John, as UKIP is the subject for Friday now, will the BBC now be the issue for either Saturday or Sunday?

    Reply Currently scheduled for both days, but as the BBC is not immediately topical I reserve the right to insert something that is very topical as I have felt I needed to do with immigration policy and UKIP over the last two days. You only knew I had something on the BBC on the stocks because of a wrong date trigger. I usually have some less time critical pieces ready for future publication for days when I am very busy.

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