While many observers - me included - had concluded that the decision to invite the people from Channel 4 News out to the G7 to interview alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, only to then cancel the interview at the last minute, had come from professional polecat and amateur human being Dominic Cummings, it seems there was another presence wanting to put one over on Channel 4.
Robbie Gibb. Totally unbiased. Allegedly
That presence was Robbie Gibb, whose tenure at the BBC may well have damaged the Corporation’s political reporting credentials almost beyond the point of redemption. Gibb had worked for Theresa May, telling at the end of July “It has been an honour to work for Theresa May, one of the country’s most dedicated public servants. I would like to wish Boris and his new team at No10 all the very best in the months and years ahead”.
But he was not finished yet, dispensing his questionable wisdom even after supposedly departing the scene. There was an article for the Daily Mail - fellow Brexiteers rallying round with a paycheque - and advice: “The EU know that the Withdrawal Agreement will not get through Parliament with the current backstop unchanged. If the EU won’t change its red lines it will be the fault of the EU, not the UK, that we leave with no deal”.
That’s as in advice we can all do without. But then came the Number 10 and Channel 4 bust-up, and there he was again (and in the Daily Mail again): “It remains one of the great mysteries of our age how Channel 4 news is not drowning under a sea of complaints to the watchdog Ofcom so flagrant is its political bias”. What colour is the pot, Robbie kettle?
The reason that Channel 4 News is not, to use Gibb’s happy phrase, “drowning under a sea of complaints” is because the subject of his ire, that the channel’s head of news Dorothy Byrne called Bozo The Clown “a known liar”, happens to be true. Our alleged PM has a long history of making statement that are not true. He is a known and congenital liar.
And what Gibb manages to miss during his Daily Mail rant is that there is significant previous between him and Channel 4 News (covered by Zelo Street HERE). Gibb has no room to lecture anyone about bias, not after stunts like the Stephen Doughty Daily Politics resignation, a clear example of the BBC making news, rather than reporting on it.
Also, it was Channel 4 News that revealed what happened when the Beeb intended to run accusations that Leave EU had been targeting far-right extremists with its social media advertising, and Arron Banks telling in an email “I don’t think they will Run it after all that lot . You will have a busy week next week since Robbie will react by giving us massive exposure”. There was another incriminating quote from the Channel 4 piece.
“In his book about the referendum campaign, Arron Banks recounted the incident, claiming: ‘Robbie Gibb is being quite helpful and says he’s trying to hose it down’”. Robbie Gibb’s actions have never been explained, and probably never will be. He has poisoned the BBC, and it will take years to clear away the odour of right-wing bias.
Now he is using the platform given him by the Daily Mail to pretend that Channel 4 News are the bad guys - because they called him out on that shocking bias. “No, I’m not biased, look over there at Channel 4 News”. You’ll have to try harder than that, matey.
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1 comment:
BBC "News" versus C4 "News".
Lumet's wonderful Network made manifest.
I hope they beat the living shites out of each other.
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