THAT WAS A PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST ON BEHALF OF...

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After yesterday's grim feast of bias on The World at One, was today's edition any better? The answer is NO!
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Presented by Ed Stourton, it again began with another assault on the Tories. Their proposal to act against relative inequality (don't get me started on that!), capping the pay of public sector bosses, came in for close scrutiny. Another parade of critics marched by (though not as long as yesterday's). First Steve Tatton, introduced (as you would expect when a Tory proposal is about to be slammed) as "an expert in executive pay". He is "not convinced" by the Conservative plan. Next up was Polly Toynbee (I kid you not!) who savaged Cameron's ideas as "extraordinarily synthetic politics". She also attacked the private sector and defended Labour. What did the Conservatives have to say in defence? Who knows. They weren't asked!! Unbelievable!!!
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Now, at least the programme then turned its attention to the Stuart MacLennan story - the Labour candidate who resigned after being caught out making very non-PC remarks on Twitter. But, unlike with the Tories above, here Labour's slippery Jim Murphy was given the chance to spin his way out of trouble. Ed's a gentle interviewer (usually) and was gentle here.
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Lord Adonis's wooing of the Lib Dems was the next topic. John Curtice of Strathclyde University was then interviewed. (He's always on the BBC). After a brief quote from the joint general secretary of Unite Tony Woodley. Ed then interviewed his namesake Ed Davey of the Lib Dems, gently.
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The last topic was...John Prescott. Becky Milligan joined him on his Prescott Express and chatted with the great idiot. It was, by and large, a feel-good piece for Labour supporters and Becky was very pally with Prezza.
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No Conservatives were heard from in this programme.
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Unbelievable!!!

BECKY CHANGES THE SUBJECT

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Becky Milligan discussed the disputed selection of BBC historian Tristram Hunt as Labour's candidate in Stoke with Shaun Ley on yesterday's The World at One.
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Or, more accurately put, she tried not to discuss the matter with Shaun Ley, quickly trying to generalise it beyond Labour ("And it's not just a Labour problem..." was just one such comment) and then, for some reason, moving swiftly on to the Conservatives and their recent "little local difficulty" in Surrey East, about which she talked at greater length and went into considerably greater detail.
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So, asked for her view of events in Stoke, she spent 40 seconds discussing that, then 17 seconds discussing pure generalities then 48 seconds discussing Surrey East.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rlff9#synopsis

FRIENDS OF MANDY

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I'm still catching up on my weekly round of BBC programmes & have a couple of short observations to make about this week's run of PM.
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When you have separate interviews with spokesman from various political parties on the same day, with the same interviewer, and on the same subject, bias is most easily spotted. Wednesday was Pre-Budget Report day & representatives of the two main parties and the Liberal Democrats were interviewed by Eddie Mair. Compare the amount of time each got, & you'll see bias:
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Liam Byrne (Labour) - 5 minutes 22 seconds
Vince Cable (Lib Dem) - 3 minutes 37 seconds
Phillip Hammond (Conservative) - 2 minutes 36 seconds
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Check out the interruption coefficients too and you'll find more evidence:
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Phillip Hammond - 1.7
Liam Byrne - 1.1
Vince Cable - 0.3
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Eddie characteristically redeemed himself - though not his producers - (retrospectively) by also giving Labour's evasive David Lammy a good going-over on Tuesday edition (I.C. of 1.3) as he tried passing the buck (in classic Labour fashion) over a bungle over student loans. That is why, almost alone among the regular BBC interviewers, I still have some time for Eddie Mair.*
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Worse was a report on Friday's edition into TV satire/drama about Westminster politics, presented by Becky Milligan. The three talking heads in the report were all Labour Party people - retired Labour MP Joe Ashton, writer (and friend of Mandelson) Robert Harris and Hazel Blear's former advisor Paul Richards. There was absolutely no reason for this, as the report was not about how Labour was represented in such programmes but about how Westminster politics in general has been represented over the years. Why the Labour Party monopoly then?
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SEPTEMBER'S I.C.s - BECKY MILLIGAN & CAROLE WALKER

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To Becky Milligan, a mere reporter, went the honour of interviewing the Labour MP Eric Joyce, who resigned over his government's handling of the war in Afghanistan and our troops. An I.C. of 0 was scored.

Carole Walker got the lesser honour of talking to Bill Rammell (Labour) over al Megrahi's release but also scored o.