Call me a cynic, but I doubt Jolyon Maugham, Alistair Campbell, Jon Sopel, John Simpson and Dan Walker would have rallied to the defence of Huw Edwards if he was a GB News presenter. It’s only because they regard him as one of their own that these panjandrums have urged the press to back off, with Sopel stressing there is “no illegality” and any further reporting of this story is therefore an unwarranted intrusion into “someone’s private life”.
This isn’t a considered reaction, but a tribal one. Given that the allegations originally surfaced in the Sun and the reputation of the BBC is at stake, these metropolitan liberals are prepared to extend the benefit of the doubt to Edwards. Again and again, his defenders emphasise that these are only “allegations” and the police have decided not to take any further action, overlooking the fact that numerous other public figures have been thrown under a bus in similar circumstances, e.g. Michael Fallon, who was forced to resign as Defence Secretary after far milder allegations were made against him in 2017. But, of course, it’s one rule for Conservative MPs and another for the BBC’s highest-paid broadcasters.
It probably helps that the charges against Huw Edwards involve four young men (two of whom, it is alleged, were only 17 when the presenter first made contact). If they involved young women, it’s hard to imagine so many bien pensant members of the media class leaping to his defence. They certainly wouldn’t have if he’d been accused of breaching a woke speech code, as Danny Baker was in 2019. When Archie was born to Harry and Meghan, the then BBC presenter tweeted a picture of a couple emerging from a hospital with a chimpanzee, which led to accusations of racism. He claimed it was an innocent mistake – and I believe him – but when he was summarily dismissed there was barely a squeak of protest from any of his BBC colleagues.
Incredibly, the anger you’d expect the BBC’s defenders to feel towards Edwards – after all, it is the charge that he paid a young man £35,000 in return for sexually explicit images that has brought the BBC into disrepute – has been directed at the Sun instead. How dare the tabloid print this allegation?
“A number of people have been in touch with the presenter to say they feel righteous fury over the way the Sun has covered this and it is fair to say that the presenter at the heart of this is also extremely angry over a lot of the Sun coverage and is convinced they’re trying to dig and find new dirt to harm this particular person’s reputation,” Jon Sopel said on The News Agents on LBC.
Hacked Off, the campaign group lobbying for state regulation of the press, published a piece saying the Sun had “questions to answer”, arguing it had got the balance wrong between an individual’s right to privacy and the public’s right to know.
“Shame on The Scum for its homophobic lies – and shame on all the Murdoch titles, including the Times, for poisoning our country,” tweeted Jolyon Maugham. “Solidarity with @thehuwedwards.”
“I hope the media will look at themselves in the coverage of this story,” said Alistair Campbell on Channel 4 News last night, who stressed that in light of the fact that the police had dropped its investigation it was just a story about “someone’s personal life”. (Same argument Jon Sopel made.)
But, surely, the public interest defence here is the same as it is when the New York Times exposes a MeToo scandal, as it did recently in the case of Nick Cohen, the Observer columnist (and lockdown zealot) – namely, that an abuse of power is involved. To add to the Sun’s defence, the allegation it reported was that the boy Huw Edwards had paid for sexually explicit photographs was only 17 when this first happened, which is a criminal offence. Turns out, that wasn’t true – at least, judging from the police’s decision not to pursue the matter – but those were the facts as relayed to the Sun by a member of the boy’s family (according to the Sun).
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the story would never have ended up in the taboid had the BBC done what the mother wanted when she first contacted the broadcaster back in May. She told the BBC she was making the complaint because she wanted Edwards to stop sending her son money who was using it to fund a drug habit. In response, the BBC passed on the complaint to the Corporate Investigations Team, but it didn’t even question Edwards, let alone place him under investigation, until July 7th, when the Sun got in touch asking for a comment on the story it was about to run. (This is according to a timeline of how the scandal unfolded in the Mail.). In other words, the boy’s family only contacted the Sun because the BBC’s response to their original complaint was inadequate. And, incidentally, the Sun didn’t pay anything for the story.
I suppose it’s possible that the BBC’s internal investigation into Huw Edwards, which has resumed now that the police investigation is over, will conclude that he hasn’t done anything wrong. Perhaps the four young men who’ve made allegations against Edwards will all turn out to be fantasists and his BBC colleagues who’ve accused him of sending “inappropriate and flirtatious” messages will just be over-sensitive snowflakes. Perhaps the fact that his wife, who named him yesterday and revealed he is now a patient on a psychiatric ward, did not actually deny any of the allegations was of no significance. It may all turn out to be a giant miscarriage of justice, with the Sun having triggered a witch-hunt against an entirely innocent man. But I doubt that’s how this story will end.
What’s really at stake here is the future of the BBC and its current funding model. What will it say about the judgement of the BBC’s senior executives if the presenter who announced the death of the Queen and reads the News at 10 is a wrong-un? How damaging will it be to the public’s trust in the Beeb and, by extension, its willingness to shell out £159 a year to fund it, if an independent investigation into the BBC’s handling of the original complaint – which will surely happen – concludes it left a great deal to be desired? That’s why the BBC’s defenders are circling the wagons and trying to shoot the messenger. It’s a desperate attempt to defend their beloved Auntie because they know just how damaging this is likely to be.
I can’t help feeling a bit of humility and a period of reflection might serve their cause better. But that’s not how they roll.
Stop Press: Watch me talking to Mark Dolan about this on GB News last night.
'If we're paying their salaries, I think we have a right to know.'
— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 12, 2023
Toby Young praises the ‘vital role’ the press play as the fourth estate in reporting on matters in the public interest.Freeview 236, Sky 512, Virgin 604
GB News on YouTube https://t.co/Wa58gYGZwF pic.twitter.com/2mA05Dbujk
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Oh dear, what a shame, never mind…..
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/ulez-cameras-being-destroyed-london-124709942.html
I think we should be pleased at just how quickly people are kenning this agenda. A few years ago barely anyone would mention it. It is so obviously pernicious and self-contradictory that the simplest of minds can see it. They will continue to push but do not be disheartened because the only power they have is tacit support or acquiescence. Once that falls below a certain level they will be unveiled. If you look at deposed dictators on the way to execution you will see just how hollow and sunken they appear once stripped of office.
This is the way to start a fightback. As the old adage had it:
“Just say no.”
If enough people continue to ignore the fines and let them rack up what is Khant going to do?
Courts will clog up in no time. Add some Screwfix £6.25 a can vandalism and Khan khant.
The fines are issued by a corporation with which one has no contract until one engages with that corporation. They know this, which is why the unpaid fines cannot be chased. More & more folk are learning about the unlawful situation & refusing to engage.
I doubt that is true. The political class don’t let their prey go free that easily.
It’s a mixed bag. People love convenience and one of their tricks is to sell everything as a convenience up to the point where it becomes a necessity and then mandatory. I think that there is a growing awareness of the hollowness of a life of convenience, which is essentially painlessness. I think that peak tech was reached in 2016 and I sense a deep lassitude in regard to it. As to where things will go that should never be the question. If you long for a return to normal or even a life governed by the pleasure principle then you will be ill-equipped for the next few decades. Our time is the anvil of the heart. The next movement in human consciousness necessitates this passage through the crucible.
Similarly, there are plans afoot to “disable” speed cameras here in Wales after the 30mph -> 20mph transition that Drakeford wants to implement. A stepping stone, no doubt…
Yep!, and with major roads being limited to 50 mph, double and treble council tax on second homes, the promised tourist taxes, and house council tax band re evaluations, there won’t be a lot to attract people to Wales or encourage them to stay. With the intended increase in Senedd members to 96, and the 22 regional and county councils, 1250, local councils and the rest of the public sector, and national parks; I am sure to some, life will be perfect.
I suspect the increasing imposition of 20mph is because they know that far heavier EVs which are involved in a personal injury accident are far more likely to kill at 30mph or above, than ICE vehicles.
The first motorway pile up involving dozens of cars which includes a high percentage of EVs is going to be “interesting.” Unless you’re involved in it ….. or clearing it up. Then it will be terrifying.
I phone video from a friend in the USA of two EVs in an accident, resulting in a fire and multiple explosions, I would have liked to copy it here but I cannot seem to be able to do so, which is a shame. Needless to say, but such an accident in a built up area would be quite devastating for any buildings but also for the environment in CO2 emissions.
It is a jump in consciousness or behaviour. Once you accept that the experts aren’t really the experts then you are faced with a predicament. It doesn’t matter honestly. This isn’t 915 in the morning it is more like 2325. That whole establishment which claimed to rule us is itself utterly bankrupt and moribund. We do have to start again from scratch. We do have enough left in this country to start from scratch. Look at how these islands kept alive the Christ impulse during periods of crisis. It is here and it infuses everything if only you will look at it.
Just don’t become a passive spectator hoping for the best. This is the worst state and what they want. The only way to a future is the abandonment of risk assessment. Meet me down the pub those who are prepared to die. There will be plenty of younguns because they keep alive what it is to be human.
Well it’s the first time I’ve heard of this, not living anywhere near Rotterdam, thankfully. Due to the ongoing housing crisis, as well as the relentless influx of immigrants, you can see why the government are so keen to grab the farmers’ land.
”The Dutch government has chartered another cruise ship to accommodate up to 1,500 refugees in the port of Rotterdam as the country struggles to cope with the housing demand following a high number of new arrivals.
The MS Silja Europa, a German-built vessel that is the tenth-largest cruise liner in the world, will dock in the Dutch city and house refugees while the local government constructs 1,125 flexible homes and converts office buildings into another 375 homes for the migrants, paid for by the Dutch taxpayer.
The accommodation is reserved for status holders. These are refugees with a temporary asylum residence permit who are entitled to housing in the country. They are allocated a municipality that is obligated to provide adequate housing, and the offer of accommodation must be accepted by the status holder as per the conditions of their residence permit.
Last year, when the Dutch government resorted to using temporary accommodation including hotels and cruise ships to house migrants, officials pledged to resolve the matter expediently and keep the costs to the Dutch taxpayer to a minimum.
Eighteen months later, however, it appears to be pursuing the same policy as it struggles with a record backlog of asylum applications and an influx of new arrivals all expecting housing.
“About 60,000 permanent places for asylum seekers are needed in the Netherlands, but structural shelter has not yet been arranged. It is, therefore, clear that emergency shelter is still unavoidable,” Dutch Security Council Chairman Hubert Bruls warned back in March.”
https://rmx.news/migrant-crisis/dutch-taxpayers-charged-for-another-chartered-cruise-ship-to-house-1500-migrants-in-rotterdam/
I see that Jayne Donegan has been struck off the medical register (daily mail report), seem like undercover reporters attended some her talks and dobbed her in for spreading “disinformation” about vaccines. She might need the FSU….
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/have-any-scottish-parliamentarians-msps-taken-a-covid-vaccine
Oh look, MSP’s have NOT been taking their “vaccines.” I didn’t see that coming.
So, those of us with settled addresses and legal number plates will be pursued through the courts, ultimately to bankruptcy, whereas those Khan has encouraged to come to London won’t.
their car numbers can’t be traced, they have no fixed a bite or they have no money. Works well for his chosen electorate?
https://youtu.be/bDcjDc288S4
Paul Joseph Watson’s ‘,Anything Goes’ YouTube channel references us ie The Daily Skeptic, particularly Chris Morrisons piece on the Met Office and the 41 degrees at RAF Conningsby (?) and the jet fighters.
With over 300k subscribers this can do us no harm
https://youtu.be/wADMuGoLgjA
Andrew Bridgen’s speech in the EU Parliament 4th July.
It’s terrific.
WHO – under the International Health Regulations (revised) which this government is going to sign up to, the WHO would have the right to declare a fake Health crisis ar any time. That’s:
Public Health Emergency of International Concern
P H E I C…….pronounced Fake. The Davos Deviants love their little puns. Apologies to those who have already spotted this and thanks to Andrew Bridgen.
It’s most kind of Khan to give people a foretaste of what life will be under Starmer and co
Looks like another Poll Tax moment. ————–The people have more power than they realise. I am surprised they don’t kick up the same stink about all the other ideologies being foisted on us like eg putting all our kids in the same toilet.