Some of you wrote in yesterday with good illustrations of areas other than the conduct of inflation and bond policy by the Bank which are not properly exposed by BBC interviews. There is a similar lack of interest in or awareness of other views on climate change, public spending, human rights laws, the administration of justice and other topics. I dwell on these points because the BBC still has a substantial audience for its one sided news and comment, and because its future and the renewal of the license fee is a hot topic with the government consulting on changes.
The interview with the Governor of the Bank predictably failed to put to him any of the points of failure in the last five years of Bank policy. No Opposition party or private sector company would have got away with that. No question about the big inflation overrun, nothing about vast Bank of England losses, no question on why UK state debt borrowing rates are the highest in the advanced world.
I was left wondering does the BBC not know about the huge losses and about the better performance of some overseas Central banks on inflation? Do they not know other countries borrow more cheaply despite having large debts? Or did they deliberately give the Governor a soft interview to promote the alleged benefits of a 0.25% interest rate cut ahead of Christmas? Did they not think of representing all the 35 million or so savers who will soon suffer a loss of interest income, rather than just the 1.5 million with variable rate mortgages who will get a benefit?
The alternative explanation is their experts do know about these inconvenient truths and decide to shield the establishment from inconvenient questions. They make such a bad job of it. They ended up asking the Governor for views on what would happen to the share prices of US technology companies. Why ask him, as he presides over one of the world’s worst bond traders, buying too many bonds at very high prices, then selling many of them at depressed prices. Why the interest in valuations of US companies when they should be concentrating on UK inflation, UK rates, UK fiscal problems intensified by bond losses? Why no concerns over the big build up of debts in the EU and especially in France if they want a meaningful comparison to the UK? Why no questions about how Switzerland, Japan and China got through covid and the Ukraine war with inflation around 2%?
Every day on the BBC is promote net zero day. Its woven into the fabric of so many broadcasts. Most commentary assumes public services need more money, and accepts lack of money as an excuse for most public sector failures. They love anti Brexit stories especially when they rely on bogus forecasts and out of date research. There is a refusal to do the kind of hatchet jobs they do on US Republicans on the ruling elites of the EU and its leading member states. There is a lot of comment on the US but relative silence on France, Germany and Italy, let alone the EU itself.
As the government embarks on its review it needs to consider why and how the BBC is losing so much of its audience for news and commentary. I have written before about the way the license fee model has prevented the BBC from competing in the huge entertainment market, now dominated by US giants with subscription and advert based models. The review also needs to ask what a proper public information service with truly balanced news and commentary would be like, with better analysis and more balanced choice of guests for interviews.
December 19, 2025
The BBC has become the mouthpiece of extremism, any extremism. Because they have no one to be accountable to and as with a lot of the media are chasing viewing/reading figures more than reality any thing ‘out there’ that could attract outrage has to be the order of the day.
That means they have managed to be riddled with every minority extremest view to seem in their left-wing minds to be on message. They like the UK’s political class have deserted the mainstream, the majority.
Even what used to be considered family entertainment is riddled top to bottom with a political message and is not seeking to be just entertaining.
Even some of the foreign broadcasters that used to but and show what was a to one time BBC entertainment programs have cancelled.
December 19, 2025
The BBC thinks if the script writer doesn’t understand it he audience won’t either.
December 19, 2025
The BBC absolutely loves the return to the Erasmus scheme, hardly any reporting on the massive cost or the superiority of the Turing scheme. It is very odd, there is not one single way in which Erasmus is better than Turing for the UK yet the BBC choose to ignore that because the EU like it.
Just by the way, another massive negotiation fail by Starmer. The EU are going through their demands one by one – fishing, Erasmus, next youth freedom of movement – to lock in agreements on those before they even start to discuss UK’s wanted items – it is breathtaking incompetence from a government and civil service who have no clue how to negotiate in the real world.
December 19, 2025
Roy
The Turing scheme not even mentioned, as far as most people are concerned it does not appear to exist.
December 19, 2025
The BBC has lost credibility and audiences with it. It is barely worth watching.
December 19, 2025
I believe the bbc is strategically soft in many areas that you have highlighted
and there is an undercurrent that protects the establishment
December 19, 2025
The BBC has an agenda. If it was privately funded that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, so long as there was a free market in broadcast media. People could decide whether to pay to watch it. It’s not privately funded. We’re forced to pay for it.
Rather than complain about its obviously biased output and wasteful spending we should simply cut all its “unearned” income (licence fee, taxpayer subsidy). Like the US cable news channels, it would survive until it became irrelevant.
There’s as little need for a national broadcaster as there is for a national airline.
December 19, 2025
The days of not challenging the biased MSM narrative and blinkered shallow scripting are slowly coming to an end as youngsters especially are waking up to how awful the country is changing on every level.
December 19, 2025
The BBC is a lost cause: a dinosaur which cannot adapt and still hasn’t realised that the streaming “meteor” which struck a decade ago is going to lead to its extinction.
December 19, 2025
It was a very odd interview with the Bank of England Governor, the complete lack of scrutiny of the bank’s record aside , at times it was difficult to tell him apart from a Labour government Minister . What on earth was he doing going on about AI ? At times it sounded as if he was lining up the excuses for Racheal Reeves when the unemployment numbers continue to rise.
Well I suppose he was a Fabian , with no statement to say he has abandoned those beliefs , may be he still is, it would certainly match his record , where he and his Committee were very obstructive to the last government , refusing to match falls in inflation with cuts in interest rates , yet here they have been cutting interest rates with a government pursuing inflationary policies.
December 19, 2025
keep saying it John
December 19, 2025
BEEB and USA:almost without exception they draw from CBS which
is strongly pro-democrat,anti republican and absolutely loathes
Trump
As for the Bankrupt of England! Words fail me and don’t mention
the postponement of large numbers of local elections S
Sidney Ingleby si
December 19, 2025
Sir John, you are highlighting a simple truth, that the BBC is so biased, it actually can’t see it! Contrast the way Nigel Farage is treated, and to a lesser extent Kemi Badenoch, with the soft treatment any Labour Minister or MP gets. As you say they are either ignorant or give Establishment figures a soft ride. Contrast the treatment Boris Johnson got about the birthday cake with Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves being allowed to get away with blatant lies. The problem is that if you are not a Guardian reader and don’t agree with the BBC’s left/liberal stance, you will never get a job at the BBC. The review will make no difference because Labour and the BBC have a cosy consensus, so Labour won’t rock the boat, let alone sink it. The license fee is a disgrace and is what allows the BBC to ignore the views of a majority in the UK.
December 19, 2025
In the Media – ‘Chinese hackers accessed confidential visa records held by the Foreign Office in a cyber attack.’ the question is WHY? TwoTierKier the PM would have just given them all the records if they asked…
He is about to post everyone’s records, their ID’s, Health Records, Photos, Bank accounts, online for the whole world to see…. The on-line Safety Bill already open the doors to the World. The UK Parliaments desire, need to monitor everyone exposes the Country and everyone in it. All just because Parliament has a fear of the people
Then again the Chinese already have access via the Surveillance cameras on ever street corner in the UK.
Anything connected and linked makes things that more assessable to the World, even to those with nefarious intent.
December 19, 2025
The embassy will still get the go ahead !.
December 19, 2025
Is it conspiracy or is it visceral?
My money is on the latter. If I am right then that is a much greater problem. A conspiracy can be exposed and erased. But cultural, endemic rot is harder to tackle.
I suspect the people in authority at the BBC do not read this blog or any similar opinions. They are unaware and not self-aware!
What came across in the interview with the governor was the ignorance that comes from swimming in a small pond of the like-minded.
December 19, 2025
The BBC is a classic dinosaur. It was once a big beast able to command the field but along came digital screening and on demand program choice and the BBC failed to grasp that asteroid called Netflix was going to signal the end of its existence let alone its past dominant role in broadcasting.
The government is aware the licence fee payers are abandoning the BBC licence and so to counter the decline in revenue they have given the benefits claimants free licence to ensure a block of supposed licence fee supporters are always there to talk about.
The State support for the BBC and its left wing propaganda is a classic study in cronyism. Only those who espouse Marxist views are even allowed to present current affairs and news all others are hounded out as ‘not one of us’.
Make the BBC voluntary subscription only and let us see exactly who, and how many are supporting it.
December 19, 2025
BBC does the same with its sports coverage, decide its editorial position and then seek data that support it without interrogating other data.
The BBC seems like a pastor or iman in that its only argument for those that disagree with its doctrine is that the lord moves on mysterious ways.
December 19, 2025
I don’t know whether you watch any’fiction’ series on the BBC.Many are interesting.I am watching an adaptation of a John Le Carre novel at present covering the Palestinian/ lsraeli issues hidden within a story line.Do you think these are manipulated in any way with sympathies exaggerated in one way or another or do you believe that they are sometimes objective?
December 19, 2025
Have you read the original (1983) Le Carre’s book?
It was shown in the USA in September 2018 during Trump I without any bad comments I can recall.
December 19, 2025
The forthcoming review of the BBC – which will include funding – is causing excessive salivation from the far right of the Conservative Party and it’s media mouthpieces. At long last, after years and years of agitation, they see the prospect of breaking up the beeb – to allow American media giants to dominate British broadcasting.
The vast majority of television viewers in the UK are happy to pay the very reasonable licence fee. The right-wing minority who refuse to pay should be prosecuted to the limit of the law. Why should the rest of us who do pay for their licence have to suffer because a few fanatics want to control editorial policy? Those who advise on social media how to avoid paying the licence fee should also be censured.
The BBC review should include banning political appointments to the unitary board of the BBC – including the Chair and members. The licence fee should have a modest annual rise for the next 5 years – say £7.50 each year. Anybody who insults the impartiality of the BBC should be banned from airtime and lastly, the BBC should be free to discuss any of the important issues of the day.
December 19, 2025
The BBC are free to discuss any topic whether important or otherwise. That is not the issue here is it? The problem the nation has with the BBC is its inability to present balanced impartial coverage of issues, particularly those issues involving activities involving none native Brits. For some unexplained reason, the BBC has a strange anti British position and seems to want to degrade the UKs historic contributions, often presenting positive historic events as negative.
Add to that, the BBC’s bizarre claim to a concept of ‘settled science’ when failing to debate or even contemplate debate about climate change.
December 19, 2025
You claim the majority are happy to pay the licence fee. Why is it mandatory then? The BBC can prove it’s popularity by making the fee voluntary.
December 19, 2025
Exactly this would also mean it had to listen and adapt to subscribers rather than feeding them largely on deluded propaganda and lies as currently, knowing they have to pay or get fined or go to prison.
December 19, 2025
I get value for my BBC licence but still resent having to pay due to the endless incessant, wrongheaded propaganda they push mainly on climate, Brexit, the Covid Vaccines, the woke lunacy, open door immigration cost of, DEI, ECHR and all the rest of the mad Labour agendas they back!
December 19, 2025
Just before 8pm i had the choice of hearing all about Kylie Minogues new record for Christmas on BBC.. on and on it went.. to then switch over and watch President Trumps talk on Sky News about how he’s going to reduce the cost of medecine in the US ..on and on he went ..is there to be no end to it? Jeez
December 19, 2025
The BBC is not the state broadcaster it is The State’s Broadcaster and hence will continue to be funded by a tax on TVs with a severe penalty for non-compliance.
December 19, 2025
Don’t forget that the Governor of the BoE was a Fabian, as was our PM until he became an MP.