Six of the best
Kathy Gyngell: In the BBC’s Alice in Wonderland world, criticism by MPs compromises its impartiality
Nick Wood: Cameron’s admission of political mortality opens Pandora’s Box
Jago Pearson: For the Tories this is still the election to lose
Laurence Hodge: The NHS encounters a new epidemic. Lead-swinging among its million-plus staff
TCW Hero of the Week
Chairman of the Defence Select Committee, Rory Stewart, addressed the Centre for Policy Studies this week. He excoriated the government for spending a a measly £1 billion on the Foreign Office but a huge £14 billion on international aid. Stewart rightly said that, when we are facing new and unprecedented threats to our security, we have got our priorities are wrong.
We invaded Iraq with 45,000 ground troops. A little more than a decade later, we would struggle to put 25,000 troops on the ground for any sustained period of time. Well done Rory for speaking out, we say.
TCW Villain of the Week
The House of Commons all-party EU Scrutiny Committee’s report, published this week, accuses the BBC of ‘falling down severely’ in its obligation to provide impartial coverage of the EU.
Its findings confirm what many of us have been arguing for years – that BBC coverage of EU matters is deplorable, that it has a ‘concerning’ pro-EU bias, and that Eurosceptics have been given inadequate airtime. Specifically the MPs criticise Lord Hall for failing in his role as the BBC’s editor-in chief.
Reader’s comment of the week
Mez wrote:
It needs to be privatised, and the money would go towards paying off the national debt. Their reporting is no more impartial than ITV’s.
BBC News is like an arm of social services, and so biased it’s almost a joke were it not so depressing. Why should people be paying for the privilege?
