David Vance SubstackRead More
From around 1998 to around 2016, I used to appear on many BBC political programmes. They had me down as the token right winger and so I was used to helped create the impression of balance even though there was ZERO balance. At no point during all those years was I ever interviewed where there was not at LEAST 2 vs 1, as the BBC hosts were instinctively biased and to the left. Some disguised it better than others, some didn’t even bother trying.
I got to know some of the presenters and also the people behind the scenes. The producers, the editors, the technical people. I have to admit that they were all very professional and knew how to do their jobs well. The BBC is a polished machine and it gets lots of technical things right in ways that start ups like GB News really struggles to achieve. Then again, it is in receipt of £3.7bn a year via the anachronistic stalinist license tax.
But it was the bias and how the BBC manipulates which was the hardest to ensure. If I was in a studio, you could feel tension levels rising when I would argue boilerplate conservative opinions! Yes, I opposed Welfarism, supported firm borders, endorses solid economic, did not agree with gay marriage, had a problem with Jihad. I am certain none of these views were held by BBC staff and presenters and of course most of their guests were similarly inclined.
Before I would go into the BBC studio, I used to joke about wearing a crucifex and carrying garlic. It was always occupied soil. There was nothing ever comfortable about it. BBC radio was bad, but BBC TV was worse. It was very clear to be that the BBC did not want debate, they wanted to advance their narrative. What was it, you may ask? The same then as it is now. It’s that Islington liberal elitist view that welcomes migrants, loves the EU, hates Trump, smooches with Islam and above all, hates British history. That’s the core of the BBC.
So I can honestly say every interview was a confrontation. When they banned me in 2016 for my pro Trump pro Brexit views, I was surprised but happy. They couldn’t pay me to go back into their worthless studios ever again.
There is one sweet post script to all this.
A year or two after the BBC ban, Russia Today asked me to come on some of their shows. They didn’t have their own studio so they rented out one in the BBC. So I would swan in, see the BBC staff who were horrified at my return, and then they would have to be polite to me and show me to the studio from where RT took over. That always amused me.
In this ongoing debate about the BBC I have the same view now as then.
Defund it and let it find out precisely how many would pay for it.
I think it knowsthe answer and that is what it fears!
