Some Comparisons

Benito Mussolini and Gary Lineker striking poses

Soccer pundit Gary Lineker dropped himself right in it when he compared the language used to launch the government's new asylum policy with that used in 1930s Germany.

In the same spirit, his balcony pose in a BBC News bulletin reminded me of more graphic analogy from that era.

The BBC said that the sports presenter was taken off their Match of the Day show after a row about the impartiality of Lineker's tweets claiming that he had breached its social media guidelines for tweeting about the government's new migration law.

Not wanting to be left behind, an increasing number of pundits are withdrawing their services in a show of solidarity for Lineker.

I see from his Twitter account that Lineker has 8.8M followers which may account for the outpouring of sympathy for the BBC’s top earner of over £1 million annually. 

By contrast Home Secretary Suella Braverman has a mere 120.9K Twitter followers.

From a Church Times tweet about another BBC casualty: "The BBC Singers is one of the leading advocates of choral music in the world, and their budget probably equals one sport presenter’s salary. The BBC corporate spin on it is beyond belief."

Sympathisers can sign a petition to stop the planned closure of the BBC Singers here.

The BBC previously announced that some of their News channel’s most famous faces, including Jane Hill, Ben Brown and Martine Croxall, were to be axed before the launch of a channel that combines international and domestic news.

For those of us who find the BBC's obsession with soccer completely disproportionate, some trimming of the seemingly endless number or presenters, commentators and reporters is long overdue.

The commentator John Motson  unwittingly summed up the problem in a quote from a tribute following his death. When the BBC apologised for a delay in presenting the News because coverage of a soccer game had overrun, Motson retorted, soccer is the news!

For too many he was right.

Get Cummings

The PM's Chief Advisor running the gauntlet of hate                                                                                                                                        Source: internewscast

Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself in the 'Cummings must go' campaign, the treatment he and his family have had to endure as glimpsed in this tweet is not British. It is a disgrace. 

Following the example of snowflake no-platformers, get Cummings campaigners have been acting as judge and jury. A witch hunt designed to ensure the departure of the Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, thus settling old scores after Remainers lost the vote to remain in the EU. 

Allegedly unbiased TV presenters who are paid vast amounts of money by the cash strapped BBC decided that Dominic Cummings' actions when he and his wife were required to self-isolate were reprehensible. The man was guilty regardless of circumstances, timing or his use in the fight against the common enemy, Covid-19

Possibly emboldened by the fact that BBC Breakfast's presenter Naga Munchetty was let off  after she 'breached BBC rules', presenter Emily Maitlis launched into her Newsnight introduction with: "Good evening. Dominic Cummings broke the rules. The country can see that and it is shocked the Government cannot. The longer Ministers and Prime Minister tell us he worked within them the more angry the response to the scandal is likely to be.... He made those who struggled to keep the rules feel like fools and has allowed many more to feel that they can flout them".

 Crackpot Acting LibDem Leader Sir Ed Davey described the breach as "brilliant journalism". The BBC has since said that "an introduction about Dominic Cummings on Tuesday's Newsnight did not meet the required standards of due impartiality".

'Journalists' and MPs following the pack have been lining up to demand the PM's Chief Advisor should either resign or be sacked regardless of his value in combating the Coronavirus. The Church of England's duplicitous bishops have also weighed into the Prime Minister with "lied to, patronised and treated as mugs" although one has to acknowledge their considerable expertise in that area. 

This week we have been celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. The coverage of the BBC today is in marked contrast with the desire for victory regardless of the cost in 1940.

The get Cummings campaign has completely lost sight of the need to beat the real enemy, Covid-19.

Sir Keir Starmer has tweeted: "Boris Johnson's unwillingness or inability to do the right thing has left the Government looking untrustworthy and unprincipled. Worst of all he's undermined the public health advice that keeps us all safe, just to keep one aide in his job. Our nation’s health must come first."

Sir Keir is correct. Our nation's health must come first. For that reason MPs, the media and Anglican bishops should stop doing what they accuse Dominic Cummings of having done, putting the country at risk. 

The issue has been flogged to death. 

It is the vendetta that is more likely to undermine the Government's fight against Covid-19 with mischievous suggestions that people should perhaps make their own judgements rather than follow government guidelines.

Postscript [01.06.2020]

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Blasts Bishops over Cummings Controversy

"Controversy is ridiculously overblown, says George Carey

Hysterical, coarsened and divisive nature of debate is creating a dangerous culture war that could harm civic life, he says."