The BBC is supposedly governed by a charter which ensures balanced political reporting. As we all know, what they actually do is split their time equally between:
- The party of the status quo (i.e. the government).
- The wannabe party of the status quo (i.e. the ‘opposition’).
- Whatever party Nigel Farage is involved with.
What this means is that there’s little – and often zero – time given to parties that challenge the status quo. And when you read the Green Party deputy leader’s roundup of this week’s political shows, it’s clear that this is a party which is challenging the status quo:
Huge amounts to criticise both Labour and the Conservatives for as they both dodged questions all morning.@TheGreenParty have a whole platform of social and environmental justice – yet once again the BBC have shut us out the conversation.#InviteTheGreens.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Side one of the same arse: David Cameron
Some of you may be old enough to remember that foreign secretary David Cameron was once the prime minister. He arguably didn’t resign in ‘disgrace’, but he certainly resigned having fucked up a massive political gamble – namely on the Brexit referendum. He’d certainly behaved disgracefully when in government, of course, and he also behaved disgracefully after; most notably in the ‘Greensill Scandal’.
As we wrote in 2021 (back when Andrew Marr was washing the government’s dirty laundry every Sunday):
David Cameron is at the heart of it, and people have accused him of corruption. This is because of his lobbying for his mate Lex Greensill, who was the owner of Greensill Capital. Greensill worked for Cameron as an adviser when Cameron was PM.
Then, when Cameron quit, he in turn went to work for Greensill. During the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Cameron got in touch with his mates in government. He asked for them to help Greensill get access to a coronavirus loan scheme. But the Tories didn’t give Greensill one, so it went bust.
The story just keeps on getting more toxic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Matt Hancock have both been implicated. And as the Canary’s Tom Coburg wrote, the stink of corruption keeps deepening. This is because Boris Johnson has put fellow Tories in charge of the investigation into Greensill.
So, if all of this was making senior Tories squirm – fear not. Because Andrew Marr has got their backs.
Given Cameron’s history of demonstrable incompetence and alleged corruption, you might be surprised to see him back in government. Not if you work at the BBC, of course, beyond some tepid softball questioning with zero follow up. As Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski commented:
David Cameron tries to dodge the crucial questions about his relationship with Greensill and accusations of corruption with "but I raised money for Alzheimer's."
It's ludicrous that they get away with behaving like this.#BBCLauraK
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Polanski also pointed out the one thing no one is talking about in the refugee debate:
David Cameron says you need to stop the people smugglers and this immoral trade.
He says it's about saving lives.
How about safe legal routes then?#bbclaurak
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
The weaselly British government thinks we can shirk our international responsibilities by virtue of us being an island. Amnesty International explains ‘four truths’ when it comes to the matter:
- “TRUTH 1: The Government allows nobody to make a claim for asylum in the UK unless they are physically present in the UK”.
- “TRUTH 2: It is impossible to come to the UK for the purpose of seeking asylum in any way permitted by the Government’s immigration rules”.
- “TRUTH 3: The Government makes almost no safe and legal route available to any refugee other than someone from Ukraine”.
- “TRUTH 4: Seeking asylum from persecution is lawful – refugees don’t need anyone’s permission to do so”.
In other words, Polanski is right. If we want to protect refugees and ‘smash’ smuggling gangs, there needs to be a safe way refugees can reach us. For all the fuss it causes in the British media and political space, we already receive significantly fewer asylum applicants than our neighbours, as reported by UNHCR:
In the year ending September 2021, Germany received the highest number of asylum applicants (127,730) in the EU+, followed by France (96,510). When compared with the EU+ for the same period, the UK received the 4th largest number of applicants (44,190 – including main applicants and dependents). This equates to 8% of the total asylum applicants across the EU+ and UK combined over that period, or the 18th largest intake when measured per head of population.
Germany, France, Spain, and Italy accounted for around 70% of all first-time applicants in the EU-27. These figures include all asylum applicants, not just main applicants (i.e. including children and other dependents). World-wide around 85% of all refugees live in developing regions, not in wealthy industrialised countries, and 73% of refugees displaced abroad live in countries neighbouring their countries of origin.
The issue is that people in the UK think we shouldn’t have to hold ourselves to the same standards as other countries, and that people fleeing persecution can go whistle (even if the persecution they’re facing is in a region of the world we played a pivotal role in destabilising).
And do you know who else holds these opinions?
Side two of the same arse: Keir Starmer
It won’t surprise you to learn that Keir Starmer is repeating the same talking points as the right-wing media, our right-wing government, and every right-wing loser in every shithole pub. Polanski noted:
Keir Starmer hugely irresponsible on #BBCLauraK.
"We've lost control of our borders and we need to do something to stop the boats."
No word on safe, legal routes – just more repeating of Nigel Farage talking points.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Looking at it sensibly, how are we going to ‘stop the boats’? There are only two options:
- We stop them on the water (i.e. we commit sea murder).
- We stop them setting off in the first place.
The problem with the first is that it’s – well – we probably don’t need to explain. The problem with the second is that the boats are setting off from a country other than our own. How arsed do you think the French are when they know:
- They’re already doing more than us.
- If we created safe routes – as we legally should – this wouldn’t be an issue.
In other words, Starmer is another cowardly bullshit artist who will say anything to avoid a bad headline in the Daily Mail.
And talking of bullshit:
Keir Starmer repeats his nonsense again about a "sustainable ceasefire."
It's increasingly become his code for standing with Netenyahu whilst he massacres an entire population up until the point that he's decided it's time to stop.
It's absolute moral depravity.#BBCLauraK
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Keir Starmers argument is now that these air strikes don't constitute military action.
I used to worry that people who said his relationship to the truth is as bad as Boris Johnson were guilty of hyperbole.
But he's absolutely descending rapidly.#BBCLauraK
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Ah yes, it wasn’t a military action, it was simply an action carried out by our military. We actually didn’t realise our militaries were now available for non-military work. If they are, they could come round to one of the Canary writer’s houses and do a non-military action on the mess in our yard.
Pig to man: man to pig
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas pointed out that Cameron had some equally nonsensical opinions on the strikes:
Cameron is on another planet if he really thinks the air strikes on Houthis sites won’t escalate the crisis. Absolutely no sense of any plan behind the action. Where does it end? “Sending a message” isn’t a strategy #bbclaurak
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) January 14, 2024
And talking of planets, Polanksi wondered what Starmer is doing for the one we live on:
Keir Starmer tries to defend his private jet use.
In the total tradition of the Tories, it's one rule for Labour and another rule for everyone else.
Don't trust them on climate – or anything important – for a second.#BBCLauraK
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) January 14, 2024
Green Parties are often criticised for not having a fleshed-out socialist platform (or for not being socialist at all). The UK Green Party might not be the party with all the answers we need, but they are at least engaging with the questions. As such, it’s detrimental to national discourse that they’re frozen out of the conversation.
Featured image via YouTube – BBC
