EU Debate Hijacked By Foreigner

As the right-leaning part of the Fourth Estate continues to churn out one slice of thinly disguised xenophobia after another - but only in the interests of free speech, you understand - as a substitute for actually discussing and debating whether Britain would be better off in or out of the European Union, what is clear from the press rantings is that they do not take kindly to foreigners sticking their bugles into our affairs.

That's what I bladdy think of youse bladdy democratic bladdy referendum bladdy idea, ya bastard Pommie drongoes!

Thus it was that there was horror on the Europhobic right when Barack Obama made it clear that his preference was for Britain to remain in the EU (this might also have been something to do with The Prez having an approval rating among Brits that put every one of the anti-EU crowd to shame). And the ranting at the likes of Angela Merkel and François Hollande encouraging the Remain campaign was yet worse.

Against this backdrop, BBC Newsnight held a discussion last night, which verged on the heated, fractious and bad-tempered, between ultimate Murdoch insider Trevor Kavanagh, the serially dishonest former Sun political editor who was not responsible for the Hutton report scoop, and Tone’s former chief spinner Alastair Campbell, whose detestation for anyone taking the Murdoch shilling is the stuff of legend.

Big Al had one point to make about the Murdoch mafia’s coverage of the EU debate that Kavanagh did his best to deflect and otherwise avoid, and it was that the Sun and Times titles, despite Tony Gallagher’s earlier claim, were not free to make up their minds about which side to back in the upcoming referendum. They would, he asserted plainly, do what Creepy Uncle Rupe bloody well told them to do. He alone would decide.

Kav was his usual deeply unpleasant self, hitting back with a variety of creative abuse until host Evan Davis put him on the spot: “Who is going to make the decision for the Sun?” Well, Kav, who had that role? As Campbell looked on in not at all thinly disguised amusement, back came a rare moment of candour. Rupert Murdoch would decide.

As the Guardian has observed, “Kavanagh’s comments, even if tongue in cheek, are likely to annoy the paper’s editor, Tony Gallagher, who has previously denied that the newspaper owner tells him what to print and last week said he ‘hadn’t quite decided yet’ which side to back over the EU referendum”. Whether Gallagher likes it or not, the only reason he hasn’t made his mind up yet is because Rupe hasn’t told him which way to jump.

The dishonesty of it all was underscored by Kavanagh claiming “We are entitled to have a view, we have a view … That’s a position from which we look through the prism” before asserting “from that moment on [1983] we have had a very strong sceptical view and we have been proved right on every count”, which shows that he not only wants his own opinions (“view”), but his own facts as well.

The Sun’s staff have confirmed their rank hypocrisy once again: we should not listen to foreigners who don’t have the vote in the UK, unless they’re called Rupert Murdoch.