... and here are the stories that show he’s right to be angry
The BBC showed admirable impartiality in the referendum campaign but has slipped back into its eurofanatical ways. Assistant political editor Norman Smith last week told Radio 4’s Feedback the BBC had ‘got it wrong’ on a number of issues. Here, ROSS CLARK analyses anti-Brexit scaremongering in recent output...
TODAY PROGRAMME, RADIO 4, THURSDAY 13 JULY
OXYGEN is given to a scare story that Brexit could badly affect cancer patients. The bogus story began when the president of the Royal College of Radiologists claimed if the UK left Euratom – the European Atomic Energy Community – it could affect the transport of radioactive materials used in cancer diagnoses and treatment. Dr Nicola Strickland said she was ‘seriously concerned’ about hospitals’ access to material used in scans and tests. She added: ‘Restricted access has the potential to delay diagnosing and treating cancer in thousands of patients.’
Today programme invited Steve Baker, minister in the Department for Exiting the EU, to discuss the issue. He made it crystal clear that cancer patients would not be affected. He said the Government’s legal advice is that Euratom regulates the distribution of fissile material used in nuclear energy, not radioactive isotopes used in cancer treatment. Yet interviewer Nick Robinson insisted the Government was wrong. He said: ‘Will you listen to your own rebels? No. Will you listen to the Labour party? No. Will you listen to your former leader? No. Will you listen to the Royal College of Radiologists? No.’
The following day, Today sent a reporter to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge to speak to worried radiologists. It wasn’t until the very end of the report that a professor of Law was interviewed – to confirm that Euratom regulates distribution of fissile material for nuclear power, not isotopes for medical use.
THE WORLD AT ONE, 13 JULY
THE BBC continues to flog the non-story about Euratom. Invited to discuss the subject is rent-a-quote Remainer Anna Soubry. The Tory MP is given a free run to slate the Government. Presenter Mark Mardell then interviews Robin Walker, a minister in the Department for Exiting the EU, who is given far harsher treatment.
TODAY, MONDAY 17 JULY
TWO reports on the threat from Far Right groups. Listeners are told that one third of referrals under the Government’s Prevent strategy (aimed at supporting people at risk of joining extremist groups and carrying out terrorist activities) are people with suspected Far Right sympathies.
John Humphrys interviews Paul Stocker, a research associate in ‘fascist studies’ at Teesside University. According to him, there is a link to Brexit. He claims the ideas of the Far Right were ‘very present in the run-up to the Brexit vote’. Yet Mr Stocker does not explain if he thinks the 17 million who voted for Brexit are all sub-fascists and why only ,580 voted for the British National Party in the general election.
Instead, he changes the direction of his argument, saying: ‘While [Far Right] parties have been unsuccessful, their ideas have become a bit more mainstream, coopted by some of the more hysterical media stories in the tabloid press.’
TODAY, TUESDAY 18 JULY