Keema's Nan
2019-11-09 14:44:53 UTC
We are now under election broadcasting rules.
Ian Austin left the Labour Party nine months ago. He was then appointed by
the Tories as Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Israel. As of yesterday, he is
neither a MP nor a candidate for election. He is a minor politician who
achieved only the most junior ministerial rank, PUSS, and for only seven
months. He is best known for heckling Jeremy Corbyn while Jeremy Corbyn was
delivering the official Labour response to the Chilcot Report on the illegal
invasion of Iraq, shouting “Sit down and shut up” and “You stupid
disgrace” at Corbyn for criticising the war.
STRANGELY THE BBC FORGOT TO MENTION THIS
We are now under election broadcasting rules.
How and why was Ian Austin invited onto the BBC Radio 4 Today programme
today? He left the Labour Party six months ago, and has been a huge critic of
Corbyn. It is hardly a surprise that the Tory’s Trade Envoy to Israel
advises people to vote Tory. So who initiated Ian Austin’s appearance on
the BBC Today programme, and why? It is obvious that the BBC knew he was
going to urge people to vote Tory – or why invite a non-MP and
non-candidate, to say exactly the same things he has been saying since Corbyn
became leader?
That the Today programme at the BBC is produced by a Tory, under a Tory BBC
Head of News, and hosted by a Tory is established fact and beyond dispute.
The facts we need to know are these. Did Austin first contact the BBC or did
the BBC first contact Austin? Who took the editorial decision to include this
item in the programme? Was any organisation involved at any stage in any of
the discussions, or did Austin at all times represent himself purely as an
individual?
Following Austin’s vitriolic attack on Corbyn as a racist and anti-semite
on BBC Today, he was given eleven full minutes unanswered on BBC Breakfast
from 8.56 to 9.07. The presenter stated that they had no official response
from the Labour Party.
Yet we are in an election, and under election broadcast rules.
The BBC must have known what Austin was going to say – otherwise why invite
him on? Why was not another guest invited at the same time Austin was
invited, to give balance?
Austin’s appointment as Trade Envoy to Israel is not a Civil Service
appointment, it is a political appointment. He is a Tory appointee urging
people to vote Tory. Under election broadcasting rules, the massive
broadcasting time he is being given must count as Tory time, and be balanced
out by broadcast time given to the Labour, SNP, Brexit, Lib Dem and Green
parties. I strongly suspect that the BBC is intending to avoid this and claim
Austin is Independent so the barrage of “Vote for Boris Johnson” time he
is being given does not, they will claim, count as Tory time.
That the state broadcaster connives actively to launch a fierce character
assassination of the opposition leader as a racist, and urge everyone to vote
for the Government, is a disgrace. That they have not mentioned he is Tory
Trade Envoy to Israel is a disgrace. This is not how media behaves in a real
democracy. It shows the ferocity with which the UK Establishment will resist
the current real threats to its continuing hegemony.
This is very dirty. It is going to get worse.
© Craig Murray 2019
Ian Austin left the Labour Party nine months ago. He was then appointed by
the Tories as Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Israel. As of yesterday, he is
neither a MP nor a candidate for election. He is a minor politician who
achieved only the most junior ministerial rank, PUSS, and for only seven
months. He is best known for heckling Jeremy Corbyn while Jeremy Corbyn was
delivering the official Labour response to the Chilcot Report on the illegal
invasion of Iraq, shouting “Sit down and shut up” and “You stupid
disgrace” at Corbyn for criticising the war.
STRANGELY THE BBC FORGOT TO MENTION THIS
We are now under election broadcasting rules.
How and why was Ian Austin invited onto the BBC Radio 4 Today programme
today? He left the Labour Party six months ago, and has been a huge critic of
Corbyn. It is hardly a surprise that the Tory’s Trade Envoy to Israel
advises people to vote Tory. So who initiated Ian Austin’s appearance on
the BBC Today programme, and why? It is obvious that the BBC knew he was
going to urge people to vote Tory – or why invite a non-MP and
non-candidate, to say exactly the same things he has been saying since Corbyn
became leader?
That the Today programme at the BBC is produced by a Tory, under a Tory BBC
Head of News, and hosted by a Tory is established fact and beyond dispute.
The facts we need to know are these. Did Austin first contact the BBC or did
the BBC first contact Austin? Who took the editorial decision to include this
item in the programme? Was any organisation involved at any stage in any of
the discussions, or did Austin at all times represent himself purely as an
individual?
Following Austin’s vitriolic attack on Corbyn as a racist and anti-semite
on BBC Today, he was given eleven full minutes unanswered on BBC Breakfast
from 8.56 to 9.07. The presenter stated that they had no official response
from the Labour Party.
Yet we are in an election, and under election broadcast rules.
The BBC must have known what Austin was going to say – otherwise why invite
him on? Why was not another guest invited at the same time Austin was
invited, to give balance?
Austin’s appointment as Trade Envoy to Israel is not a Civil Service
appointment, it is a political appointment. He is a Tory appointee urging
people to vote Tory. Under election broadcasting rules, the massive
broadcasting time he is being given must count as Tory time, and be balanced
out by broadcast time given to the Labour, SNP, Brexit, Lib Dem and Green
parties. I strongly suspect that the BBC is intending to avoid this and claim
Austin is Independent so the barrage of “Vote for Boris Johnson” time he
is being given does not, they will claim, count as Tory time.
That the state broadcaster connives actively to launch a fierce character
assassination of the opposition leader as a racist, and urge everyone to vote
for the Government, is a disgrace. That they have not mentioned he is Tory
Trade Envoy to Israel is a disgrace. This is not how media behaves in a real
democracy. It shows the ferocity with which the UK Establishment will resist
the current real threats to its continuing hegemony.
This is very dirty. It is going to get worse.
© Craig Murray 2019