Aleister Campbell Loses His Temper Over BBC Bias on Brexit

If you’re like my, Aleister Campbell, Blair’s former spin doctor, is probably not your favourite person. But in this short from @vanmantalks on YouTube, he’s exactly right. It’s a clip from a BBC news show in which he takes the presenter to task for letting the Brexiteer guests get away with horrendous lies. He starts by talking about the number of firms and industries that have departed for the continent and then mentions the bus slogan with its lie about spending the money we send to the EU on the NHS instead. At which the others get a bit shirty and say they’ve heard it before. Well, they probably have, but it’s still a lie, and the Tory Brexiteers are still lying, so it needs repeating.

Alex Belfield Hit by Anti-Stalking Orders

Hat tip to Gillyflower, one of the many great commenters on this blog, for the link to this story about internet broadcaster, right-wing mouthpiece, stalker and jailbird Alex Belfield. Belfield was put away for cyberstalking the various people who’d crossed him during his broadcasting career. Even though he’s now a convict, he still casts a long shadow, and so the cops have hit him with a Stalking Prevention Order to stop him doing it again. Here’s the story from the West Bridgeford Wire, which also includes official links and phone number to the police and other organisations to provide help against stalking:

‘Nottinghamshire Police says that it has shown its commitment to protecting victims of online harassment after securing stalking protection orders against a persistent offender.

Stalking protection orders are civil orders which can run alongside criminal prosecutions and can forbid a person from contacting others or from taking certain actions.

Every breach of an order is an offence in its own right and could result in a jail sentence.

Alex Belfield, of HMP Stocken, in Rutland, was previously jailed for five-and-a-half years in September 2022 following a four-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

The 43-year-old former BBC radio presenter was locked up after running a relentless campaign of harassment against multiple victims.

Following much hard work, Belfield has now been made subject to indefinite stalking protection orders relating to two victims who were not part of the criminal trial.

The orders which were imposed on Thursday (1 June 2023) at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court, prevent Bellfield, or any of his supporters, from contacting these victims by any means, including on social media.

Lifetime restraining orders were previously granted to all eight complainants in the criminal case.

Detective Constable Janet Percival, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It’s been a long hard slog, but we’ve now managed to secure these significant orders which will provide peace of mind for these two victims who were caused genuine alarm and distress by Belfield.

“It’s important for people to know that they don’t have to put up with this sort of online harassment and cyber stalking.

“I understand that people can be reluctant to contact us – sometimes because they aren’t sure that what’s happening is serious enough to warrant police action, and sometimes because they feel we won’t be able to help – but I can assure them that we will take their reports seriously and we will do whatever we can to help and protect them.”

Stalking offences are defined by a pattern of fixated, obsessive, unwanted and repeated behaviours – in person or through remote means such as social media.

If you are a victim of stalking or believe that you might be, please contact Nottinghamshire Police:

If you feel in immediate danger at any time, always call 999.

If you are frightened, but not in immediate danger contact us on 101 or report it online.

For further information please refer to:

How to protect yourself from stalking and harassment | Nottinghamshire Police

The Stalking Advisory Service

The National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300.’

See: https://westbridgfordwire.com/alex-belfield-stalking-protection-orders/?utm_source=West+Bridgford+Wire+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d44b26ea84-Wire+Daily+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_38341112ed-d44b26ea84-430477373

38 Degrees Petition Against Government Strengthening Voter ID Laws

I got this petition yesterday, and have very definitely signed it.

‘David, it’s just been revealed that the Government has slipped out plans to introduce TOUGHER Voter ID rules around elections, requiring certain ID to vote by post and by proxy. [1] Only last month voter ID blocked THOUSANDS of us from voting in local elections. [2] And now they want to go further, just in time for a General Election.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees Mogg recently admitted – on TV – that the Conservatives introduced Voter ID to try to sway the elections. [3]

It’s a stitch up but it’s not a done deal.

Today, together, we can show that we, the British public, have noticed this power grab – and we won’t accept it. We can create a huge people powered backlash with one simple message: DITCH VOTER ID BEFORE THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION.

David, it’s going to take a huge outcry to stop them in their tracks, so will you add your name to the petition right now? The moment 100,000 of us add our names, we will take it to Downing Street with a camera crew so they can’t help but notice us.

ADD MY NAME NOW!

I’M NOT SIGNING BECAUSE…

Thanks for your support,

Amoke, Megan, Ellie, Flo and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] UK Parliament: Elections Act: Postal and proxy voting safeguards
[2] 38 Degrees: Locked out: The aftermath of voter ID rule changes at the local elections
BBC: First snapshot of Voter ID impact on election in East of England
[3] Sky News: Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests requiring photo ID to vote was attempt to ‘gerrymander’ which ‘came back to bite’ Tories
The Mirror: Voter ID will ‘undoubtedly reduce turnout’ at local elections, senior Tory MP warns‘

Tories Lying Again About Building 40 New Hospitals

Now that Sunak and the Tories are feeling the heat from the Labour party they’ve gone back to reviving one of their old lies from a few years ago. This was Bozo Johnson’s pledge that the Tories would build 40 new hospitals. Of course, the pledge was empty. Most of those 40 new hospitals were existing institutions scheduled for some refurbishment or rebuilding work. And in any case, none of the new hospitals have actually been built. But they’ve revived this lie, and Steve Barclay was on yesterday morning’s news and politics show on BBC 1 to spread it. Laura Kuenssberg isn’t my favourite Beeb journalist and in the past has shown herself to be as biased towards the Tories as the rest of them. But to give her credit, she kept on about this issue to Barclay, pointing it out to him again and again. But, Barclay attempted to defend himself, some of the existing hospitals would have to be completely gutted, so they were practically being rebuilt. This cut no ice with Kuenssberg, who carried on making the point, as well as the fact that some of these hospitals needed this work because of the poor condition they’d been allowed to get in. Some of them had their roofs falling in. And besides, no matter what the Tories did now, the new hospitals wouldn’t be completed until 2030. This didn’t impress Barclay, who said that this often happened, that governments started a project that would only be completed years later. But Kuenssberg did seem to have won some kind of victory over him, as she thanked at the end for coming on the programme and admitting that the 40 new hospitals included existing ones.

I don’t believe the Tories have any intention of building these hospitals. They’ve had three years or so to do so, and haven’t done anything about them. Yes, I know there have been problems with the economy and the Tories throwing out one Prime Minister after another, but Johnson lied through his teeth. The pledge about building hospitals was just one of them. Building NHS hospitals contravenes the Tory policy of running down the NHS and contracting out NHS services to the private sector. And if these hospitals were built, it would be using the Public-Private Finance Initiative, which has resulted in smaller hospitals being built and at greater cost than if the government just used straightforward contracting methods. Besides which, when New Labour started building new hospitals, in some cases existing hospitals were closed and demolished to make way for them.

This is just more Tory propaganda, designed to fool the public into thinking that the NHS is safe with them and to fend off the threat from Labour. Get the liars out!

Avaaz Appeal for Donations to Fight the Persecution of Gays in Uganda

I got this message from the internet campaigning organisation Avaaz yesterday. I haven’t donated, but I’m putting this up because it describes the horrific persecution of gay and trans people in Uganda and in case anybody else may wish to donate. I’m very much aware that gay people in the west haven’t had it easy, but this is Nazi-level persecution.

‘Dear Avaaz members,

I write from Uganda, where a vicious ‘anti-gay’ law is about to be signed — and we’re being hunted like animals.

Days ago, neighbours castrated a transgender person with a kitchen knife. We couldn’t go to the police as we’d be arrested — and had to search for a friendly doctor, as most wouldn’t help us.

We’re being fired from work, rejected by family, evicted, beaten, raped… and worse.

I’m appealing for your support. Please.

This could be our last call for help. When this law is signed, everything we do, including sending this email and raising funds, will become illegal. But right now, there’s still a narrow window when LGBTQ+ groups can receive support — and your donation could help save lives.

You’d fund safe houses where people can hide, along with emergency medical care, legal support, and trauma counselling. We urgently need more safe houses, as we constantly have to run when angry mobs arrive.

We’re being flooded with frantic calls for help, but without more funds we can only help a tiny fraction of people. I’m heartbroken, and don’t know where else to turn.

And it’s all because of who and how we love. In the face of unimaginable cruelty and violence, please stand up for our right to Love. Donate what you can now:

I’LL DONATE £2

I’LL DONATE £4

I’LL DONATE £7

I’LL DONATE £13

I’LL DONATE £26

OTHER AMOUNT

The new law will effectively make it impossible to exist as a LGBTQ+ person in Uganda.

I could get a life sentence for kissing my partner, and be executed for repeated homosexual ‘offences’. Renting to gay people will become illegal — and I could serve 20 years in jail just for sending this email.

They call us “ungodly” filth, but we aren’t the ones inflicting unimaginable cruelty on already vulnerable people. I know girls who’ve been raped by family members to ‘cure’ their ‘lesbian disease’.

That’s why safe houses are so critically important— providing a place of sanctuary in a country burning with hatred. With your help, we could:

• Fund dozens of new safe houses and emergency shelters across the country;
• Provide emergency health care and legal support for those who’ve been arrested — and meals for people in jail; 
• Help fund the development of a new legal case to challenge the law in court; and
• Power emergency response campaigns, like this one, to defend communities facing discrimination, assault, and war around the world. 

Every penny raised will support LGBTQ+ people in Uganda, and power Avaaz’s emergency response work around the world. By donating, you won’t just be helping in Uganda — you’ll be ensuring this crucial capacity is maintained for others like me, facing unimaginable terror.

Gay, straight, lesbian, transgender — we all just want to live and love in peace. I don’t know when that day will come, but it is not today, and our fight for love must go on. Wherever you are in the world, please stand with us. Donate what you can now:

I’LL DONATE £2

I’LL DONATE £4

I’LL DONATE £7

I’LL DONATE £13

I’LL DONATE £26

OTHER AMOUNT

I’ve been part of the Avaaz community for years. I’ve seen the difference it makes when we come together fast for those in need. Now it’s my community being attacked — me and my people need this movement’s help.

With hope and the deepest of gratitude,

Frank and the whole team at Avaaz

Note: If and when the ‘anti-gay’ law passes, the consequences for an email like this could be deadly — in many ways, they already are. For that reason, we aren’t using Frank’s photo, or their name. 

PS. This might be your first donation to our movement ever. But what a first donation! Did you know that Avaaz relies entirely on small donations from members like you? That’s why we’re fully independent, nimble and effective. Join the over 1 million people who’ve donated to make Avaaz a real force for good in the world.

More information:

• Uganda’s parliament passes mostly unchanged anti-LGBTQ bill (The Guardian)
• Gay Ugandan asks ‘Where will I go?’ as secret shelters under threat (BBC)
• Uganda may impose some of the world’s strictest anti-gay measures: ‘You’re fearing for your life’ (Los Angeles Times’

BBC Launches Fact Checking and Verification Service – But Can We Trust It?

Okay, I just caught the announcement on today’s midday news that the Beeb has launched a fact checking and verification service. I didn’t quite catch all of the announcement, but I think there was something about the war in Ukraine. Assuming that this was part of the same announcement rather than a separate news item about the war, it may have been related to the conflicting claims yesterday made by Russia and Ukraine about Bakhmut. The Russians claimed they had taken the town, while the Ukrainians denied it. The BBC seemed to be saying that this new service would be able to cut through such confusion. The Beeb also announced a few years ago that they were going to launch a service aimed at checking and rebutting the fake news coming out of the internet. The announcement today seems to suggest that they’ve finally completed setting the service up. Events have moved on a bit since then, and internet fake news and the ‘alternative facts’ put out by Donald Trump aren’t such a pressing issue on the public mind. They’ve therefore decided to announce its launch with a more topical question, such as who’s telling the truth about the war in Ukraine.

But can the Beeb itself be trusted? One of the right-wing news outlets – I can’t remember which one – said that Britain had one of the very lowest rates of public trust in the news in the world. Only 13 per cent of us, according to polls, supposedly believe the newspapers. I think the amount of trust in the Beeb might by higher, but it seems to me that this will also have been hit by allegations by the Tories about left-wing bias, particularly over Brexit. But the BBC has shown several times to people on the left that it can’t be trusted. It wholeheartedly took part in the mass demonization of Jeremy Corbyn as an evil anti-Semite. And I particularly remember the way it blatantly edited and censored Alex Salmond during the referendum a few years ago on Scottish independence. Their correspondent, Nick Robinson, had asked Salmond if he was afraid that the Scottish financial firms, located in Edinburgh, would move south if Scotland became independent. Salmon answered that they’d gone into that, and the firms wouldn’t. This clip was gradually edited during the day so that first it appeared that Salmond hadn’t given a satisfactory answer, and then that he ignored the question altogether.

And part of the problem isn’t what the Beeb or the rest of the lamestream media tells you, but what they don’t. Like the Maidan Revolution that toppled the pro-Russian Ukrainian president eleven years ago and started the path to the current war wasn’t a spontaneous, popular uprising, but carefully stage-managed by Hillary Clinton and her deputy Victoria Nuland in the state department with the cooperation of the National Endowment for Democracy. Other lowlights that found their way into the alternative media were reports that Clinton and Nuland had been recorded discussing whether or not they wanted the boxer-turned-politico Klyuchko in the Ukrainian cabinet. The gruesome twosome were also recorded lamenting that they hadn’t rigged the Palestinian elections, thus allowing the Palestinians to elect a Hamas government.

Today’s announcement is no doubt intended to reinforce the Beeb’s image as a source of unbiased, objective news. Certainly, that’s the image the corporation likes to project of itself. A few years ago, there was an advert for the Beeb’s news programmes which stated that the Beeb was listened to all over the world, especially in countries with authoritarian and dictatorial governments. The people in these countries trusted it to give them the real news that was being suppressed or distorted by their official news agencies.

Except I think it may be too late for that. The Beeb has shown itself too biased, too untrustworthy too often. You’re far better off getting information from the left-wing alternative internet channels like Novara Media and OpenDemocracy. The internet is notorious for the amount of rubbish, fake news and conspiracy theories circulating on it. But sometimes it’s more truthful than the mainstream news. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the fake news the Beeb will now claim to have checked and refuted is actually truthful, but needs to be discredited because it doesn’t fit the establishment agenda.

Private Eye Skewers Mogg’s Hypocrisy over BBC Presenters’ High Salaries

The Murdoch media has been running attack stories against the BBC for a long time focusing on the very high salaries enjoyed by star presenters like Gary Lineker. They’ve been joined by Tory politicians like Jacob Rees Mogg. This fortnight’s Private Eye for 10th May – 1st June 2023 neatly exposes the hypocrisy of Mogg and his gang by revealing the very handsome salaries and fees they get for presenting and appearing on their rancid, toxic programmes on GB News. The article runs

Jacob Rees-Mogg has previously queried the high salaries paid to BBC stars calling its presenters some of “the most well-off in our society” in a diatribe against the licence fee. Of course Rees-Mogg is himself now enjoying a very healthy media salary since he signed up to present a tedious weeknight evening show on GB News this spring, effectively becoming a part-time politician.

The latest register of MPs’ interest shows the ex-leader of the Commons earned just of £32,000 for 40 hours’ work on the show over just a few weeks. That equates to £802 an hour, and makes the already wealthy financier one of the best-paid MPs in terms of outside earnings.

GB News is a cash cow for Tory politicians. The latest register also shows it paid ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng £1,000 for a single interview. In addition, it shells out a £100,000 salary to the party’s deputy chairman Lee Anderson, as well as recently paying around £10,000 each to married Tory MPs Philip Davies and Esther McVey for their pisspoor co-presented weekend offering.

Meanwhile, parts of GB News continue to be a haven for conspiracy theories. Earlier this month, regulator Ofcom again found it in breach of broadcasting rules for an episode of the Mark Steyn programme last year when guest Naomi Wolf said the Covid-19 vaccine amounted to “mass murder”, comparable to the “doctors in pre-Nazi Germany”. Executives have been told to go for a meeting with the regulator.

Despite the rap on the knuckles, GB News presenters show no sign of changing their crackpot ways. Last weekend Neil Oliver shared an image online of Bill Gates that featured the Microsoft founder holding vaccine vials while wearing symbols including a swastika and an Illuminati pyramid. Lovely!

While the vast salaries to MPs such as Rees-Mogg who aren’t very good at presenting might seem a waste of money, the political connections at least allow the channel to retain a veneer of respectability.’

Erm, not quite. One Labour MP has said that GB News presents two types of views on its programmes, the right and the far right. The head of Ofcom had an uncomfortable appearance before a Commons committee in which she was asked why the channel was allowed to break the rules against politicians presenting news programmes. One of the most notorious of these breaches was when one Tory MP interviewed Boris Johnson.

The channel was also in Private Eye last fortnight or so when it reported that GB News was in such dire financial straits that it was no longer paying guests appearing on their wretched programmes. Presumably the money saved helps to pay the inflated salaries of rich Tory presenters like Mogg. How very Conservative!

400 People In Somerset Turned Away Due to Voter ID Laws

The BBC local news for the Bristol region, Points West, reported last night that 400 people in Somerset had been turned away from the polling stations last Thursday because they either didn’t have voter ID, or didn’t have the correct voter ID. This is appalling. There never was any need for the voter ID legislation in the first place. It was just a ruse by the Tory party to prevent the sectors of the population most sympathetic to Labour and the left – students, young people, the poor and Blacks and ethnic minorities – from voting for them. These laws are an affront to democracy and the fact that so many people have been turned away up and down the country amply shows that they need to be ditched.

Along with the Tories.

Notification from Labour & Palestine of Upcoming Demos and Events

‘Speak up for Palestine – 3 ways to show your support

Now is the time to stand with the Palestinian people. Here are 3 ways you can get involved:

1. March for Palestine on May 13 – RSVP here // Share & invite friends here // Retweet here. Details below.
2. Move our model motion on Supporting Palestinian Human Rights at your local meeting – Read & download here.
3. Support the Right to Boycott against upcoming Tory attacks – show your support here & read more here.

DETAILS: March for Palestine!

Join us in London on Saturday May 13 & take these 3 easy steps to build our bloc & the demo:

• RSVP here
• Share & invite friends here
• Retweet & spread the word here

The Palestinian people need our solidarity now more than ever. We will be joining fellow Labour members & affiliated trade unionists who will be joining this protest march and rally for Palestine taking place on Saturday 13th May 2023 in central London.

The march is supported by numerous trade unions including Artists’ Union England, BFAWU, CWU, The MU, NEU, PCS, RMT, TSSA, UCU, UNISON, Unite the Union.

FREE PALESTINE – END APARTHEID – END THE OCCUPATION

GENERAL DEMO INFO:

• Date: Saturday 13 May 2023
• Time: 12pm
• Location: The BBC, Portland Place W1A, London

Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Supported by Artists’ Union England, BFAWU, CWU, The MU, NEU, PCS, RMT, TSSA, UCU, UNISON, Unite the Union.

The March is also commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Nakba when over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and villages in 1948.

More demo info can be found on the PSC Website here.‘

Open Britain on the Fight Against Tory Corruption and Authoritarianism

Dear David,

The report into Richard Sharp’s appointment as Chair of the BBC is just as damning as expected. It confirms that Sharp failed to disclose relevant information relating to the role he played in arranging an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson.

The fact that the BBC, one of the most trusted news sources in the world, has been tainted by Westminster’s ‘old chum’ network suggests none of the institutions on which our democracy depends is safe from these people.

Don’t forget that as well as helping arrange an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson and being a Tory Party mega-donor AND a former Tufton St spin-doctor, Sharp used to be Rishi Sunak’s boss at Goldman Sachs. The fact that someone with that history was ever appointed to a role that is supposed to be politically impartial is a national disgrace.

But I wonder whether the days when government ministers feel able to break any rule they like with impunity might be coming to an end. Something seems to be stirring in the country. Britain seems to be waking up to the scale of the problem.

Campaigners, academics, students, “lefty” lawyers, and the public at large are beginning to recognise that our political system is plumbing new depths and understanding that the period between the next two elections must be used to drive fundamental change. They’re organising and mobilising as we speak. 

Look around and you’ll see the signs. For the first time ever, a small group of volunteers has created a tactical voting website (called ‘StopTheTories.Vote‘) for May’s local elections. Tactical voting sites have become almost routine during general elections but never before for local elections. This site allows users to see which candidates are best placed to beat Conservative candidates on 4th May. We’ll be watching with interest.

Elsewhere, the petition calling for a national public inquiry into the impacts of Brexit is nearing 200,000 signatures. The debate it prompted in Parliament last week sparked a helpful conversation about the inability of both major parties to acknowledge the harsh economic reality Brexit has forced onto people and businesses across the country. While few Conservative MPs showed up (unsurprisingly), opposition parties made a solid case for a fact-finding process, with even some individual Labour MPs accepting the case.

Alongside all that, we can see the PR movement growing in size and volume. It now includes dozens of civil society organisations and increasing numbers of ordinary people. Sort the System is designed to directly engage with MPs and show them definitively that FPTP is not good for anyone except the Tory elites and their donors. Pair that with the pressure from Labour’s stakeholders, and it’s clear that the force behind the PR movement in Britain has never been more powerful. 

And the list doesn’t stop there:

• Campaigners, including Open Britain, are working hard to push back on the government’s unfair voter ID scheme ahead of the next general election.
  
• Our friends at Fair Vote UK, alongside many international partners, are working to fight disinformation and reign in big tech’s control of our information environment.
  
• Independent journalists like Byline Times are setting a new example for British journalism free of advertising, oligarch money, or government subsidies. 
  
• Activist groups like Liberty are campaigning for more humane treatment of migrants and a robust human rights framework.
  
• Unions and campaigners are working together to fight for economic democracy and against the government’s anti-strike legislation.
  
• Environmental law agencies like Client Earth are challenging fossil-fuel drilling projects in the courts. 
  
• The Good Law Project and other legal activism groups are finding ways to use the law to push back against inhumane government legislation. 

You may think there’s not much hope coming out of the government these days – and we’d be inclined to agree – but look elsewhere, and you’ll almost certainly find some. People around the country are increasingly doing their bit to push back against the lies, incompetence and corruption that has infested our political system. It may not be reflected in Number 10 or even in Parliament (yet), but there is tangible power behind all of these movements…and it is growing.

If all this effort can be harnessed, by 2029, after this crucial window of opportunity has passed, we could all be living in a fundamentally better Britain. A place where our votes matter and our voices aren’t drowned out by the whims of mega-donors; a place where human rights are respected and upheld; a place where the public is able to make collective decisions about its future without being stymied by disinformation and a divisive media. It will never be perfect, but it will be a much more accurate reflection of who we are and what kind of world we want to live in.

Don’t lose hope – people are working all around us to build the kind of country we want to live in. All you have to do is join in. 

All the best, and have a great weekend.

Matt Gallagher
Open Britain’