Paul Wallis
OPINION
DIGITAL JOURNAL
September 25, 2023
Britain left the EU after voting in favour of Brexit in a 2016 referendum - Copyright AFP/File FRED TANNEAU
The large march to rejoin the EU in London over the weekend was belittled by Murdoch press outlets and not covered by the BBC. The BBC is obliged by sections 5 though 10 of its foundation charter to cover matters of public interest. It’s hard to define anything that could be more relevant to the public interest than rejoining the EU.
After years of the humiliating national disaster known as Brexit, there’s a strong groundswell in support of rejoining. The utter incompetence and regressive insularity of this lunatic move are beyond belief. Brexit has cost the UK billions and delivered precisely nothing in return.
A swathe of conservative PR platforms sometimes optimistically referred to as prime ministers have done nothing useful. This is the UK’s version of MAGA, a lot of noise with no positive features whatsoever.
This highly selective process of covering issues is hardly new. It’s fully in line with the Murdoch press process of simply burying issues by not covering contrary views. The Murdoch press has also been promoting the American conservative idea of the EU as an enemy for decades.
It’s a particularly bad move on the part of the BBC. The same people and mindsets who gave you Jimmy Saville and generations of stiff, not to say fossilized, upper craniums are apparently still around.
You could say it’s part of the appalling British class system where you vote Tory to pretend to be a higher class than you are. In other countries, it’s called groveling. The Tories are a sort of sub-nation of Uriah Heeps, actually.
But… The people who lost the Empire, single-handedly nearly lost two world wars, and destroyed UK industry under Thatcher, can’t be all wrong, surely?
The nation of shopkeepers is famous for finding ways of sending itself broke. Brexit is perhaps the most enthusiastic attempt in the last 2000 years.
Bogus figures, and mismanagement on a Biblical scale, like buying useless PPE equipment during the pandemic are symptoms. Lost EU subsidies, barriers to UK citizens getting jobs in Europe, and other attractions are cases in point. The UK has in fact penalized UK scientists for trying to rejoin the lucrative and very important Horizon scientific scheme after being isolated by Brexit.
Ridiculous queues of lorries and obscene truck parks in Kent are further outbreaks of Brexit brilliance. Dumping thousands of tons of untreated raw sewage in the rivers and seas was an added bonus.
Brexit has been an abject failure. It has been presided over by absurd little office boys who may have gone to Eton and Oxford but obviously learned nothing.
The BBC seems to have the same problem. Maybe they can’t read their own charter. Section 3 of the Charter says “The BBC must be independent in all matters concerning the fulfilment of its Mission…”
Well, it isn’t, is it? The march to rejoin was huge. The streets were packed with people. If rejoining the EU isn’t a matter of public interest, what is?
___________________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions
September 25, 2023
Britain left the EU after voting in favour of Brexit in a 2016 referendum - Copyright AFP/File FRED TANNEAU
The large march to rejoin the EU in London over the weekend was belittled by Murdoch press outlets and not covered by the BBC. The BBC is obliged by sections 5 though 10 of its foundation charter to cover matters of public interest. It’s hard to define anything that could be more relevant to the public interest than rejoining the EU.
After years of the humiliating national disaster known as Brexit, there’s a strong groundswell in support of rejoining. The utter incompetence and regressive insularity of this lunatic move are beyond belief. Brexit has cost the UK billions and delivered precisely nothing in return.
A swathe of conservative PR platforms sometimes optimistically referred to as prime ministers have done nothing useful. This is the UK’s version of MAGA, a lot of noise with no positive features whatsoever.
This highly selective process of covering issues is hardly new. It’s fully in line with the Murdoch press process of simply burying issues by not covering contrary views. The Murdoch press has also been promoting the American conservative idea of the EU as an enemy for decades.
It’s a particularly bad move on the part of the BBC. The same people and mindsets who gave you Jimmy Saville and generations of stiff, not to say fossilized, upper craniums are apparently still around.
You could say it’s part of the appalling British class system where you vote Tory to pretend to be a higher class than you are. In other countries, it’s called groveling. The Tories are a sort of sub-nation of Uriah Heeps, actually.
But… The people who lost the Empire, single-handedly nearly lost two world wars, and destroyed UK industry under Thatcher, can’t be all wrong, surely?
The nation of shopkeepers is famous for finding ways of sending itself broke. Brexit is perhaps the most enthusiastic attempt in the last 2000 years.
Bogus figures, and mismanagement on a Biblical scale, like buying useless PPE equipment during the pandemic are symptoms. Lost EU subsidies, barriers to UK citizens getting jobs in Europe, and other attractions are cases in point. The UK has in fact penalized UK scientists for trying to rejoin the lucrative and very important Horizon scientific scheme after being isolated by Brexit.
Ridiculous queues of lorries and obscene truck parks in Kent are further outbreaks of Brexit brilliance. Dumping thousands of tons of untreated raw sewage in the rivers and seas was an added bonus.
Brexit has been an abject failure. It has been presided over by absurd little office boys who may have gone to Eton and Oxford but obviously learned nothing.
The BBC seems to have the same problem. Maybe they can’t read their own charter. Section 3 of the Charter says “The BBC must be independent in all matters concerning the fulfilment of its Mission…”
Well, it isn’t, is it? The march to rejoin was huge. The streets were packed with people. If rejoining the EU isn’t a matter of public interest, what is?
___________________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions
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