NILS POINTS

*
Regarded Labour Lord Peston & Co's forthcoming letter backing Labour over the economy, Justin Webb discussed the issue this morning with BBC business correspondent Nils Blythe (following a clip from Labour Lord Layard). Nils recalled earlier 'battles of the letters'. His comments provide a classic example of bias by labeling:
*
"It started back in February when a group of economists wrote to The Sunday Times, basically supporting the Conservative argument that what we need to do in this country is to get the budget back into balance, the big danger is that the markets will turn against us and we won't be able to borrow money at low rate. Then there was a response in The Financial Times, two different letters from very distinguished groups of economists, if you like, taking the opposite view, taking the Labour view that actually the recovery's very fragile and nothing must be done at the moment that is going to endanger that."
*

DON'T LEAVE US AGAIN EDDIE!

*
While Eddie's away the Quinns will play! Yesterday's PM, presented by leftie lassie Carolyn Quinn, was one of the worst I've heard for ages.
*
It featured an extremely soft interview by BBC economics 'guru' Nils Blythe of Peter Mandelson in the wake of Brown's right-wing-bashing speech at the Policy Network conference. Three easy questions and no interruptions from Nils, lots of Brown-nosing and attacks on the Tories from Mandy.
*
A report by Andrew Harding from Argentina on that country's posturing over the Falkland Islands saw Andy neglect to mention that Argentina's posturing (but beautiful) president is a socialist. Had the fair Cristina (pictured with all the inevitability of a Paxman sneer) been a right-winger you can bet your bottom peso he'd have thought it worth mentioning - especially as there was criticism of her from various Argentinians.
*
The programme then mounted the green platform and spent what seemed like an eternity discussing a row between the government (represented by Lord Hunt) and an electricity generator that wants subsidies to transfer from coal to renewable 'biomass' energy. Green Party London Assembly member Darren Johnson stuck his oar in here. Carolyn's questions tended towards Darren's position while she was interviewing the Labour lord.
*
The programme stayed on the same platform for a report by BBC science correspondent Palab Gosh on electric cars in America, and how they could save us from our gas-guzzling cars, which are "pouring carbon dioxide into the planet's atmosphere." He talked to a broccoli-juice drinking (no, honestly!) Californian couple who believe their solar-panel fitted sports car points the way to the future.
*

A FEW CRUMBS

*
Just a few more brief vignettes from Radio 4's coverage of the recovery yesterday:
*
At 6.35am you would have heard Nils Blythe on the Today programme talking up expectations of 0.4% growth when the figure came. Well, not quite Nils.
*
Both Nils (on PM) and Stephanie Flanders (on The World Tonight) were suggesting that a revision upwards of the 0.1% (rather than a revision downwards) was not unlikely. We'll see, and we'll remember these pronouncements if they're proved wrong yet again.
*
The expert on Andrew Bomford's report on the recovery for PM was a Professor Paul Gregg of Bristol University (and a former advisor to James Purnell), who talked on the "lost generation" of the 1980s (Mrs Thatcher, booo!!) and said everything must be done to make sure that doesn't happen again.

P.M. FOR THE P.M.

*
Though I approve (on the whole) of Eddie Mair, that does not mean that his show PM is not biased towards the Left - at least if today's edition is anything to go by. See if you agree. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qskw
**
Terry Stiasny' s report on the hostels for teenage mothers proposed by Gordon Brown in his speech at the Labour Party conference, taking shape in the form of foyers run by local housing associations, could have been scripted by a Labour spin doctor. She talked to a young mum who thought it was a great idea in that it made life a lot easier for her. The sociological jargon spouted by its director, who thought his foyer was a 'great example' for the prime minister, tells you something about the mindset behind such doubtless well-intentioned projects - as does the fact that rehearsals were going on for a play for Black History Week. (Of course, he wanted more funds from the taxpayer.)
*
A lively debate within a narrow ideological circle followed with a discussion on the importance of a treaty at the forthcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, with enviromental campaigner Kim Carstensen of the WWWF Global Climate Initiative talking the matter over with Andrew Pendleton of one of the Beeb's favourite think-tanks, the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Both supported strong action to 'save the world', they only disagreed about just when a binding treaty should be signed.
*
The privatised rail companies came under sustained attack from Nick Cosgrove in the Upshares Downshares business spot, with Ashwin Kumar of the pressure group Passenger Focus piling on the criticism.
*
Even Nils Blythe's report from Malawi on food security praised the government intervention policies of the government of that country, talking to "one of the beneficiaries of a Malawian government programme to provide heavily subsidized seeds and fertilizers to poor farmers". We heard twice that this had "made a huge difference" (as it may well have done). We also heard praise for our Labour government role in the 'Malawi Miracle', with Gwen Hines of the Department for International Development stressing the importance of 'financial engineering.' We also heard of campaigns against wicked artificial fertilizers, which were not (Blythe said) felt to be "sustainable in the long term."
*