Last night’s NEWSNIGHT on BBC TWO produced a significant moment. The Tory MP and Chief Whip Andrea Leadsom was being interviewed by Emily Maitlis. It’d be fair to say that Maitlis was giving the Tory MP a pretty thorough grilling about her party’s handling of the UK negotiations with the EU. And yes, Virginia, Leadsom is the woman who ran for leader of the Tory Party against Theresa May, and whose campaign imploded when she suggested that Theresa May would be less empathetic with the electorate because, unlike her, May hadn’t had children.
But back to last night. Probably stung by the non-fawning questioning, Leadsom got a bit shirty. It went like this:
Andrea Leadsom MP: “Angela Merkel said it [Theresa May’s offer to legitimize all EU people in Britain after they’d been there five years] was an interesting start, we had Mark Rutte [Netherlands PM] saying he was quite positive and optimistic about it, we had various other politicians – elected politicians – saying it was a good start. Of course it’s very – “
Emily Maitlis: It’s been a year – it has been a year –“
Andrea Leadsom MP: It would be helpful if broadcasters were willing to be a bit patriotic. The country took a decision, this government is turning to deliver on that decision.
Emily Maitlis: Are you accusing me of being unpatriotic for questioning how negotiations are going, questioning whether you have the position of strength she said she wanted?
Andrea Leadsom: I’m not accusing you of anything, Emily. I’m simply saying we all need to pull together as a country. We took a decision a year ago today to leave the European Union.
Emily Maitlis: With this reduced majority you’re now a minority government, but your reading of the public mood is to push on with the same plans for Brexit that you always had. Is that right? Nothing has changed then, in your mind?
Andrea Leadsom: As the Prime Minister has said, we’re leaving the EU, we’re not leaving Europe. So our negotiation to deliver a strong deal that works for all of us remains absolutely at the heart of what we’re doing.
Most of that, as you’ll see at a glance, is vacuous flap-doodle, Tory smoke and mirrors to disguise the parlous state they’re in. But the bit that’s in bold is really important. Leadsom tells the interviewer she’s not accusing her of anything; in fact she’s accusing the BBC of failing in its duty to rally behind the Tory government line.
I’d be the last to say the BBC is always impartial; but for a leading member of the government to play the patriotism card in an overt attempt to silence dissent is pongy and then some. Thatcher played the same card, the time of the Malvinas crisis, and ALL the British media faithfully swung into place behind her and the brave boys sailing off to glory thousands of miles away. It stank then and it stinks still.
Thank God we’ve a truly independent (no pun) media this side of the Irish Sea.
Here’s the link to Maitlis-Leadsom:
The BBC has already proved its right wing credentials when it refused to run the the emergency appeal for the people left devastated by the Israeli bombing of Gaza City which left thousands dead and homeless.
The news core is now run by people who proved their right wing bias in the campaign of negative publicity they ran against Jeremy Corbyn.
Tories have a long history of playing the patriotic guilt card on it’s own population and media. Lucky for the rest of us that the Tories are now led by a group right wing bumbling idiots who will (if they are unsuccessful in getting a war started on some unfortunate country very soon) will become so unpopular that they will not be able to effectively govern their own country and be out of office.
Dear Pointis but is it not high time that the sleek plump well groomed thousand dollar suited terrorist leaders of Hamas started to spend the hundred upon hundreds of millions of dollars on the people of the Gaza strip. Feeding clothing and housing them instead of lying up in luxury in places like Qatar. Which is one of the richest countries in the world, don’t dig fucking tunnels don’t store thousands upon thousands of rockets near hospitals and children’s schools and hide there the fucking cowards. let the people ordinary live and develop and get educated to go out into the world to get good jobs and bring home the goodies for their family and friends. The sleek plump expensively well groomed Hamas millionaires want to run to other countries outside Qatar now and live in luxury no change huh. Go home you fat sleek multi millionaires and live in the same conditions as the poor people of Gaza and if you feel the need blow yourselves up. Not some poor ESN sixteen year old child fucking cowards send the plump sleek well groomed leaders of Hamas over the border into Isrial armed with a knife come on boys come home from Qatar we need volunteers, some fucking chance . Go find Arafat’s missing billions ask the wife and daughter they’re doing very well .Bring it all home, throw the guns in the bin like we did and start to look after your people. The oil rich Muslim countries could have built wonderful cities and towns and infrastructure for the poor, instead of opening schools that teach primary school children how to hate and kill Christians and Jews. BBC emergency appeal ask the ffing rich as Croesus Saudis Iranians Qataris and on and on and the thieving sleek plump Hamas leaders to quit the murdering and start showing us how the book of love works. No more hanging gays no more downtrodden women no more amputations no more beheading no more mass executions and please no more internment like we had just because we freely expressed ourselves. All i read about from Hamas and the Iranians and Hezbollah is how they are going to wipe out Jews and Christians and we all know that holocausts will always find a new set of victims to eradicate when they have run out of the old ones. So please preach peace with your sleek well groomed multi millionaire Hamas friends for instance and then there will be no need an emergency appeal.Sorry but i hate sleek thieving con men who preach nothing but hatred while they sit safe in the lap of luxury. I think Sinn Feinn have a lot to teach these guys but i am afraid those at the top wont listen because as usual they are having to good a time. Now to make some of feel better the jewish people made a lot of mistakes done bad things to now its time to sit down and talk it all out with the guns and rockets of the table. Like i say i hate sleek plump well groomed con men i want all people to have a chance.
” A truly independent media this side of the Irish Sea”? Ag magadh atá to?
” A truly independent media this side of the Irish Sea”? Ag magadh atá tú ?
I honestly don’t see the UK leaving the EU. Everyone knows Theresa May is on her way out of No.10 Downing Street. Jeremy Corbyn said he will make sure the UK will leave the EU but that the UK will remain part of the Single Market and Customs Union.
Now, if the UK remains part of the Single Market/Customs Union, it may as well still be within the EU. In fact, there’s no point in even leaving the EU at all because remaining in the SM/CU will mean the UK keeping its borders open, freedom of movement of people and the UK unable to make trade deals with the rest of the World. If this comes to pass, then the UK leaving the EU will have done nothing but weaken it. All the Brits will have done is lose the benefits of the EU, removing itself from the top table in Europe and lose its influence in Europe but keep all the negatives. It doesn’t make sense. Not to mention the bill of tens of billions for just leaving.
The Irish Government recently said it wants Special Status for the North when the UK eventually does leave the EU. There is no way to keep the border open unless the North has special status or if the UK remains in the Customs Union, which the Tories are deeply against. Technology alone cant keep the border open, there will have to be stops and checks, aka customs posts. Any one taking bets on how long they will last?….they may as well open a customs post on the Falls Road, the border has changed that much since the last time there was customs posts….
As Jude and many others have pointed out, DUP support for Brexit may come back to bite them.
Where is there a good war when you need one, eh? That’s usually a Tory fall-back alright. Pump up the patriotic volume so that the plebs will forget about everything else except for “Rule Britannia” and “our boys” as they send them off get killed.There’s that old hoary cliche about Patriotism of course, but we’ll not drag that one up here.Keep it tasteful ,you there at the back!! I expect this kind of claptrap from ultra- Tory politicians. They’ve used it as an excuse to bully before ,but their current clinging to the shabby threads of power really does take the biscuit.Cameron really screwed things up by even putting the country in this no-win invidious position. He’ll not be hurting any time soon and yet he set this nonsense in motion by giving those same plebs a choice of which they had no real notion of the complexity and the consequences.Let’s face it …how many knew that it would take twenty years to sort out all those little details? It’s one thing arguing the toss with experts in various fields and weighing up well-thought out arguments but it’s quite another to put the choices first in the hands of ditherers and wafflers such as a well -upholstered Boris ,who will never feel any pain ever …anyway…..but to extend that choice to subjects who have no real notion either was a crazy thing to do .It’s like driving your car into the garage and asking a five-year old to sort out your carburetors..
From the same party who, within the few months, threatened to abolish the House of Lords if it held Brexit back.
The Tories have become dangerous to democracy and free speech.
*within the last few months* Gabh mo leithscéal.
It is a bit rich to complain about the tories attacking the BBC when not only it but virtually every mainstream media outlet is constantly vilified here by Jude Joe McVeigh, Donal Kennedy and a plethora of posters.
Shooting the messenger is a favoured tactic for those without argument.