Sunday 30 November 2014

An anti-Thatcherite 'Point of View'


Pessimistic philosopher John Gray is a fascinating intellectual figure and Radio 4 can count themselves lucky to have him as one of their A Point of View presenters but, thinking in terms of BBC bias, Radio 4's A Point of View has long been a clear-cut, open-and-shut case of BBC left-wing bias. 

I've expounded several times before about the programme's blatant bias (see the link to A Point of View on the right), with its hordes of left-wing presenters and one solitary, lonely, belated right-wing exception (Roger Scruton), but, among that crowd, John Gray has always stood out as someone a bit different - an anti-capitalist, pro-environmentalist, anti-EU maverick who started out as a Thatcherite, turned Blairite, and then went semi-#Occupyish-before-the-letter. Right wing? Left wing? 

His latest A Point of View spent a good deal of its time denouncing free-market Thatcherite ideology, though - interestingly - he gave the good lady herself some credit for being a pragmatist. 

Overall, most of it would have been music to the ears of many a left-leaning Radio 4 type. So it's no wonder, probably, that Radio 4 added him to their A Point of View cast list...

...and, thus, poor Roger Scruton remains alone as A Point of View's only right-winger in the village. And even he's an anti-Thatcherite kind of conservative.

To quote Twitter, "#bbcbias". 

3 comments:

  1. The programme is well named isn't it? Not "Many Views" or "From All Perspectives" or even "Diverse Opinions" - no, just plain simple "A Point of View" as only ONE is allowed.

    Scruton's an interesting guy. But first and foremost he is an Hegelian. Modern left and right labels are scarcely meaningful when applied to him. He prefers roasting his tootsies in front of a country cottage fire than roasting lefties on a spit of derision. He's good cover, like Peter Hitchens on QT.

    What the BBC do not like is populist right wingers (Hitchens is not a populist - if he were he would be more relaxed about drug use and would not promote grammar schools).

    Dan Read

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  2. Did you hear his last one on Dostoyevsky?
    Brilliant-but absolutely NO mention of the Islam/Muslim words when it came to recent atrocities committed in the name of "compliance in the cause of Utopia".
    But a great piece of work from a bloke who`s about as independent as the BBC/left axis will allow.
    Certainly his study of Dostoyevsky puts preeing arrivistes like Rowan Williams in their places..Straw Dogs was a key book in my prophetic worldview-and still is in large part.
    When he stands up to Islam-he`ll be the complete shilling!

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    Replies
    1. I did Chris, and he was excellent about Dostoyevsky and what Dostoyevsky means.
      Dostoyevsky should be on the national curriculum.
      Secret revealing time: Were I forced to name the most rewarding novelist ever I would name Dostoyevsky and would award 'Crime and Punishment' the prize among novels.
      If only (Hardy-like) I could believe in the redemption that Rodion Raskolnikov finds at the end.

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