Britain’s biased press and media

21/07/2023

The calamitous consequences of 13 years of Conservative misrule on the UK are plain to see – loss in public confidence in our democratic institutions and public services, our economy forecast to be the worst performing in the G7 this year, and our country no longer as respected or trusted internationally.
The twin calamities of Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit and Liz Truss’ disastrous premiership were only the most damaging stages in what has been more than a decade of decline.

A big problem facing UK politics is that both main political parties see the status quo as in their narrow self-interest, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall

15/11/2022

Another post-Brexit failure - the Government failed to announce a series of new post-Brexit eco-targets by the deadline of October 31 as set by the Environment Act 2021.

Ministers were accused on Tuesday of condemning another generation of children to breathing toxic air in London and other parts of Britain by setting a target to tackle it only by 2040.

06/09/2022

Businesses that have been forced to close their high street shops due to soaring energy bills say support from the government should have been announced weeks ago

06/09/2022

Pensioners get what they vote for. Liz Truss will come under pressure to scrap the state pension triple lock , experts have warned.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss is facing calls to water down state pension increases in future years by scaling back the triple lock promise which sets the level of retirement benefits

05/09/2022

Keir Starmer declared that “nothing is really working anymore” in Britain as he put his party on an election footing.
The Labour leader outlined the issues facing Brits including soaring bills, crisis in the NHS and crime just hours before the new prime minister is unveiled.

The Labour leader put his party on election footing today, saying: "The change we need in Britain is not a change at the top of the Tory party."

05/09/2022

Liz Truss has done it - she has beaten her rival Rishi Sunak to become the next prime minister.

02/09/2022

As the ballot papers go out, John Rentoul argues that Conservative members shouldn’t be allowed to choose their leader

30/08/2022

Truss has that same Johnsonian disdain for the political process

30/08/2022

'If I mislead or lied to my shareholders, I would be sent to jail.'

26/08/2022

Government needs to do a lot more.
Energy firms making massive profits from you.
If the energy suppliers were nationalised then we would all share in profits and/or have the power to reduce bills.
That was what Jeremy Corbyn wanted but the press didn’t explain that to you and instead you voted for Boris Johnson to ‘get Brexit done’.
That was a VERY expensive choice (and Boris Johnson messed it up anyway).

Ofgem has announced that its price cap will rise to £3,549 for those on default tariffs paying by direct debit - up from the current figure of £1,971 - as the cost of living crisis deepens

25/08/2022

A 'catastrophe' looms and the new prime minister needs 'radical' support for energy bill payers or people will be put in physical danger, a report claims. | ITV National News

19/08/2022

The UK has the highest inflation rate in the G7
Annual % change in CPI, G7 countries and the Euro area, July 2022 or latest available*

07/04/2022

04/04/2022

https://party.coop/channel4?utm_campaign=apc40422_hive

Take action now to ensure Channel 4 can never be sold off, by making it mutually-owned by the British public.

25/03/2022

Accepting media bias about Ukraine is like Brexiters saying it was just project fear.

09/03/2022

COPIED MESSAGE: from Natascha Janssen in the Netherlands:
As many of you may know, my mother was born in the former Soviet Union, in Ukraine, where my extensive family is a mix of Russians and Ukrainians. Because of this, I feel called to share my vision on the developments in Ukraine.
With my Russian/Ukrainian roots, I love both nations very much, centuries-old brotherly nations merging with each other. When you asked my Ukrainian-born mother if she felt more Russian than Ukrainian, she replied, 'That's a weird question I have no answer to. There is a difference in our language, our music and dance but our hearts are one.'
This is how I was raised and spent 40 years -- the most beautiful holidays of my life -- in love and togetherness, experienced in Russia and Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union.
It's good that everyone in the Netherlands is now speaking out against waging a war. No one supports war.
But why was everyone silent when that war started 8 years ago?
Why didn't everyone swear at the slaughter of thousands of citizens in Eastern Ukraine?
Why didn't everyone swear at Ukraine for not following the Minsk agreements?
Where was everyone who looked away when 52 people were burnt alive in Odessa?
Where was everyone who thought it was fine that a 2014 elected government was overthrown and a major European country was taken over by bunch of neo-n***s?
Where was everyone when the Ukrainian regime took away from Russian Ukrainians their basic human rights?
Speaking Russian was banned, the right to pensions disappeared for Russian Italians, and children who spoke Russian and had Russian names and were no longer welcome at school.
Where was everyone when torch rallies were organized by neo n***s spouting slogans like "Russians on the gas"?
And finally, where was everyone who was silent when large parts of this beautiful country, once Europe's grain barn, were sold to banks and investors for an apple and an egg, e.g. exploitation for genetic manipulations of Monsanto and Europe's latest mega bio industry?
My niece in Ukraine saw such a factory farm built in front of her house. The incessant screaming of those animals packed so close together, and then those big deafening silences...
Take note: In Ukraine there was only one small-scale breed of beef before the country came into the possession of western block. Ukraine has been transformed into a vassal of the West for 8 years. A colony. And all this at the expense of man, animal, nature and environment..
So why only now is the compassion of the people channeled into rage against the war?
The Ukrainian population has been living in war for 8 years. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already fled to Russia, including my relatives, like my niece and her family.
Of course I know that most people have no idea about this side of the story because our news service gives a very one-sided picture of the situation. I'm now providing that information from the other side. Do what you will, but silence is no longer an option for me.
I can only hope that peace will come soon for ALL Ukrainians, Russian and Ukrainian speakers.
***I'll tell you where everyone was! Swallowing the mainstream media koolaid on every subject under the sun, as usual! The mainstream media TELLS everyone what to think on every subject! And that's THAT. So stupid. And so bloody obvious. UGH.*** 💛.... Social media lets the other narrative be heard

02/03/2022

Always remember that the first casualty of war is truth.
Do not fall for propaganda from either side or the British media.

19/01/2022

Excellent piece from Billy Bragg :- "Whenever I hear Tories saying that the BBC licence fee should be scrapped because it's an anachronism and people shouldn't have to pay for something they don't wish to support, I reflect on how the same argument applies to the Royal Family, yet we are all expected to fork out for their upkeep.
The BBC has a lot of really great output, much of which I never watch. That may sound contradictory, but a national broadcaster with a remit to provide something for everyone is bound to have an eclectic output. Sometimes they reflect my point of view, but sometimes they don't, but that's okay. In a media landscape where partisan opinion drives clicks, it's good to have a major broadcaster that tries to show both sides of any contentious story.
This refusal to take sides is why the Tories want to neuter the BBC. They already have the support of most of the major newspapers and don't see why the biggest and most popular source of news in the UK shouldn't act as a mouthpiece for the government, particularly as it is funded by taxpayer's money.
But freedom from commercial considerations is what makes the BBC special. When the lockdown kicked in, they quickly put in place programmes dedicated to home learning for kids kept out of school. This wasn't something that was commercially viable, but it underscored the BBC's role as a public service broadcaster, ready to do it's duty during times of national crisis.
Boris Johnson is a man who has acted with impunity thrioughout his life so he has a particularly malignant view of the BBC, as he does anyone who has the affront to hold him accountable for his actions. And that is utimately what this fight around the licence fee is all about: bringing the national broadcaster to heel, so that he may carry on breaking rules and betraying trust without ever being forced to take responsibility for his actions.
The BBC isn't perfect and can sometimes cause frustration even among its fans, but along with the NHS, it is one of the great examples of the notion of the common good that we have in our society. The very fact that the Tories see it as a threat to their continued rule should be one of the reasons why we step up to support Auntie in this, her centenary year. Should it be torn down, the only real beneficiaries will be Rupert Murdoch and the other media barons who have long seen the public service ethos of the BBC as the greatest obstacle to their dominance of the airwaves."

05/11/2021

5 Nov 2021 | Full Fact's Weekly News

https://mailchi.mp/fullfact/paterson-vote-2?e=f47eb09e45

FACT CHECK
BBC presenter corrects false claim that Paterson vote was free vote

On Wednesday, the House of Commons voted to delay the decision on suspending MP Owen Paterson for 30 days after he was found to have lobbied for companies in breach of the Code of Conduct for MPs.

BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt initially said that this was not a government vote as it was not whipped but a “free vote”. But this isn’t true. The vote was whipped.

The clip has gone viral on social media, but Mr Stayt did correct himself later on in the programme.

The BBC itself reported that “the government has instructed its MPs to vote in favour of this amendment” and the vote was reportedly subject to a three-line whip by the Conservative party.

The whip is an instruction given by a party leadership to MPs indicating which way they should vote on parliamentary business. A three-line whip is the most explicit instruction to MPs to vote in a certain way, more so than a two-line or one-line whip.

A government minister who defies any form of whip is expected to resign their position and return to being a backbench MP. A backbench MP who defies the whip may face other punishment, including having the whip withdrawn meaning they must sit as an independent.

Following the vote, the government has announced it will rethink its plans. Mr Paterson has since announced his resignation as an MP.

20/10/2021

FACT CHECKER.
GB News fails to correct Nigel Farage’s false statements.

According to GB News' editorial charter, they stand for "putting facts first," will "present facts in a clear and honest way" - and "if we get it wrong, we will say so - and explain what happened."

On Monday, one of our readers flagged claims made by Nigel Farage on his GB News show.

We found his claims about renewable energy to be false, yet GB News have not yet replied to our emails.
GB News’ viewers deserved better.

Help tackle false claims in the media
On the show, Mr Farage said: "On a good day wind energy can bring us 24%, 25% of our electricity needs".

Last year wind produced 24% of electricity across the whole of the United Kingdom. So wind producing this much electricity isn’t a "good day" - it’s a regular day.

He then said: "But on a bad day, back in September there was a three week period when renewables produced between 2% and 3%."

This isn't true. The first three weeks of September did see relatively low levels of renewable electricity production, but far above the levels Mr Farage claimed.

In that three week period, solar, wind and hydro energy accounted for 10%-19% of Great Britain's electricity, before production rose substantially - up to 44% by the end of the month.

Decisions about about our energy and the environment are too important to be swayed by bad information.

From fullfact.org

Full Fact is the UK's independent fact checking organisation

10/09/2021

FACT CHECK 10/09/2021.
Daily Mail understates the risks of Covid-19 to children

The online edition of the Daily Mail claimed that no healthy children have so far died from Covid-19 in the UK. Sadly that’s not true.

A recent study of Covid deaths in England alone, just up to the end of February 2021, found that “six of the 25 [children and young people under 18] who died of SARS-CoV-2 appeared to have no underlying health conditions.”

The article also said that “fewer than 300 children have been hospitalised with Covid in England since the pandemic began and all but around 20 had underlying health issues.” But these figures come from a study referring only to the numbers of admissions to intensive care—not all admissions to hospital.

There were a total of 6,338 admissions to hospital, among which 2,923 involved children with no underlying health conditions.

27/11/2020

7 Nov 2020 | Full Fact news

FACT CHECK
Daily Mail wrong to say that fatalities this winter are barely any higher than usual

In an article last week headlined “What they DON’T tell you about Covid”, the Daily Mail claimed the number of weekly deaths is currently “barely any higher” than the maximum level from the previous five years.

But this is wrong—it is based on incorrect figures.

As pointed out in a Twitter thread by Conservative MP Neil O’Brien, the Daily Mail’s chart claims that in the 44th week of 2020, 10,887 people died, while the maximum number of deaths in the 44th week of the previous five years was 10,861—just 26 lower.

While the first figure is correct, the second is wrong. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for deaths registered weekly in England and Wales show that the highest number of deaths in week 44 between 2015 and 2019 was actually 10,164 in 2019.

That’s 723 lower—a much more significant figure.

The Mail’s figure for 2019 was around 7% higher than it should have been. The reason for this difference appears to be that it was increased to account for population growth, even though the population has not grown by anything near 7% since last year.

The Daily Mail sources these figures for “adjusted for population growth” to a Twitter account called “the Statistics Guy Jon”—although the relevant tweet has since been deleted, and the account has "noted an error”. The Daily Mail has since amended its graph.

How do death figures compare?

19/11/2020

The miracle of independent thought where large numbers of Brexiters claim to have instantaneously (well, within a very short time period) all reached the same conclusion unaided and not influenced by the Leave Campaign or Daily Mail - honestly Judge!

A post By John Buckwell on the Quest Forum.
·
Updated November 2

Did anyone mention a no deal Brexit before the UK referendum?
No they did not. Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon explicitly states that in the event of a member state deciding to leave the European Union, “the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union”. Nobody disputed this before the referendum.

Remarkably every Leaver writing in this forum today will tell you they never expected there to be a deal, never thought there would be a free trade agreement, always knew there would be economic disruption and a high price for leaving and were not at all influenced by the Leave campaign claims, having previously and completely independently made up their own minds without any help from the Daily Mail that we had to leave the EU in order to regain sovereignty, regardless of the cost.

Oddly, a few months before the referendum, opinion polls showed Remain had a healthy lead, so it would appear that all this independent thought occurred during, but without regard to, the Leave campaign.