THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE LEFT-WING BIAS

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For early-bird Today listeners, the period from about 6.45-7.00 am tends to be the time when some of the most important agenda-setting interviews with Leftie interest groups tend to take place. These are not available on the Today website (which only offers interviews from 7.00 onwards) and so tend to be missed by other listeners.
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On Monday there was Michael Fairclough of the Labour-aligned Cooperative Movement, campaigning to give 16-year-olds the vote (presumably because, if they can be bothered to vote, he thinks they'll vote Labour - though as recent research suggests this is no longer necessarily the case.) Guess who he talked to? James Naughtie of course. Mr Fairclough was followed by Louise Ellman, Labour MP and charlady of the Commons Transport select committee, chatting to Sarah Montague about integrated transport policy. Then came Lee Elliott Major of the Sutton Trust, again chatting to Naughtie: "The gap in vocabulary and learning skills between children from low income backgrounds and others is greater by the age of five than some previously thought," said Knockers, "according to the Sutton Trust, the schools' charity." This is far from being Mr Elliott Major's first appearance on the Today programme.
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Yesterday heard Evan Davis chatting to John Wadham of the Equality and Human Right's Commission, former director of Liberty. He was whinging about body scanners at airports. Privacy was a secondary issue for him. What do you think was his main concern? The Muslim Community's fears of discrimination of course (as if they have anything to do with Islamic terrorism).
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Today the spot featured 'third sector' (ie. left-wing) organisation Better Banking 's Faisel Rahmen (a regular contributor to The Guardian, of course) complaining about banks and talking up his group's involvement with 'community organisations and anti-poverty organisations'. He chatted to a sympathetic Evan Davis.
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