The letter below is self-explanetory:
26th January, 2014
The Editor,
Newsnight.
Dear Editor,
I wish to object in the strongest possible terms to the biased nature of your introduction to your feature on the economy last Friday, 24th January..
You introduced some discussion on a speech to be made by Ed Balls with a comment that it was "Labour who presided over the financial crisis"; mentioned that Labour had a "problem of economic credibility"; illustrated the financial crisis by showing a car crash; and then said the government could respond to Mr Balls's speech by asking "Do you want to hand the keys back to the people who crashed the car?"
It is shameful, and presumably contrary to your Charter, that the BBC should present without reservation an account of events so biased in favour of the Conservative Party.
It is true that a Labour Government was in power in Britain when the international financial crash happened, but by using the phrase "presided over" it you imply that they were mainly responsible for it. The main responsibility for the crash lies firmly with the irresponsible behaviour of the international (not just British) financial sector made possible by the deregulation policies introduced by and still then supported by the Conservatives.
Suggesting, without any qualification, that Labour were "the people who crashed the car" compounds the bias. In fact it is widely held internationally that, far from his being responsible for the "crash" Gordon Brown's prompt actions in 2008 helped avert further collapses in the international financial system.
I should like you to regard this as an official complaint and forward this to the responsible body (presumably some equivalent of the PCC) for it to receive formal adjudication. If this is not the correct method of making a complaint I'd be grateful if you would advise me as to what is.
I might add that I complain as an independent citizen. I am not a member of the Labour Party (in fact I am an active supporter of another party) but I complain as a member of the public who believes that our democracy can function effectively only if the media, and particularly the public broadcasting system, resolutely pursue the truth.
Yours faithfully,
The introduction can seen until the end of this week on iPlayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03sc5y3/Newsnight_24_01_2014/
Do look, see what you think and perhaps put in a complaint yourself.
The sad thing is that even the Labour Party leaders themselves seem more inclined to apologise for their economic record rather than defend it.
Newsnight.
Dear Editor,
I wish to object in the strongest possible terms to the biased nature of your introduction to your feature on the economy last Friday, 24th January..
You introduced some discussion on a speech to be made by Ed Balls with a comment that it was "Labour who presided over the financial crisis"; mentioned that Labour had a "problem of economic credibility"; illustrated the financial crisis by showing a car crash; and then said the government could respond to Mr Balls's speech by asking "Do you want to hand the keys back to the people who crashed the car?"
It is shameful, and presumably contrary to your Charter, that the BBC should present without reservation an account of events so biased in favour of the Conservative Party.
It is true that a Labour Government was in power in Britain when the international financial crash happened, but by using the phrase "presided over" it you imply that they were mainly responsible for it. The main responsibility for the crash lies firmly with the irresponsible behaviour of the international (not just British) financial sector made possible by the deregulation policies introduced by and still then supported by the Conservatives.
Suggesting, without any qualification, that Labour were "the people who crashed the car" compounds the bias. In fact it is widely held internationally that, far from his being responsible for the "crash" Gordon Brown's prompt actions in 2008 helped avert further collapses in the international financial system.
I should like you to regard this as an official complaint and forward this to the responsible body (presumably some equivalent of the PCC) for it to receive formal adjudication. If this is not the correct method of making a complaint I'd be grateful if you would advise me as to what is.
I might add that I complain as an independent citizen. I am not a member of the Labour Party (in fact I am an active supporter of another party) but I complain as a member of the public who believes that our democracy can function effectively only if the media, and particularly the public broadcasting system, resolutely pursue the truth.
Yours faithfully,
The introduction can seen until the end of this week on iPlayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03sc5y3/Newsnight_24_01_2014/
Do look, see what you think and perhaps put in a complaint yourself.
The sad thing is that even the Labour Party leaders themselves seem more inclined to apologise for their economic record rather than defend it.
And the BBC are accused of 'leftist' bias! When will the Tories stop chanting the myth about the mess the Labour Party left them in and begin to implement sound economic policies? Osborne goes on about 'hardworking' people when he has never done a hard day's work in his life - nor has Cameron for that matter, nor I expect the other twenty millionaires in the Cabinet.
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