The impartiality guidelines face a challenge in differentiating events
- Remembrance
- Pride
- A civic gathering after 7/7 or Manchester bombing (or on an anniversary)
- Centenary of female suffrage procession
- Applause for the NHS and key workers
It may be that the BBC is reporting on some events (NHS applause, Remembrance, national silences for eg Grenfell, Manchester) rather than participating in them, though the line can be blurred in some cases. Are these 'gatherings/demonstrations' or in another category?
I am glad that the 'Remember Together' message which we've championed has been adopted by BBC local radio. The BBC as a public service broadcaster is part of the glue of national events (Proms, Olympics Jubilee). But what is the philosophical difference of principle with Pride?
I wonder if a ban on enployees attending Pride events in a personal capacity (from an employer which has previously allowed/encouraged/championed them doing so), while committed to due impartiality in their job, could get the BBC into legal difficulty, eg with the EHRC. (??)
I would have thought sone events - Holocaust Memorial Day would be a clear example - could get a sensible "not controversial" designation.
That could work for Remembrance (very broad but obvs not uncontested). Arguably, Pride is also very broad but not uncontested (in 2020)
The impartiality guidelines have a lot of sensible content, but the devil is in the detail. The BBC might need a short list of topics on which an instititutional view is appropriate (media freedom is a potential example).
Again, these are sensible thoughts. But applying this approach to holocaust denial may be quite difficult. (Or the legalisation of the advocacy of paedophilia, or eg the advocacy of apartheid/forces repatriation on grounds of white supremacy/great replacement theory) .
Black Lives Matter (a political/civic movement) is a different proposition to Black History Month, for exanple. Though the guidelines could catch this if it were considered a civic 'campaign'
Philosophically, vetoing attendance at Pride ought to catch Remembrance. (Recipe for stumbling into one culture war conflict/or another.
Allow attendance at both (like Holocaust Memorial Day). With 'do not risk bringing employer into contentious arguments' advice when there
No problem if clearly celebratory or commemorative would appear to cover Remembrance, Pride, Holocaust Memorial Day and Black History Month events as not political or controversial
The Guardian has published a cartoon of a beheading, in which Jeremy Corbyn is portrayed as the martyr St John the Baptist [at the court of King Herod]
There are at least two big reasons to question the editorial judgement, in terms of the content and the timing (France) too.
(The cartoonist is Steve Bell, which I didn't realise I had omitted from the Tweet)
* Keir Starmer is Salome.
* Maybe Board of Deputies are her mother/Herod's wife in Bell's analogy?
British Social Attitudes: useful new chapter collates some longterm BSA trend data, on welfare and inequality, national identity and immigration. bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest-report/…
BSA confirms the shift in views on immigration, now more positive than negative on both the economy and culture. (Many people are balancers but the glass is a little more than half-full)
Veterans, politicians from across parties and civic voices unite behind #RememberTogether call for greater recognition and awareness of the Commonwealth contribution to the second world war. Read our open letter here britishfuture.org/mps-veterans-a…
Telegraph reports on the campaign for stronger education and commemoration. @sajidjavid and @DavidLammy on why its something that all children should learn about in schools google.com/amp/s/www.tele…
Actor Adrian Lester and comedian Meera Syal are among the public figures backing the call, along with historians, faith leaders and campaigners google.com/amp/s/www.even…
'Every party that aspires to govern our country should commit to meeting a simple ‘One Nation’ test: no citizen should feel there is a tension between supporting that party and their faith or ethnic background'. On prejudice and politics, Bristol, Nov 2019 britishfuture.org/tackle-prejudi…
If President Trump loses the election, and does have to concede it, what are the chances of his resignation some time prior to January 19th 2021 in anticipation of a general pardon from President Pence?
I am genuinely interested in whether people think this is just a daft theory that is very unlikely - or something he might actually consider or do. (This is not a president restricted by norms or conventions if he believes something is in his interest).
A new name 'Black Liberation Movement UK' adopted by the @BLMUK group. It will also use 'Black Lives Matter', also in use by a range of other groups and networks theguardian.com/world/2020/oct…
This group was a loose, nascent network of activists in May/June. A number of different groups/networks were using the 'BLM' message and slogan, which had crossed the Atlantic. BLM had also been used by a different group of climate activists over previous few years.
Black Liberation Movement sounds, to my ears, to have a 1970s/80s vibe, with echoes of Pan-Africanism. It doesn't have the immediacy/clarity and simplicity of communication of 'black lives matter'. Though it sounds as if the plan is to combine them.