There has been a lot of pearl-clutching over Tory MP Paul Scully’s claim that there are “no-go areas” in the UK, including in Birmingham. He said “if you look at parts of Tower Hamlets, for example, where there are no-go areas, parts of Birmingham Sparkhill, where there are no-go areas“. Cue outrage from politicians and the media…
Jess Phillips went on ITV’s Peston last night to say: “When you say this, what is a hateful conspiracy theory about the place where I live – the only reason to say it is to cause hatred for the people who live there.” If Scully is peddling hateful conspiracy theories, Jess should add a few other outlets to her blacklist…
Guido has been around long enough to remember when to quote Jess, “hateful conspiracy theorists” like Channel 4 News and the United Nations were warning about “no go areas”:
Guido doesn’t remember Jess and others’ outrage in response to repeated reports of “no-go zones” across the national media for the last decade or so. Including from Birmingham’s own newspaper…
Jacob Rees-Mogg has been freed from the burden of collective responsibility and is back to doing what he does best: criticising government from the backbenches. Speaking to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News last night, the former Business Secretary spoke out against fiscal drag and the absence of commitments on efficiency reforms. He added he was “simply making the case for conservatism”.
Unsurprisingly, Krishnan then asked about the prospect of re-joining the EU, citing OBR figures on the impact of Brexit. Jacob rightly pointed out that economic forecasts are often inaccurate, before saying Krishnan was “Just like Nicola Sturgeon” for seeking to go back on referendum results. He then reminded Krishnan of his expletive antics and commended the fact he made an apology. Krishnan was able to get through this interview without resorting to abuse. Clearly his time off has done wonders for his temperament.
Since last night Jeremy Hunt did have time to react to criticism from the right. Speaking to Sky News this morning Hunt said:
“There is nothing conservative about spending money you haven’t got. There is nothing conservative about not tackling inflation. There is nothing conservative about ducking difficult decisions… and that’s why this is a very conservative package”
If he says so…
The Channel 4 News team are really pushing the limits of “due impartiality” with their coverage of their own impending privatisation. Last night the channel aired a ‘debate’ on the topic, hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, in which former Channel 4 producer David Elstein defended the government’s plans against screenwriter Kay Mellor. Mellor should have just stayed at home; Krishnan seemed more than happy to do her job for her…
Throughout the 7-minute exchange, Guru-Murthy spends almost five minutes sparring with Elstein over the cost and planning of the scheme, only to turn and give Mellor a few softball questions when he remembers she’s still sitting there. Given Krishnan’s long Twitter thread slamming the plans on Wednesday, Guido hopes Elstein wasn’t expecting his views to be treated with any respect.
An exasperated government source described Guru-Murthy’s interview as the most biased one they’ve ever seen in their time in Whitehall, and will surely be used one day on journalism courses as an example of biased interviewing.
In a speech made at the Creative Cities Convention on the same day, Channel 4 Chief Content Officer Ian Katz also waded in to say
“In reality, we know a profit driven Channel 4 would be pushed inexorably toward same-old proven formats, same old subjects, same old talent, same old producers […] a Channel 4 which purely delivers its existing licence requirements would have spent £86 million less on out of London productions last year.”
Guido now spots Channel 4 is hiring an “External Affairs Manager” to “build and maintain great relationships” with Whitehall and Westminster. Sounds like they want a guerrilla fighter more than a traditional comms person…
Jon Snow having left the building, Channel 4 News has revealed its new presenting lineup, and what a team it is: Krishnan-Guru Murthy (Hertford College, Oxford) takes over as lead anchor, while Cathy Newman (Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford) is being promoted to ‘investigations editor’ as a consolation prize. Matt Frei (St Peter’s College, Oxford) will be the new chief foreign presenter. Say what you like it’s certainly a diverse array of Oxford colleges…
Earlier this week, the BBC promised to hire a more working class and socially diverse workforce over the next few years, after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries slammed the broadcaster for its “snobbish approach” to recruitment. Maybe she needs to put a phone call into Channel 4’s elitists as well…
As Channel 4 News doorstepped Tory MPs outside Downing Street ahead of Tuesday night’s 2019er reception, one showed the rest how to handle them: step forward the Member for Ashfield, Lee Anderson…
Last night, Channel 4 News aired a report on labour shortages in Scottish fish processing plants. Unsurprisingly, it explained at length how a supposed Brexit horror show has made it more difficult for large firms to rely on cheap foreign labour. Sombre voiceovers and (unattributed) quotes from business chiefs animated over footage of empty boats conveyed the scale of the crisis: “The outlook is grim”, says one anonymous leader; “We have no applications coming in“, says another. They do at least interview one named factory manager on-camera, who laments how “the free movement has been taken away“, and blames his labour shortage “predominantly on Brexit“. There was just one thing missing from the report: any interviews with actual workers…
As Guido is repeatedly pointing out these days, managers and CEOs bemoaning their inability to undercut staff pay by importing cheap foreign labour isn’t likely to push the dial for most Brexit voters. Offer competitive wages, the applications will come in. Poorly-paid leave voters won’t lose much sleep over this report – their votes inevitably leading to better pay is exactly what the Leave campaign argued would happen, and what Leave voters bargained for. This genre of pro-low wage Brexit bashing may massage the egos of FBPE-ers, for many others it means thicker wallets…
