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Labour worries Regular readers will know that I often indulge myself by addressing matters only tangentially related to the BBC ,  but it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to. So can Craig if he  wants to too. I’ve read an article by Stephen Daisley on the Spectator, which expresses concerns that are increasingly bugging me.  Titled: The shame of Labour’s liberal supporters , I urge everyone to give it a try.  Before I start, the good news is that Sir Richard Evans, professor emeritus of history at Cambridge has changed his mind. After Anthony Julius’s open letter Sir Richard Tweeted thusly: “Back from a visit to Germany to find Anthony Julius's persuasive open letter to me in the New Statesman. As much as Corbyn's lamentable failure to apologise in his tv interview, or the intervention of the Chief Rabbi, this has persuaded me to change my mind and not vote Labour.” However, at the time Daisley’s Speccie piece was written, Sir Richard’s message h...

I stayed up past my bedtime to keep guard on Question Time last night. In the current atmosphere, ‘keeping guard’ is a (self-imposed) obligation I feel compelled to fulfil, while the impending storm gathers momentum.  Lunacy? Paranoia? Well, there it is.   If anyone has the stamina to tot up the interruption quotient they’d conclude that Fiona Bruce had simply forgotten to flick the off-switch of her personal-opinion-regulator before going on air because it was undoubtedly still on ‘ON’.  As a newsreader renowned for her unique method of ‘acting’ the news, Brucie behaved more like an extra panellist than a chairperson. She virtually rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in. Lionel Shriver must be shell-shocked. I hope she’s okay. I had a peek at social media. That is truly, truly gruesome.  “From that rhetoric, I get told to go back to my own country” “I can’t see how you can blame Boris Johnson for that” This #bbcqt audience member clashes with Li...

Here's (apparently) newly-found footage of Jeremy Corbyn on Iran's Press TV (naturally) talking about BBC bias and Israel:  "I think there is a bias towards saying Israel is a democracy in the Middle East. That Israel has a right to exist. That Israel has its security concerns." For many Jewish people, this is the real Jeremy Corbyn. And many wish he'd just admit these are his real views. https://t.co/tUUActGj0Q — Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) November 29, 2019

As mentioned by MB , here's Andrew Marr in The Spectator  on the question of how to interview/how not to interview: My Sunday job is to ask questions; but in this campaign there is a line of criticism of television interviewing which makes me pause. The rise of misnamed social media (mostly Twitter) makes it all too easy to clip and post ‘Gotcha!’ moments, when a politician appears to be gasping for air at a particularly pertinent question. Two or three such moments now win the wearisome accolade of ‘a car crash interview’. So (goes the criticism) interviewers are under increasing pressure to skew their shows that way — go for cheap shots, get them online, and hope they go viral. I admit it’s a temptation. But as compared with fact-primed, carefully planned and constructed interviews — of the kind Andrew Neil does — to go for ‘car crash’ moments would be folly and a disgrace. It’s a temptation (just wallow in the Twitter applause) which must be resisted. If I’ve fallen into it...

We’re aware of Conservative Party Facebook adverts using edited BBC content. This is a completely unacceptable use of BBC content which distorts our output and which could damage perceptions of our impartiality. We are asking the Conservatives to remove these adverts. — BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) November 28, 2019

(Source: Deutsche Welle German radio; posted Nov. 28, 2019) Meeting in Seville, the ESA Council approved a €14.4 billion budget for 2020-2025, the biggest increase in 25 years, to finance the next generation of Ariane 6 and Vega-C launchers as well as Space Rider, ESA’s new reusable spaceship. (ESA photo) The ESA is to invest €14.4 billion ($15.8 billion) in space exploration including a moon mission up to 2022. Germany is now the largest contributor to the agency's biggest ever budget. European space exploration is getting its biggest financial boost in 25 years. At a conference in Seville, Spain, the 22 member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) on Thursday agreed on a €14.4 billion ($15.8 billion) budget for the next five years. "It's a real surprise, it's more than I proposed, I'm very happy," ESA Director-General Jan Wörner said. Germany now contributes the lion's share of the budget with €3.3 billion, which amounts to 22.9%. France follows ...

Defence Acquisition Council Approves Capital Procurement for the Services Amounting to Over Rs 22,800 Crore (Source: Indian Ministry of Defence; issued Nov 28, 2019) India’s Defence Acquisition Council on Thursday approved procurement of additional AEWC aircraft for the Indian Air Force and of six additional P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy, instead of ten as previously planned. (Boeing photo) The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, met today and accorded approval for Capital Procurement for the Services amounting to over Rs 22,800 crore. (approx. $3.18 billion—Ed.) To boost the 'Make in India' initiative, the DAC accorded approval for indigenous design, development and manufacturing of 'Thermal Imaging Night Sights' for Assault Rifles. These sights will be manufactured by the Indian private industry and used by troops deployed on the frontline. 'Thermal Imaging Night Sights' would enable troops...