In the spirit of true, fair and balanced political coverage provided solely for the benefit of the public interest, the BBC recently reported that Jeremy Corbyn is leading a personality cult. They also included comments from a Labour MP who said that supporters of Corbyn run the risk of becoming so engrossed in this personality cult, they’ll end becoming like “grotesque” Trump supporters in the US.
The BBC published the claims whilst covering an announcement by Momentum that they will be running a series of high profiled concerts called:
“PEOPLE POWERED: Concerts For Corbyn”
The BBC sneakily decided to leave out the “PEOPLE POWERED” section of the title, and instead only reported the “Concerts For Corbyn” part, in a bid to make the events seem purely about the Labour leader.
The event was apparently a grave cause for concern according to Blairite Labour MP John Spellar who they interviewed, desperate to get his views on the matter:
Traditionally, people run all sorts of events in British politics….but normally they run it for the party.
He added:
It just seems to be part of a personality cult
And to top it off:
…very much an American sort of innovation. The end of that is the grotesque personality cult around Donald Trump.
Spellar has already made it clear he is far from a fan of Corbyn. During an interview with 5 Live last year regarding ISIS and Syrian airstrikes, he said that Corbyn “leads a tiny band of trots” and called on him to resign.
The comparison to Trump supporters veers off into lunacy. What comparison is to even be made here?
Trump has openly advocated the torture of innocent people, whether or not it works. He is an open bigot who has targeted immigrants, and women. He has mocked people with disabilities and his supporters seem to love him for it.
The only comparison that can be made is that both movements are based on supporting an anti establishment candidate.
If Corbyn was to say anything as fundamentally crazy, and nasty as Trump, I would never support him, and I suspect (and hope) nobody else would.
Those that support the policies of the left do not simply follow the leader blindly no matter what they do or say. Corbyn represents policies, not personality, but most importantly a broader political movement, that, at the moment, he is the face of.
It is not about him; it’s about us, and how we can collectively shape the country through political means.
The majority of the country support many of his policies, and they cut across party lines. But people very rarely get to hear about them, because of this kind of reporting.
Ask people if they would like to see an end to the privatisation of the NHS for example, and the answer is usually an emphatic yes. Ask them if they would like the railways to be nationalised, the answer is again usually yes. Ask them if they would like to see the financial sector regulated properly, so that we don’t have another crash like in 2008, again the answer is…yes please!
These are just some of the policy positions that Corbyn stands for, and they are supported by the majority of this country. This is why the media never talk seriously about policy, and instead resort to smear tactics, and mocking. If people know what Corbyn stands for they might just support him.
The BBC also failed to mention that the proceeds from the events will be used to benefit arts based initiatives supported by Corbyn’s policies.
The concerts are designed to bring people who support the progressive left policies of Corbyn together. The aim is to engage young people (in particular) into bringing positive change through democracy as clarified by Momentum:
Get involved! Fight for what you believe in!
Paul Weller and The Farm will be among acts headlining the events.
Asked about why he is lending his support to the events-Peter Hooton, lead singer of The Farm said:
The idea is to counter a stereotype in the mass media of what Corbyn is
Perhaps this is the biggest irony from the whole story. The artists who are taking part in the concert, are doing so to help promote the policy message of Corbyn, and the center left.
And yet the BBC has reported on it by simply adding to the stereotypes that they have already created of Corbyn and his supporters.
The BBC seem so determined to insult anybody who cares about the future of center left politics, and for what? All they are going to do is drive us away from the BBC itself, as we no longer pay attention to its nonsense, and sneering.
The BBC’s Corbyn bashing is all the more bizarre when you consider the fact he is against privatisation, at a time when the BBC faces the threat of being fully privatised.
The BBC should simply fulfill its public service remit, and provide fair, balanced coverage of the news and politics. But it doesn’t look like happening any time soon.
