It has been reported, that staff at Number 10 are "furious" that senior BBC political presenter, Jeremy Paxman, dared to criticise David Cameron over comments the Prime Minister made about plans for a First World War centenary, likening the event to last year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Paxman questioned the use of Cameron's idea to celebrate such a calamitous conflict in which millions of men were wounded, mentally and physically, and three quarters of a million, never returned home from.
On the popular Graham Norton Show, Paxman also said he agreed with some aspects of Russell Brand's comments, in a recent Newsnight interview, that people are "completely fed up with posturing politicians" and he believes MPs should be obliged to have done a proper job in the real world, before entering the House of Commons, so that they are more in touch with ordinary people's lives. He suggested MPs talk "rubbish!" and the public, in fact, see through them, when they insist theirs is the only party which can solve all the problems society faces. Not only was this greeted with rapturous audience applause, but his fellow guests, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Elton John and John Bishop can clearly be seen clapping too. And I suspect this as much as anything, has irked government ministers, aware already of their unpopularity. It may have particularly annoyed the Chair of the BBC Trust, Chris Patten, who was formerly the Chairman of the Conservative Party!
Patten was appointed to the position of BBC Trust Chair by David Cameron, on 1st May, 2011, with many alleging at the time, that he may have been purposefully positioned there, to make sure BBC coverage of the unpopular austerity agenda, avoided any criticism of the government.
Chris Patten, current Chair of BBC Trust, and inset image, in his Conservative Party days
The BBC themselves, made no attempt back in March of 2011 to hide the fact that Chris Patten remained very much "an old-fashioned Tory" in their original article which can be found here.
There would seem to be some intolerance at present, of BBC personalities airing any sort of personal opinion which deviates from the official government position.
Aside from criticism of Newsnight's Russell Brand interview, and Paxman's own comments about the state of British Politics, the BBC appear to have come under pressure now to criticise the much liked presenter and naturalist, Chris Packham, for comments he made on Twitter about the government's controversial badger cull. The Daily Telegraph reports:
He was also reprimanded for using “intemperate” language on his Twitter feed in the summer (@ChrisGPackham) after an inquiry was ordered by Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC’s director general.
Mr Packham filed entries on his Twitter entry ¬- on which he says he is a “naturalist and BBC broadcaster” - as the badger cull was about to start in the summer.
He wrote: “Tonight could be the darkest for British wildlife that we have witnessed in our lives. That in spite of science and public will the wrath of ignorance will further bloody and bleed our countryside of its riches of life.
“That brutalist thugs, liars and frauds will destroy our wildlife and dishonour our nations reputation as conservationists and animal lovers”.
Naturalist, Chris Packham tweeted his views about the government's controversial badger cull
The British public has huge affection for the BBC, but it is starting to look more and more like an agent for government propaganda, with many now questioning its impartiality and wondering how viewers can express their own objection to this apparent right-wing bias.
Most people want to live in a society, and want to bring their children up in a society, that's based on love, fairness and compassion, not hate, fear and oppression...
Russell Brand's ten minute, impassioned Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman, has 10 million YouTube views. Almost as many as voted for David Cameron, at the 2010 General Election (10,706,647), have been interested in watching that single interview, during which the cult comedian calls for people to abandon the current political system and stand together to demand a fairer, more empathic and intelligently run society, which will meet the needs of the majority of people in society, rather than serving a select elite.
Paxman however, has certain sympathies with Brand's view. While he believes people should vote in general elections, he recently confessed, "Russell Brand has never voted, because he finds the process irrelevant. I can understand that: the whole green-bench pantomime in Westminster looks a remote and self-important echo chamber. But it is all we have. In one recent election, I decided not to vote, because I thought the choice so unappetising."
Earlier in the year, Ken Loach's iconic film, "The Spirit of 45", also captured the public's imagination. The movie looked back at a time in British history, when cooperation, collaboration and compassion were essential components to rebuilding society, following the Second World War. Many now say we need to recapture those values and aspirations of a collective national spirit and identity, to work together, to solve the problems that our society faces today.
How can it be, that in a society where some people are earning hundreds of thousands of pounds each year, over 500,000 people have had to turn to hand-outs from food banks, to feed their families; many of those are working adults, hit hard by the coalition's cuts to jobs and services. This level of child poverty should not be happening in a rich country like Britain, it is surely a sign of government failure, and naturally, more and more people have become angry about the gaping inequality between rich and poor, which seems set to increase further, under the present administration.
Around 45 million people were eligible to vote at the last General Election, yet less than a quarter voted for David Cameron, and only 8,604,358 voted for Gordon Brown's New Labour. Following the expenses scandal, the banking crisis and the Lib Dems wholesale betrayal of their core voters, MPs are held in very low regard by the general public now, with many predicting an even poorer turnout come 2015, despite the unpopularity of the Coalition Government.
On the BBC's iconic political panel show, Question Time, invariably the guest whose answers chime most with the audience in the studio, and at home, is not a politician, but tends to be an actor or director, such as Ken Loach, Russell Brand or Brian Cox, or a writer such as Owen Jones or Mehdi Hasan. More often than not, the whole of the rest of the panel, is made up from people on the right of politics (the Labour MP tends to be a New Labour politician, seldom someone from the left) and they're more likely to get jeered than applauded; the introduction of Twitter comments, increases still further, the opportunity to criticise the politicians. It makes you wonder why they agree to go on the programme, because they sure aren't encouraging people to go out and vote for them!
The reality is, people just don't connect with politicians anymore; they don't respect them, they don't trust them and they won't vote for them, and this is especially true of younger voters, who do relate to Russell Brand's message, and this is a huge problem now, for politicians. Where is their mandate to rule over us, when the majority of people haven't voted for them, and look even less likely to vote in the future.
As our children's generation matures, they want another way, they demand another way. They don't idolise Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair; far from it, more likely they despise the architects of this unjust, greed-obsessed culture they find themselves living in, MPs who themselves benefitted from free higher education out of taxpayers wages, now inflict tuition fees of £9,000 per year on those same workers' kids, who have studied hard to get a place at university, and dreamt of a decent future, with a rewarding job. A classic case of I'm alright Jack, pull up the ladder.
Too many bright, working class teenagers are opting now, to go into jobs - often poor pay and conditions, minimum wage jobs - because they don't feel able to take on nearly £30,000 of tuition fees for a degree. How can this possibly be fair! People can see why the Conservatives, would welcome this, their numbers will surely dwindle as far-right, religious voters age and pass away. As society ultimately becomes more tolerant, more secular, clearly the Tories' days are numbered, so they might be just desperate to cling to power for as long as possible. But people can't understand why Labour ministers would also seek to discourage bright kids from poor backgrounds going into higher education, and that lack of difference between the main parties, and their failure to say, or do anything to protect and support those at the bottom, those families being hit so hard since 2010, is precisely why people have stopped voting. To many, there seems to be no point.
Enthusiasm for a big sea change, is much more likely to come from the world of drama, art and music, as Brand's interview reveals. We now need a collective drive forward, to engage and enlighten and involve the public, many of whom are probably desperate for a life free from anxiety and debt and despair.
We need films, plays, documentaries, TV dramas, novels, poems, songs, all addressing an urgent need for change, away from the exploitation of the poor, away from the destruction of the planet. Not another summer of love; how naive that turned out to be; simply getting stoned, taking your clothes off in a muddy field and dropping out of society, brings little benefit to the world, some say it made things worse. There was no plan, no strategy. Getting out of your head, just allows the oppressors to take an even tighter grip, and you're powerless to stop them!
What we need is a serious, intelligent, coordinated movement putting forward rational proposals for how we change society for our children, and their children. Much more emphasis on the human need for family and community, belonging to something. Education and science and the arts embraced for their own sake, for this is how we enrich society and give our lives meaning. Less expectation for the individual to cope alone with stresses, such as illness, loneliness and financial worry. Supporting the vulnerable and helping them to achieve a fulfilling existence, for when we cast out the needy, that impacts on the whole of society.
Encouraging tolerance and respect and allowing people to express themselves as individuals, building an inclusive society, and if that involves taking your clothes off in a muddy field, as long as you're not harming anyone else in the process, well, so be it!
Russell Brand has today, written a compelling follow-up piece to the Newsnight interview, for the Guardian. You can read it here...
Many are saying the BBC's Question Time has become harder and harder to watch, over the last couple of years, as panels are frequently made up of guests from the right of politics and the media, with one token lefty (invariably someone with an arts background), to try and offer a gossamer illusion of impartiality.
Last night the sole voice from the left was writer, Owen Jones, against Tory, Liz Truss, Lib Dem, Tim Farron, (New) Labour's Caroline Flint, and Daily Mail columnist, Peter Hitchens, and it was interesting to see the other panelists take any available opportunity, to nod along in agreement with the young writer, whenever he spoke, as if a modicum of his growing popularity might somehow rub off on them, if they appeared to share some of his values and concerns, superficially, at least.
At one point, things descended into something of a spiteful cat fight between Flint and Truss, the two women either side of David Dimbleby, spitting insults at one another, which amounted to nothing more helpful or intelligent than, "It's all your fault!"... "No, you're to blame for this!" Was that really the cream of talent available from 650 MPs!!
The last question of the evening was, "As politicians and political commentators, what would you say to those who feel disillusioned with the current political system?"
Tim Farron floundered his way through; the final audience member comment, summing up the mood of the crowd, and the country, with how betrayed she felt by Nick Clegg after the last election and how this has contributed to people's lack of trust in politicians generally.
Hitchen's advised, "Anyone still young enough, should emigrate before it's too late!!"
Owen Jones reminded us our grandmothers and grandfathers fought for all our rights, they weren't just handed to workers out of kindness and compassion, from those in power, and he urged people to get organised and make their dissenting voices heard, as our ancestors had done in the past. Don't just accept that these people at the top have the right to abuse their power, he concluded, to rapturous applause.
His voice of reason did little though, to make the programme bearable, because the rants and empty rhetoric from the other guests were just too nauseating to stomach.
After the eloquence and passion of Russell Brand's Newsnight interview on Wednesday, Question Time was as dull as dishwater, and I'm not surprised more and more in the UK, are losing all interest in traditional politics.
We need change, big change, more than ever before, and I believe change will come, not least because Russell Brand is speaking for a whole generation; almost as many people follow @RustyRockets on Twitter, as voted for New Labour in 2010. Sooner or later, the old will be booted out, to make way for something new. Owen Jones will inevitably be a part of that movement and debate, but as for Truss, Flint, Farron, Hitchens etc, my guess is, they're so set in their ways, change and adaptation would simply not be possible for them. Expect a crop of mediocre no holds barred autobiographies, over the coming years, all destined to gather dust on the bargain shelves of supermarkets, each Christmas time!
