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Biased or dim-witted? – I heard sweet music on Radio 4’s Today Programme on Wednesday. It was the sound of John Humphrys getting exasperated with Chancellor Gordon Brown, and finally having the courage to challenge the man’s lies. The BBC constantly refer to Brown as some kind of super-humanly gifted financial wizard. The BBC falls for the propaganda line that Brown and new Labour are not only good for business, but are loved by business. This, while stealth taxes and new regulation stifle activity and breed ruin and failure. Humphrys, like many of his leftist colleagues, have always been a bit too timid with Brown, who when he appears on radio always carries a great big card with his speech already prepared. He reads from this whatever question is asked. In the past, when Brown got into trouble, he just droned on and on, with the likes of Humphrys usually too afraid to interrupt.
But on Wednesday, Humphrys started to nail the Chancellor, particularly with a challenge about the outrageous and swingeing £5.3 billion annual steal from pension funds. No wonder pension funds are in trouble. The government has stolen more than £20 billion from them so far, and has changed the accounting rules to make it more difficult for companies to pay for pensions. You could almost hear Brown squirming in his seat as Humphrys refused to back down. Can it be that Humphrys’ new found aggression is because his own pension is in jeopardy? What an unworthy thought.
Dim-witted or biased? - The BBC’s World Cup panels give the England team and its manager an easy ride because they are always formed of ex players too afraid of saying anything which might offend their former colleagues, or potential future employers. It’s about time the BBC fired the likes of Alan Hansen and Martin O’Neil, and the awful Ian (sumffink/nuffink) Wright, and replaced them with journalists. In the semi-final we had our intelligence insulted by the knee-jerk reaction to everything Brazilian. The Turkish defence backed off as Ronaldo bore down on their goal. A lucky toe poke caught the usually brilliant Turkish goalie off balance and in it went. This signalled much sychophantic worship of the dentally challenged centre-forward. And please BBC (and ITV), the next time one-footed and greedy Roberto Carlos steps up for a free-kick, tell us how many times in a row he has failed to score, or even hit the target.
Neil Winton June 27, 2002
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