Something to look forward to from the BBC on money and banking (perhaps)
In this mad age of yet further taxpayer-backed lending, the BBC’s new series may or may not be something to look forward to:
More here.
Steve Baker MP
Peace is the path to peace.
The BBC’s Robert Peston – Britain’s Banks: Too Big to Save?
My Cobden Centre colleagues Toby Baxendale and Gordon Kerr appear in this documentary by Robert Peston, Britain’s Banks: Too Big to Save?
It’s not bad at all but it’s vital we shift the focus from bashing bankers, which may be satisfying, but which is a sideshow compared to the flaws in the institutional design of the banking system which are the true cause of our present difficulties.
Still, well worth watching.
On complaining to the BBC
Further to this story:
Dear Mr Baker
Thank you for contacting us regarding remarks made by David Baddiel about Norris McWhirter and the Freedom Association on The Alan Davies Show on BBC Radio 5 Live broadcast on Saturday 18 December.
On the show David Baddiel was discussing a television film he has recently made entitled ‘The Norris McWhirter Chronicles’. The film centres around a speech that Mr McWhirter made at David Baddiel’s school in the 1970s. The young Baddiel had expected a talk about the then popular TV programme ‘Record Breakers’ and was disappointed that Mr McWhirter’s speech was of a political nature. The comments made by David Baddiel were quite clearly his personal description of Mr McWhirter’s political allegiances.The Alan Davies Show is a live, light hearted, entertainment programme and in this context we are satisfied that no broadcasting guidelines were broken.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
BBC Audience Services
Some may take comfort in the fact that I received the same response as everyone else.
The Sun Says
The Beeb is today the pompous voice of defeated socialism.
via The Sun Says.
Surviving the BBC on the EU
On Thursday, I gave an interview of about ten minutes to the BBC’s Daily Politics show regarding the EU budget. A section was transmitted today in their story Brussels bashing ‘back in fashion’ with new Tory MPs:
They didn’t use the section in which I supported the excellent Justine Greening MP.
They didn’t use the section in which I rejected the old spectrum of euroscepticism in favour of a greater free market internationalism which the EU obstructs.
They didn’t use the section in which I backed the Prime Minister.
They used the section in which I said there is a problem when the link between taxation and representation is broken, which I stand by, of course.
Now, I have no complaint about this — I certainly didn’t expect my own 10-minute feature — but it is interesting to see how the Beeb carefully chose my remarks to support their narrative. It puts How to Frame A Patriot (PDF) into perspective.
You can find the relevant episode in full here.
Douglas Carswell on BBC bias
Douglas Carswell today discusses BBC bias:
Mark Thompson, head honcho at the BBC, has admitted that the BBC has had a left wing bias. Progress.
While refreshing to hear Mr T say what the rest of us have known for years, to fix the problem, it is important to grasp the nature of the BBC’s inbuilt prejudices.
The BBC does not tilt to the left in a partisan sense. It’s coverage of political parties tends to be pretty fair and balanced. Rather, it is the BBC’s outlook – the unconscious presumptions of their producers and reporters - that often makes them seem so leftist.
When examining a public policy problem, BBC reporters almost always appear to presume that state action is the solution. Too many folk drinking too much booze? New laws to decree minimum pricing for everyone, rather than existing laws to enforce individual responsibility. And how many items on the Today programme boil down to a vested interest of some kind demanding state intervention or favour?
You can read the rest of this excellent article here. See also Biased BBC.
Man, 97, completes 120mph skydive
A 97-year-old man from Dorset is believed to have become Britain’s oldest skydiver after jumping out of a plane at 10,000ft (3,048m).
George Moyse, who will celebrate his 98th birthday on Wednesday, landed safely on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
via BBC NEWS | England | Man, 97, completes 120mph skydive.
Good on him 
And remarkably, to watch the video on the BBC site from Austria, I had to watch an advert first:
I had forgotten the games the BBC plays to raise revenue while maintaining the licence fee… See also “How to save the BBC”, a publication from the CPS.
Commons officials prevent MPs asking about BBC license fee
Douglas Carswell MP writes candidly about the ability of Parliament to do its job:
The House of Commons is useless at holding those with executive power to account. If Mr Speaker presides over a Table Office that won’t allow questions about the license fee, what’s the point of Parliament or of elections to decide its composition? (The Table Office claim its because the license fee isn’t part of ministerial responsibility – but its the executive deciding what is and what isn’t their responsibiliity, not the legislature – as was once the case).
Fearsome stuff.
Enjoy freedom responsibly
Steve Baker is MP for Wycombe. He is an engineer, manager, businessman and skydiver. Find out more...
Steve holds regular surgeries in High Wycombe. If you would like an appointment, please call 01494 448408.
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