Monty Python and BBC Bias


The BBC is starting to undergo change as a result of commercial and other pressures. I did think that 11,000 food recipes was over the top – that particular cake was over-egged , so to speak. Nevertheless, there are other reasons for change, and one of the arguments has been that the BBC is biased.

One of this morning’s Radio 4 items was almost Python-esque. ‘What has Brussels done for us?’

Today it was ‘Clean Sea Water’. Now I admit I haven’t heard the whole series of broadcast pieces, but this piece dredged up Margaret Thatcher’s battle with Brussels over sewage in our sea water.

Clean sea water is an admirable achievement, but do we really believe that if we had not joined the EU we would still be swimming in sewage, and that bathers would be ‘going through the motions’ in today’s UK seas? After all there is an international convention against dumping at sea (!) Joking aside, despite the EU, the city of Milan is still struggling to reduce pollution of the River Po.

Given the current pre-Brexit referendum fervour, I am wondering whether there will be any balancing news items in the next broadcast.

So, apart from clean sea water, what did Brussels do for us?

  • Shaped our bananas?
  • Renamed our ‘manholes’

Yes, they may be myths, but the debate about BBC bias is surely not a myth – arguably!