Don't Let the BBC Get Away With It
The Owen Jones Podcast
Owen Jones
4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2022
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is an unacceptable breach of journalistic objectivity - with potentially devastating consequences. In its coverage of Rishi Sunak's ascent to the premiership, the BBC declared that spending cuts - as well as tax rises - are inevitable. Both are political choices. If the government decided to increase taxes on the wealthy - as I set out here - then they could avoid spending cuts. If the BBC get away with this, they'll keep doing it - and soften up public opinion to protect the government from anger at unpopular cuts, because the electorate will decide they're inevitable.
Please complain to the BBC here - making it clear you're complaining about Nick Eardley's comments at 10:16 on the news channel - "The economic backdrop has changed: Mr Sunak is going to have to agree to spending cuts, and to tax rises" - which presented austerity as inevitable, rather than a political choice. https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is really, really important. The BBC can't be allowed to get away with this. |
| 0:04.4 | What I'm about to show you is a clip from BBC Courage. |
| 0:08.2 | It's Courage of the imminent arrival of Rushi Senak as Prime Minister, |
| 0:13.5 | and it's discussing his coming economic policies. Let's have a little look. |
| 0:18.4 | But the new government has to decide extremely quickly |
| 0:23.2 | what spending cuts it's prepared to make, what constraints |
| 0:26.7 | on the public purse that's prepared to count in ends. |
| 0:29.2 | And what tax rises might be coming seven weeks ago, |
| 0:33.1 | let's trust that at that very lectern, |
| 0:35.6 | it told us all, the big tax cuts were coming. |
| 0:39.3 | That was the conservative plan to boost economic growth. |
| 0:43.6 | What we're about to see in the next few days is the exact opposite. |
| 0:48.2 | The economic backdrop has changed. Mr Senak is going to have to agree |
| 0:52.7 | to spending cuts and to tax rises. |
| 0:55.8 | So let me read back the offending comments. |
| 0:58.4 | The economic backdrop has changed. Mr Senak is going to have |
| 1:04.4 | to agree to spending cuts and to tax rises. |
| 1:08.0 | No, he's not. That's a political choice. |
| 1:10.3 | What the BBC is there doing is making spending cuts austerity look inevitable. |
| 1:16.7 | There is absolutely no alternative whatsoever. |
| 1:20.4 | And if you're angry about the cuts because these cuts are going to be profoundly |
| 1:24.6 | unpopular, the BBC's message to you is, well, don't blame the government for them |
... |
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