BBC close to breaking law over UKIP

The BBC's lack of coverage for UKIP at the Noriwch North by-election verged on breaking electoral law for broadcasters, says a respected political commentator.

Under the headline 'UKIP ridiculed for going against the BBC's authorised vision of Europe' the East Anglian Daily Times respected political editor Graham Dines wrote:

UKIP'S coverage at the hands of the BBC came close to breaching election law for broadcasters in the run-up to last week's Norwich North by-election. In effect, the BBC decided to airbrush out of the equation the political party that had done so well in the European Union elections that voters in Norwich were giving serious consideration to their manifesto.

Last week, BBC East organised a debate between the "leading candidates" in the by-election - Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat, and the Greens.(Watch the debate here). I understand that UKIP was so furious that there was a real possibility of an injunction being sought. In the end, the debate went ahead without UKIP, who were mollified by having a filmed insert into the programme.

Just why the BBC decided that the Greens were more meritworthy than UKIP is not difficult to discern. It's all down to the unpalatable policy of quitting the EU.UKIP goes against the authorised version of Britain's relationship with Europe and therefore should be ridiculed - but there again, the Greens are not hysterically pro-Europe and have serious doubts about the creeping EU superstate.

No, the BBC cannot bear the thought there there are perhaps millions of Brits who want nothing more to do with Europe. If the UKIP vision of withdrawal from the EU ever became a reality, the BBC would have to do what it doesn't like doing and stand up for Britain.

The BBC's editorial line should be one of neutrality. It has no mandate to be partisan. But it so likes the Orwellian nightmare - two legs good, four legs better - that it is prepared to risk its reputation for objective reporting.

UKIP had the last laugh, finishing fourth in the by-election with 11.8% of the vote and only 800 behind the Liberal Democrats. Even so, unless there is electoral reform in Westminster elections, UKIP will be hard pressed to get any MPs under first-past-the-post.

As a political party, UKIP is not fashionable. My own personal opinion of the party and Europe is irrelevant - until the UK holds a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon (which for my sins I have read, as well as the European Constitution, and while there are some differences, the two are fundamentally the same document), then UKIP is there to be counted and not ignored by the Guardianista left.

Hunt welcomes admission that Lord Sugar's role risks BBC impartiality

The BBC Trust has admitted that Lord Sugar’s role as Government Business Tsar poses a "greater than normal risk of impartiality" - and that the channel could be forced to reschedule The Apprentice if there is a General Election next year.

In response to a complaint about Lord Sugar’s role on the Apprentice, the BBC Trust accepted "there may have been a public perception that the BBC's impartiality…had been undermined."

The Trust also said that "the combination of Sir Alan's roles as star of a BBC entertainment show, Government Adviser and peer with the closeness to the next general election poses a greater than normal risk to the impartiality, integrity and independence of the BBC in relation to the broadcasting of The Apprentice and Junior Apprentice next year."

Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, welcomed the confession, stressing, “The BBC Trust has admitted what we have known all along: that Alan Sugar's Government appointment risks the impartiality, integrity and independence of the BBC.”

He added, “Whatever restrictions the BBC seeks to put on his political activities Lord Sugar is taking the Labour whip and has an official Government role. It’s amazing that the Trust has therefore not explained why licence fee-payers should fund a programme hosted by someone who will help formulate, promote, and endorse Government policies.”

Disability equality needs role models

"Understanding and caring for people who are different needs to be taught to parents as well as children," the Green Party's disability spokesperson Alan Wheatley said today.

He was responding to news that the BBC had received dozens of complaints from parents about the employment of BBC children's television presenter Cerrie Burnell, who was born with one arm.

Cerrie Burrell co-presents the Do and Discover slot and Bedtime Hour on the CBeebies channel of the BBC. It has been reported that dozens of parents have complained that the presenter scares children. One parent reportedly said, "What is scary is the BBC's determination to show 'minorities' on CBeebies at every available opportunity." (1)

The Greens' Alan Wheatley commented today, "What would these parents who believe that 'minorities' should be neither seen or heard on children's television have them do? Is it not time for the parents to grow up to a global world and the social model of disability?"

Mr Wheatley explained that the social model of disability, integral to Green Party policy, points to the physical and social barriers that exclude people with impairments from fully participating in society. "Disabled role models on television can help to broaden the world-view of the parents as well as the children in the spirit of life-long learning in a very diverse society. Clearly one-armed people like Cerrie Burrell can achieve a lot, though not necessarily in the 'standard' way. Do some parents with both arms intact feel threatened by the prospect of a physically disabled person's success?"

He concluded: "Outside inclusive education hours, Cerrie Burnell might be seen as an icon of disability equality in public service broadcasting. She is a disabled person who has succeeded in the highly-competitive world of broadcasting, and that makes her an important role model."