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Saturday 8 April 2017

Spectator Endorses Racist Bigot

The editor of the Spectator magazine, Fraser Nelson, is familiar to many as one of the revolving roster of presentable faces that are the Pundit Establishment; in this way he is trusted, while using this position to get his propaganda out there, especially when defending the press’ status quo on regulation. There is no finer exponent of falsehood and misinformation when it comes to IPSO and the Leveson recommendations.
Fraser Nelson

Indeed, only last week he was telling Jonathan Portes, after falsely accusing him of quoting a form of words he didn’t use (Portes did not claim he had - minor problem, eh?) that “If your blog was regulated by IPSO and your writing matched Fleet St standards of accuracy, you'd have to correct your false claim”. A claim Portes had not made. Moreover, Nelson is skating on very thin ice when claiming the moral high ground.

The Speccy has just published a text-book example of why its editor has no room to call inaccuracy on others: he has secured the dubious talents of James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole to write what has amounted to a combination of promotion piece and simpering apologia for former EDL head man and crusader against all those Scary Muslims (tm) Tommy Robinson. And “Fleet Street standards of accuracy” it ain’t.

Del Boy tells readers at the outsetBritain’s most hated man isn’t all that hateful … The EDL founder has been jailed for fraud, assault and football hooliganism. So, why do I like him?” We therefore know what to expect. And so are not disappointed: “We meet in a gastropub in a pretty Georgian market town. It’s only ten minutes from the ‘shithole’ of a dump where Robinson has always lived - Luton - and much more congenial for lunch because we’re less likely to be interrupted by any of the numerous Muslims who have put him on their death list”. St Albans, then. But do go on.
Famous last words

And go on he does: “He is frank about everything he’s done, good and bad. It’s part of the natural charm … He’s intelligent, quick, articulate, well-informed, good-mannered - and surprisingly meek in his politics for a man so often branded a fascist. Many of his home friends are black, some are Muslims”. Of course they are.

Then we get the dubious claims seeping in: “It was Luton … that Islamist proselytiser Anjem Choudary chose as the base for his various proscribed organisations … As a result the character of the town changed forever … You know how hateful the EDL is: every-one does. What’s curious, though, is how much worse it is by reputation than in deed”.

They buy their Mums flowers an’ that. But Del Boy knows who the real villains are, and none of them are Robinson: “It’s a reflection of the Establishment’s intense reluctance to admit the scale of the problem with fundamentalist Islam in Britain … He’s a strong advocate of separate prisons for Muslims and non-Muslims: the scale of bullying (no one dare be caught cooking bacon, for example) and the extent of radicalisation, he argues, makes it culturally suicidal to continue as we are”.

And at that point, the bullshit detector began to scream long and loud. All of this is Delingpole accepting Robinson’s views as if they were fact. And Anjem Choudary … the right-wing press’ pantomime villain of choice when it comes to demonising Muslims. Is Del Boy suggesting that we take Choudary seriously? Get out of here.
"Gay marriage" ... "Global warming" ... "Bird-slicing, bat-chomping eco crucifixes" ... "red meat conservatism" ... "Islamophobia excuse notes" ... "Journalistic obscurity"

It gets worse: “After numerous beatings and attempts on his life, Robinson is under no illusions about his prospects of reaching a ripe old age. ‘I’m a dead man walking,’ he told me”. Yes Del, that’s why Robinson waded right in to the aftermath of last month’s attack on Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster, shit-stirring as he went.

Can it get worse and less credible still? It certainly can: “Though his kids are as yet unaware of his notoriety (Tommy Robinson is a pseudonym), he’s finding it harder and harder to protect them”. Anyone who wants to know, and many who do not, have known for years that Tommy Robinson is a pseudonym. He’s called Stephen Yaxley Lennon.

Delingpole ends with confirmation that he has swallowed Robinson’s schtick hook, line and sinker: “I don’t think that many of us are in a position to pass judgment. Not unless we’ve personally shared his worm’s-eye view of Islamic encroachment on our inner cities, which very few of us ever will. We simply wouldn’t be brave enough”.

No fact check. Very little pointing out that the article is either Robinson’s opinion, or Del Boy’s. And if anyone were to make a complaint to IPSO about this, it would be dismissed on the grounds that “It’s only an opinion piece”, which is otherwise known as the Littlejohn or Delingpole defence. For this excuse note, Fraser Nelson is prepared to get righteous.

It’s not as if Nelson did not know Del Boy would present him with this steaming turd of an article: Delingpole does, after all, have a day job with Breitbart, the premier global purveyor of Fake News and leading apologist for white supremacists.

But good to know just how high the standard of IPSO-regulated publications really is - and what “Fleet Street standards of accuracy” really means. Pass the sick bucket.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it OK if we label all EDL and TR fans as dangerous?

After all Islam is apparently the problem and not just the extremists who are, well..... extreme!

Yes. I know, they are all following beliefs.

Gareth Evans said...

Who can forget the Fraser Nelson special before the 2015 election "11 graphs you must read before the election" he headlined it all the graphs had in the bottom right corner a logo from the office of national statistics, slight problem though not all of the statistics had made it from their office into Fraser's graphs! in fact , most notably in the graph detailing the supposed "jobs miracle" that osbornomics had delivered, data that told an opposite story to the one Mr Nelson was expounding to his loyal readership namely the vast loss of skilled well paid jobs since 2010 had mysteriously disappeared . Leaving only an impressive looking mountain of jobs climbing ever higher under Conservative stewardship . Even further examination of the ONS data showed these jobs to be of a much lower Calibre, lower paid and mainly without pensionable rights , a large proportion of them didn't even have guaranteed working hours. Our first glimpse of the normalisation of the hated zero hour contract .

The other 10 graphs had similar if not as devastating faults . If we cannot bring ourselves to castigate the likes of Fraser and Delingpole openly through our system of redress to the "free press" ( freely owned by a small group of oligarchs) we can at least spare a thought for the skilled and dedicated teams at the ONS and universities up and down the country who had their work denigrated in this manner.

Perhaps its is time to find a way to enforce statistical accuracy in our media during the run up to elections though I admit I have yet to devise a way that would be open and fair in our lopsided forelock tugging society

A.Robot (Mrs) said...




“I don’t think that many of us are in a position to pass judgment. Not unless we’ve personally shared his worm’s-eye view of Islamic encroachment on our inner cities, which very few of us ever will."

I haven't 'personally shared' a life in WW1 trenches, post-war unemployment, national humiliation or prison. And I don't think I ever will. I am therefore unable, I'm afraid, to 'pass judgment' on the analysis and the prospectus for the future offered by the author of Mein Kampf.
Thanks, Jim. Glad I've got that one sorted out.

pete c said...

Regardless of what you think of their general political stances, the Spectator did at least once have certain standards. No longer it seems.

Just why did the editor think it a relevant thing to be doing, to commission Delingprat to puff up a piece on that dubious citizen.

Unknown said...

Tommy Robinson will be judged in the future as being on the right side of the islamic question. Islam is a cancer in Western society and is incompatible when their are large numbers of islamists and their apologists pushing for more and more islamisation politically and socially.

Unknown said...

Tim Fenton could you please justify your claim that Tommy Robinson is a "racist bigot". I ask you to reply here because I noticed you refused to do so, face to face, when Tommy personally called on you. I can totally understand your fear when he called unexpectedly at your home to interview you, and why you cowered behind your door and called the police. However, if you knew more about him you would have known that you were in no danger of any physical harm. He is known to often approach people, like yourself, who slander him, and simply ask them to justify their claims. Perhaps you would be brave enough now to do that here. Or, even better, do what James Delingpole had the journalistic integrity to do, and speak to Tommy yourself.

zeb said...

Idiot , Islam is still not and will never be a race!!!! maybe time to pick a new offensive buzzword as 'racist' doesn't mean much any more!!!!

Roger said...

Tim, I know you have a right to chose who you talk to, in the same way as Tommy Robinson has the right to knock on your door and ask questions in a calm and polite manner (anyone who has seen his video will know that he was non-threatening and non-aggressive throughout the attempted encounter.
However, you have done yourself no favours in declining to say why you think he's a racist.

The fact is that Mr Robinson is well known for opposing a religion rather than a race. In so doing, he is on firm ground: Islam is misogynist; it is homophobic; and it does believed that apostates should be killed (to name just a few of its reactionary, illiberal views). This is no more than a statement of fact. Since when has it been wrong or racist to be truthful?

With respect, I think you should reconsider your opinion and be objective enough to understand that you have made a mistake in branding Tommy Robinson a racist. No one garners more respect than someone who, on reflection, is brave enough to admit their errors!

Harbi said...

Here is some real racist bigotry we can all agree to condemn:

"Jews and Christians are the worst of creatures."
Quran 98:6

"The Jews ...and the Christians... may Allah destroy them!"
Quran 9:30

"Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; whoever does is one of them"
Quran 5:51

'When the last moment of the life of Allah's Apostle came and when he felt hot and short of breath Mohammed said, "May Allah curse the Jews and Christians" '
Sahih Bukhari 1:8:427

"Mohammed said: I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim."
Sahih Muslim 4366

The apostle said, "Kill any Jew that falls into your power."
Ibn Ishaq - Sirat Rasul Allah, p369

"Who will set the Muslim to rule over the Jew? Allah... Until the Jew hides behind the rock and the tree. But the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, a Jew hides behind me, come
and kill him.' "
Sahih Muslim 3:41:6981
Sahih Bukhari 4:52:176
Sahih Muslim 3:41:6983
Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177
Sahih Muslim 3:41:6984
Sahih Bukhari 4:56:791
Sahih Muslim 3:41:6985

"For the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are those who reject Him: they will not believe."
Quran 8:55

'There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people: "We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides Allah: We have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred― forever― unless ye believe in Allah and Him alone" '
Quran 60:4