Matt Chorley is making waves in his new role presenting BBC 5 Live. His first interview with Prime Minister Starmer unearthed the explosive story that Keir’s daughter was getting a Siberian kitten, and today he was discussing the ins and outs of the benefits of Labour’s new Renters’ Rights Bill. Chorley brought on the director of Generation Rent, Ben Twomey to heap praise on the new policy. Though the top hack forgot to mention the rest of Twomey’s resume…

Twomey stood as the Labour candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner in Warwickshire in 2021. He’s also a long-standing member of the Labour Homelessness Campaign. No surprise that the activist was so supportive of Labour’s plan, then…

Nigel Farage has had his fare share of critics, and now he has another one to add to the roster: former counter-terrorism police chief  Neil Basu. Basu accused Farage of inciting violence after he posted a video asking “whether the truth is being withheld from us” over the Southport stabbings suspect. As Nigel says, it’s “quite legitimate to ask questions” about the vile stabbings of young girls, three of whom are now dead…

Basu hit out at Farage last night: “Nigel Farage is giving the EDL [English Defence League] succour, undermining the police, creating conspiracy theories, and giving a false basis for the attacks on the police.” His criticisms have been framed by mainstream media as authoritative due to his background as a former counterterrorism officer. Though Guido reminds his readers that just a few months ago he came out and endorsed Keir Starmer at the launch of his ‘pledge cards’. No surprise the Labour luvvie has come out swinging against Nigel then…

The BBC brought human rights lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie onto the Today Programme this morning to chat about the first voluntary Rwanda removal this week. What the BBC seems to have forgotten to mention is that McKenzie also has a role advising the Labour Party as a member of their “Race Equality Taskforce”. She spends her time on Twitter urging failed asylum seekers not to respond to the Home Office if they are contacted about voluntary departure, as well as accusing the Tory Party of launching “racist pile-ons” against her. Would have been useful for the BBC to mention…

Apart from vaguely rubbishing the story, she also failed to answer the fundamental question involved:

“What should happen to people who are here who have exhausted every effort to stay here, who are not here legally because they have failed to gain the right to be here legally?“

McKenzie eventually argued we shouldn’t worry about it because a “very small number” don’t get asylum and that “the UK doesn’t have a major problem with asylum seekers” – instead this country simply does not want to “do its bit“. Is that soon to be the official Labour position?

Another day, another BBC failure to declare their commentators’ activism. Politics Live today brought on a headmaster to chat about 12 hour school days. Surprise surprise, he was full of criticism for the government and robust words for Tory MP Kieran Mullan…

Andrew O’Neil spends his time attending Labour events and praising “fantastic” Starmer for finally having “some policy and fresh ideas”. Naturally he thinks Sunak is a “disgrace” and covers his Twitter with support for campaigning Labour candidates, along with calls for an election to boot the Tories out. When he gets out he follows Labour Shadow Cabinet members around for selfies. As always, O’Neil is entitled to his views and the BBC is equally entitled to air them, though viewers have a right to know his partisan credentials…

Sky News’ coverage of backlash to the government’s new definition of extremism does bring a sense of irony. Sky chose to interview “muslim activist” Shakeel Afsar as an example of those “speaking out” against the redefinition of extremism in UK. Afsar told Sky that this was the government trying to “silence us“. One wonders if he’s referring to some of his own more extreme views…

Afsar posted a video last year of him at a gun range, saying it was “target practise” for the next Hindu event. He then doubled down on his words after sparking outrage from OpIndia for his “call for violence to the Hindu community“. He was also a key organiser of the Birmingham School protests against LGBT, claiming lesbianism needs to be wiped out. Maybe next time Sky will do a more thorough background check before getting an extremist to debate the definition of extremism…

With Sunak in Yorkshire for Cabinet broadcasters are talking about government plans to spend on transport infrastructure in the Midlands and the North. The BBC picked their source of impartial analysis – one Henri Murison, who happens to be former Labour Party city councillor and one-time Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Keighley and Ilkley. Keen-eyed readers may remember Murison from when he was platformed as an expert in May last year…

Murison has once again gone all around the BBC to have extensive conversations about the government’s plans. He has also been put up on local BBC stations after Sunak this morning to “correct the record” on his claims. Murison is introduced every time as “chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership” with no reference to his activist past, before he launches into a tirade attacking Sunak’s “PR stunt” about “recycled” HS2 funding. Murison ran for Labour selection in Keighley and Ilkley in 2013 and lost out to John Grogan. The BBC’s website has now been belatedly updated to mention that Murison is a “former Labour councillor“. Guido’s not saying that Murison should not have been all over the BBC this morning, just that, as per its own guidelines, it could have thought to mention his partisan activity to viewers and listeners…