Boris can’t win with the BBC

Contrary to the belief of Michael Charles (letters, July 2) I both understand, and support, the need for the media to hold power to account. However this requires that the media is not itself following a partisan agenda,

which is clearly not the case with the BBC.

As far as the coronavirus crisis is concerned the obvious intention of the organisation is to present the government in a bad light, whatever the latter attempts to do.

If lockdown is imposed interviewers raise alarms about the economic effects, while if it is lifted, the complaint is that lives are being put at risk, so Boris is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

Turning to Brexit, the BBC was blatant in its opposition to the Leave campaign in the run-up to the referendum, every current affairs programme, or discussion, being heavily loaded against those who supported leaving, audiences being clearly full of Remainers, while even comedy programmes took the same line, mocking the ordinary person who did not subscribe to the left liberal view. There was a nasty class based bias evident, as the wishes of the working classes, particularly those from the north, being derided as the product of ignorance, or prejudice, not a reaction to the negative results of EU membership experienced by those involved.

Individual presenters have even been slapped on the wrist by the BBC for their obvious bias but of course they continue, brazenly ignoring facts, as they parrot the opinions of their elitist peer group.

When one adds to this many other issues, such the one-sided treatment accorded to those discussing climate change, where no opinion contrary to that of Greta Thunberg and her acolytes, is considered valid, one can see that the BBC lost its way many years ago and is now no more than the mouthpiece of the liberal elite.

As such it needs root and branch reform.

Colin Bullen