Welfare to Work

Is the BBC having a go at the government

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Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s department has made a formal complaint to the BBC claiming that its coverage of the Government is biased.

The former Tory leader launched an attack and singled out the broadcaster’s economics editor Stephanie Flanders for the harshest criticism, accusing her of

“peeing all over British industry”. (I had a great image for this ……. :-)..)

BBC officials defended the organisation’s record of impartiality and Ms Flanders’ reporting.

But Mr Duncan Smith claims the the broadcaster diminishes the role of the Government in good news stories but “dumps” on it when the story is bad. The minister appeared to be particularly angered by coverage given earlier last week to unemployment figures after there was an unexpected drop in Britain’s jobless.

The jobless total fell by 46,000 in the quarter to June to 2.56 million, an unemployment rate of 8%, and the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance last month was 1.59 million, down by 5,900 on June.

Mr Duncan Smith added: “If the unemployment figures had gone up, we would have been on the BBC TV News at Six and Ten and would have got the blame but when the news is good, the BBC view is

 ‘Get the Government out of the picture quickly, don’t allow them to say anything about it’. When the news is bad, (it’s) ‘Let’s all dump on the Government’.

yesMinister comment

We think IDS does have a point.

The real problem here is that the labour party is either asleep or comatose, resulting in there being NO opposition to the government: Maybe the BBC is simply providing the opposite voice.

It’s however important that the BBC reflects the feeling of the general country. The BBC would be accused of insensitivity if it focused on positive news when thousands were still losing their jobs or are out of work.

1 Comment

  1. IF IDS CANT STAND THE HEAT THEN HE SHOULD GET OUT OF THE FIRE.

    HE HAD TO GO IN 2003 AFTER A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE FROM THE PARTY
    AND ITS NOW EASY TO SEE WHY.

    HE WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE NEARLY MAN, AND JUST ONE MORE MISTAKE BY THE PM, THAT WILL LOSE MANY VOTES IN 2015

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