Well, who would have thought it. A report finds that for decades the BBC  has been rather deaf to those who were worried about immigration into the UK

The report found that the BBC was too reliant on the views of politicians, who tended to steer clear of “taboo” subjects, such as immigration, and warned that “even today the debate on the BBC may not reflect the public mood”…………………….

 ……………………………….His report concluded: “The BBC was slow to reflect the weight of concern in the wider community about issues arising from immigration. “It remains the case that the agenda of debate is probably too driven by the views of politicians.

“Slow to reflect” is far too gentle a phrase. For nearly fifty years, from Enoch Powell onwards, the BBC has either demonised or ignored any individual or group raising concerns about the sheer scale of immigration into the UK – not just in the news or documentaries but in drama, “comedy” or soaps.

Well, guess what – another report  has” let the cat out of the bag” (as if most of us didn’t know already)…

The full impact of mass immigration on British life was laid bare last night by a Home Office report.

It said that half the population lives in a town or city which has experienced high levels of immigration over the past decade.

Ministers said this ‘uncontrolled’ flow had caused a number of problems for wider society, ranging from pressure on maternity services, high rates of infectious diseases and a squeeze on school places, to disproportionate levels of some types of crime, inflated rents and immigrants living in ‘beds in sheds’

Don’t expect any change from the BBC, however.  Oh they’ll prattle on about “lessons learned” and “balance” but the culture is too deeply embedded for any significant change in attitude, not just at the BBC but throughout our media and political elite where “diversity” is something to be celebrated – as long as it is far away from their own leafy streets and their children’s schools.

Benedict Brogan, one of the best informed political commentators in the Westminster village, penned a piece in The Daily Telegraph on Cameron’s forthcoming cabinet reshuffle. One respondent , peter63, though admiring Brogan, wondered just how detached he and his colleagues across the media from the world outside the village…

for a certain kind of Titanic-watcher, I suppose there is some interest in seeing which way the deckchairs are rearranged before ship up-ends and goes down.

Nobody at the Telegraph seems to have an inkling of the watershed change in the public mood (at least, as that mood is outside London).

There is a new mindset in so much of the nation.   What IS fascinating is to observe how little this is perceived among the DT journalists – all of them highly talented and well educated persons.

It explains to me how the courts of France or Russia could in the last months of their ancien régimes have really no proper idea of what was to overtake them.

Worth a thought….

Young Somerset UKIP candidate Alex Wood did not make those “racist” Facebook comments

You can read about the result of the police investigation here, here and here

Police investigating the incident have said that they are satisfied that comments originally attributed to Alex Wood, 22, had never appeared on his Facebook account and may have been photoshopped or doctored to appear as if from Wood.

Unfortunately this latest news appears not to have been reported yet in the Daily Mail or the Telegraph who both bigged up the original  “story”….

Nothing either from Tory Party HQ who “helpfully” passed the “information” on to those papers.

Doubtless there will be a big spread at the weekend….

It has always puzzled me why such a smooth operator as David Cameron should have nailed his colours to the UAF (Unite Against Fascism) mast. Anyone with any sense of historical perspective or political savvy would have recognised the UAF’s true nature as a hard left designed “front” by looking down its list of officers.

Since the earliest days of the Bolsheviks the authoritarian left have crafted “front” organisations that attract the soft left as self indulgent “ornaments” to mask the fact that the organisation is actually controlled by professional agitators. If, like me, you had been a trade union activist during the 60s and 70s you would have been constantly aware of how these people operate. At least the naive students attracted to such fronts can cite ignorance as their excuse. That someone like Cameron, with his squadrons of advisors, should have fallen for this just beggars belief.

But then if you delve deeper into the news over the last few weeks Cameron’s motives might be more rational than first glance might indicate.

Dave has obviously been rattled by the emergence of UKIP as a serious political force that threatens to make inroads not just into the Tory rank and file but also across party lines towards the urban working class. Sneering put downs from Tory ministers and tame political hacks have failed to dent UKIP’s reputation – indeed, since so many people hold both our political class and their symbiotic media elite in contempt, these attacks have backfired in spectacular fashion.

So the news that the agitprop merchants at the UAF, spearheaded by the dynamic duo of political has beens Ken Livingstone and Diane Abbott, have now set their sights on UKIP as their prime target must have lit a little flame in Dave’s heart.

As recent events in Hove indicate the storm troopers of the UAF, a motley crowd of “students”, professional race card operatives and opponents of free speech have been given their orders to cause maximum disruption at any significant UKIP event particularly where Nigel Farage is present. The aim is to link the party with reports and pictures of violence and mayhem initiated by UAF with the hope that the public will begin to  associate UKIP with disorder by default – and turn back to the traditional parties.

So, as far as  Cameron is concerned…..job done!!!!!

Far fetched? You be the judge. But of course Cameron could, with one move, prove me wrong – by publicly disassociating himself from UAF….

An afterthought – how many UAF operatives have been present at these protests about the increasing authoritarian nature of the Erdogan regime in Turkey?

Just asking….

Equalities Minister Maria Miller continued the Tory Party’s war on mothers with yet another attack on stay-at-home mums, hitting them with a double edged guilt trip

A shortage of successful women is holding Britain’s economy back, Cabinet Minister Maria Miller will warn today.

The equalities minister will warn that it is unacceptable that highly-skilled and talent women continue to languish behind men in the workplace.

More help will be offered to school girls to get ahead in business while employers will be urged to hire women over 50.

The call comes as a government-backed report says stay-at-home mothers should go back into the workforce to boost economic growth.

So,  selfish and bone idle mothers, you are not only being traitors to your country by sabotaging the economy – but you’re also betraying the sisterhood.

Ms Miller could even see into the future…..thanks to those marvellous “experts”

Getting those women back to work would boost economic growth by 0.5 per cent a year or 10 per cent by 2030 – vital if Britain is to emerge from the financial crisis, experts said.

Funny how those experts can be so specific about how women are needed to get us out of the financial crisis when they were unable to predict the crisis in the first place….

In truth the figures are meaningless, conjured up out of thin air like the cost/benefit analysis of HS2. Moreover, in a period when unemployment is still relatively high from where are these jobs expected to come?

It seems strange that at the very moment when the concept of the family is under attack – high divorce rates, more and more children being born out of wedlock,  the heterosexual nature of marriage being undermined – Tory politicians like Miller should be devaluing the nature of motherhood. Perhaps that’s one reason why the party is losing it’s core support.

The tragedy is that Maria Miller, unlike most of her Cabinet colleagues attended a comprehensive school  and  has considerable business experience. She should have been a bonus to the government – instead she is a damp squib.

This report is just busywork to give the impression of “something being done” – so just file it under PP….Permanent Pending because nothing will ever come of it…..apart from the fact it will make a few more stay-at-home mums (or dads) feel even more worthless…

Do you still believe David Cameron – or do you, like me, suspect a con?

Maybe this Polish politician has let the cat out of the bag and the European political elite has been given the inside story.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski:Nick Clegg told me this afternoon it was extremely unlikely Britain would vote to leave EU #newsnight

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 29, 2013

They really think we are stupid. They believe their own agitprop that the the surge of support for UKIP is just a nine day wonder, a brief blip of protest that will disappear as the spin merchants and their media pimps attempt to switch the narrative. Tory Chairman Grant Shapps, we are told, has written a letter to local activists. William Hague might soon be wheeled out to assure the doubtful that all is well. Samantha Cameron should make herself available to secure the female vote.

They hold us in contempt – but they are rattled. Keep up the pressure and we can beat  them.

Brilliant put down by historian David Starkey of the liberal left panelists on BBC Question Time. As he points out he and Conservative minister Justine Greening are the only ones who come from humble backgrounds and made progress by merit. They also happen to be the only two who are right wing in their views. The others (including the chairman David Dimbleby) had parents who were wealthy and already very well connected in the worlds of politics and/or the media.

His barbs about feminism largely working for the benefit of comfortably off  middle class women scored a direct hit on Harriet Harman – her pompous and self righteous indignation only served to prove his point. Moreover the bonus came from watching a clearly rattled Dimbleby struggling to move the agenda forward. He didn’t appreciate the audience being reminded of how much taxpayers money cascades into his pockets via the publicly funded BBC to add to his already substantial inherited family fortune.

He might be an old queen and I don’t agree with all his views but Starkey is never afraid to upset his fellow panelists – or the audience – with some hard home truths…..

Quote of the day re the emergence of Ukip as an important political player

The fact that some voters don’t seem to believe that voting Conservative leads to Conservative outcomes suggests something rather deeper and more significant here, a fundamental problem of trust.
The same logic applies to the argument the Ukip is a protest against Coalition, economic hardship and the rest. The current party system offers voters a mechanism for registering discontent with the governing party/parties: it’s called the Official Opposition, the Labour Party. The fact that some anti-Government voters don’t believe that voting Labour is the best way to hurt the Government again points to a deeper problem.
If the Conservatives – or any of the main parties, come to that – are going to be reconciled with Ukip voters, they’re going to have to do something more substantial than promising to “listen” and tweak a few of their own policies.

Last night observing Michaell Portillo’s discomfort in having to share a studio discussion with Nigel Farage was rather like watching a debt ridden aristocrat having to sell his estate to the self made millionaire who used to be one of his gardeners. I’m afraid many members of our political, media and cultural elite will be equally uncomfortable this morning….

“My lips make promises but I have the heart of a whore”

Meet David Cameron

There are indications that UKIP, whose supporters were once characterised by David Cameron as “fruitcakes and loonies” might do well in today’s local elections at the expense of Cameron’s Conservative Party.

On the day before these elections Cameron has hinted that there might be a possibility that in certain circumstances there could be a chance that the promise of an in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU would be enshrined by legislation

In an interview, Mr Cameron said the Conservatives needed to “demonstrate absolutely that we are serious about this referendum”.

Is this the action of a man you can trust?

Interviewer: So, Rowena, as the Daily Telegraph’s highly trained ace political journalist, tell us how you got the UKIP story?

Rowena Mason: Someone from Conservative Party HQ sent me an e mail which I cut and pasted…….ermmmm, that’s it…

Interviewer: Thank you, Rowena Mason, the Daily Telegraph’s highly trained ace political journalist…