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Having taken the plunge last year into watching David Dimbleby's Question Time again after a long, long break (the bias, the crazy left-wing audiences), prompted by the Biased BBC website's weekly commentaries, I thought I might tonight plunge into Radio 4's Any Questions (the bias, the crazy left-wing audiences), hosted by the other Dimbleby. Much as I'd love to provide a weekly review of it here, I don't think I'll be doing so (or at least that's how I feel at the moment, as I'm still seething).
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The panel was packed with left-wingers - Polly Toynbee, Sadiq Khan and that most left-wing of Lib Dems Simon Hughes. Only Dan Hannan stood up for right-of-centre opinion. Throw in left-liberal-to-his-green-fingertips Jonathan Dimbleby and that's four against one. And that's before you even consider the audience. Where do they get these audiences from? (From the Question Time audience list perhaps?) I listened to the programme back in the 1980s when Mrs Thatcher led the Conservatives to two large election victories - you would never have known that from the make-up of the audiences then. And now, twenty years on, it sounds just the same. The hostility shown towards Mr Hannan by tonight's audience was something to hear.
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The programme's nadir came during the section on the Conservatives' self-confessed 'screw-up' over tax breaks for married couples. All three left-of-centre panellists ganged up on Dan Hannan. Dimbleby only restrained them so that he could have a go himself - and the audience booed and heckled, as if they were a bunch of Labour Party hirelings. Dan, as ever, stood firm and (seemingly) unperturbed.
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At the end of this section Dimbleby said that all the clapping came for both sides of the argument. That was not what I heard. Not what I heard at all. He then, foolishly, put this clearly absurd statement to the test and conducted a straw poll that, surprise surprise, showed very little support for the Conservatives and a "large majority" of the audience against. Dimbleby didn't admit (unlike David Cameron) that he misspoke.
I am a regular listener to Any Questions , the repeat on Saturdays and will listen to this one today.
ReplyDeleteActually I have found it much less biased than QT especially when Eddie Mair is presenting rather than the much inferior Dimblebore minor.
I can only assume this departure is due to the forthcoming election and will be maintained from now on. Will be interesting to see how it develops.
Yes, I will have to try again Grant. One programme is not enough to judge!
ReplyDeleteYou may have noticed that Eddie Mair is my favourite BBC interviewer/presenter, being (by some way) the least biased among a very bad bunch. That you find him greatly preferable to young Dimbleby on Question Time doesn't surprise me. Let's hope he takes over permenantly!
This week's QT was the worst since the BNP QT fiasco that the bbc will not admit caused them such pain from complaints.
ReplyDeleteI have complained on this week's QT and I am sure that the repeat will be "edited" as most repeats are to remove some of the over the top bias.
The venue was a mosque, and considering Moslems have not seen the degeneration of family values as native British people, the straw vote on marriage and taxation (taken totally out of context by Dumbleby, Khan and Hughes) was unbelievable and only shows how QT papers the walls with its chosen audience.
Also it was apparant that Hughes and Khan had some knowledge of the questions and came up with diatribe and mantras.
Considering the dire state of our nation such bbc bias and its fomenting of political correctness and adversity is a travesty.
I listened to the repeat on Saturday. I am a great fan of Dan Hannan, but squirmed when he said that if a woman was undecided about marriage, a tax incentive might encourage
ReplyDeleteher !
Given his personal background, I found it pretty ironic that Simon Hughes was in a Mosque !
However, I don't recall " Any Questions " ever coming from a Church, so I guess that will happen this week in the interest of "balance".
Given the BBC's institutional anti-semitism, I guess a Synagogue is out of the question.
So, 3 lefties up against Daniel. I wonder if the BBC are planning a QT trick to expand the panel to 5, thereby always guaranteeing a left-wing bias. Watch this space .
Yes, Craig, Eddie is the almost acceptable face of the BBC and has that rare quality among the Beeboids, a sense of humour !