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UKIP have been complaining for some time about the BBC's attempts to link them in the public's mind with the BNP.
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Hippiepooter has brought to my attention some examples of this, both from BBC political correspondent Brian Wheeler. The first comes from his review of the BNP's latest party election broadcast:
The UK Independence Party must have thought it had cornered the market in the anti-politics vote with its "sod the lot, vote UKIP" poster.
But in this election broadcast, BNP leader Nick Griffin goes further still, urging people to use their vote to "get your own back" on the entire political class.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8647630.stm
His second comes from a review of UKIP's latest party election broadcast (and a very snide piece of reporting it is too):
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The theme of the broadcast is "straight talking" - like the BNP in their broadcast, Ukip are starting from the premise that the public now think all mainstream politicians are liars and crooks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8651489.stm
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And I can add Mark Easton to the list of smearers:
The big three Westminster parties have tended to brush to one side the point that lots of our inward migration comes from the EU and none of their policies would do anything about that. Only UKIP and the BNP would withdraw from the European Union, a prerequisite for restricting Poles, Latvians and Lithuanians from coming to work in Britain.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/04/immigration_by_numbers.html
And now BoBs on the latest B-BBC open thread has picked up on possibly the worst of the lot. As he notes, "The ever helpful BBC informs us that the BNP and UKIP are basically the same party ... WTF". It begins:
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Two parties who have entered the Westminster election race in the hope of winning their first seats are the British National Party and the UK Independence Party.
Central to both organisations is the notion of being British, however that has often led to the BNP being accused of racism and UKIP being accused of being anti-European.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/scotland/8653809.stm
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The worst case I know of this came during an edition of The Politics Show courtesy of Jon Sopel. Sorry for doing this, but I'll have to quote myself here at some length:
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Short extracts from interviews with each of the candidates for the leadership of UKIP followed. I would love to know how long the actual interviews lasted from which these crumbs were drawn and what questions were asked. Here the focus, initially, was firmly on immigration - and Sopel had the clear aim of painted UKIP as a far-right party analogous to the BNP.
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First came Gerard Batten MEP. He said that immigration should be reduced to a trickle and that Sharia Law is unacceptable in this country. An unhappy-looking Sopel said "I'm sure that Nick Griffin wouldn't disagree with anything you've just said."
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Next came front-runner Lord Pearson, who Sopel clearly had in his sights. He was labelled a "former Tory" (boo!) and "old Etonian" (boo!), and a "field sports campaigner" (boo!)" and as the man who invited Geert Wilders to the Houses of Parliament (boo!). Wearing a sour expression, Sopel asked him "So is there a danger you could be confused, UKIP and the BNP?" When the lord answered (slowly), Sopey interrupted and twisted his words: "Are you saying that there's a fine line between UKIP and the BNP?" The over-polite peer should have replied "No, you twit, of course not - and, unless you're thick, you know I didn't."
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The mere councillor came next, Alan Wood - "chairman of Fittleton Parish council", a man who "breeds spaniels". "Do you respect Lord Pearson?" asked Sopel. "No I don't", replied Mr Wood. "Are you saying that if he's elected people will think you're too close to the BNP?", asked Sopel. "Yes", replied Mr Wood. Job done for Sopel!
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Next up was Mike Nattrass MEP. He was labelled a "former member of the right-wing New Britain"(boo!). 'Right-wing' is usually BBC code for a fascist nut. Mr Nattrass is absolutely no such thing, but how are BBC viewers to know that the 'right-wing' New Britain was not a fascist organisation, like the BNP? This is a low subliminal smear. *
http://beebbiascraig.blogspot.com/2009/11/ukip-get-full-sopel-treatment.html
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I think we should all be on the alert for more examples of this.
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P.S. Here's another: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/regions/west_midlands/8578858.stm
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And another from Stephanie Flanders:
The UK Independence Party and the British National Party also often focus on the economic impact of immigration: on wages, productivity and jobs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/parties_and_issues/8634469.stm
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Craig, the most despicable thing about linking UKIP with the BNP is that while it no doubt loses UKIP votes, it also wins the BNP votes. It works both ways. Discredit a legitimate democratic party by intertwining it in people's minds with a neo Nazi Party, but at the same time they do that, in the minds of non-racist voters angry about multiculturalism but wary about the BNP, linking them with a legitimate democratic party like UKIP may very well persuade them that the BNP aren't racist and Nazi after all. Way to go BBC! As long as they're losing UKIP votes they dont mind if they're winning the BNP votes. I've got to say, I dont know if I could contain myself if I was in the same room as the BBC scum doing this.
ReplyDeleteThe trick the BBC play to achieve the linkage is to take BNP policies and statements on face value and ignore the overwhelming evidence they're a neo-Nazi led party exploiting people's grievances in order to link them to UKIP whose policies on immigration, multi-culturalism and the EU do bear objective similarities (as they do to a lesser extent with the Tories and Labour!). If the BBC really were an impartial broadcaster doing its democratic duty to facilitate debate its treatment of all totalitarian parties would be the same, whether Respect/SWP or BNP. It would scrupulously keep the democratic fold separate from the totalitarian fold. The only approach to Nazi scum like the BNP should be to rub their noses in the Nazi backgrounds of its leaders and close bonds with racist and fascist organisations abroad so there can be noone can have any doubt what they're getting for if they vote for them. The BBC will no doubt reel of their 'duty to impartiality' under the Election Act, but the only time they ever do show impartiality with the BNP is when it's a means to link them with UKIP, which seems to be increasingly more often as voting approaches. At the end of the day, the people with critical mass at the BBC are every inch the extremist scum that the BNP are. Sheesh, being willing to aid and abett British Nazism to lose UKIP votes. What more needs be said about the depravity of the BBC?