BBC Presenter: Freedom Of Speech Seriously Under Threat

Darren Grimes on recent comments made by David Blunkett and BBC presenter Michael Buerk about the national broadcaster.

[csmeinert]

Absolutely spot on. As an older person who has been around since there was only BBC TV, I'm thoroughly ashamed and outraged by what it has become!😡

[welshy]

I'm so glad the UK has young guys like you Darren to speak some sense. We have hope!

[sarahwilliams]

The BBC is now ‘The Guardian’ on TV, no wonder GB News is in the ascendancy !

[globaleye]

The BBC wish us to forget the Britain, where we were once allowed to call a spade a spade...

[FaroLucas]

Who is responsible for all this? If Michael Burke isn’t the BBC (or at least a part of it, with all his years of service), *WHO* is pulling the strings??

[shamteal]

Whilst living abroad I frequently had to explain the BBC's reporting, their masochistic hatred for everything British left foreigners as confused as me. They seem to think the rest of the world are in awe of them, that may well have been the case once, now they are just an embarrassment.

[theimperialist]

We need to do more to fight for freedom of speech.

[Mark_Dyer]

I was once a witness on THE MORAL MAZE, when Jeffrey John was being considered for consecration as Bishop of Reading. It was a privilege to be questioned by the likes of Michael Buerck, Melanie Phillips, and Michael Gove! If THE MORAL MAZE, and its excellent presenter are under threat, despite the recent change in DG, then the BBC truly is on the slide into oblivion.

[mikepursell]

Thanks Darren. Always look forward to your messages.

[nickycatton]

I haven’t watched the BBC for about 5 years now. I was an avid listener to R4 throughout my student days in the 1980s and beyond, but I gradually became more and more annoyed by the quite obvious left wing editorial direction and one night when I heard Marcus Brigstocke sneering about people who voted Brexit (yet again) for cheap audience laughs on the Now Show, I switched off never to return! Things have only got worse. But thanks to YouTube (yourself and others), GB News and David Starkey, I find I don’t miss the BBC at all.

[lindsayheyes]

A very fine essay, thank you Darren. I never thought that David Blunkett would articulate precisely my thoughts snd feelings about Radio 4 - indeed all that I think every time I switch it on. I usually get to listen to it for about two minutes before some issue is raised that demands that I examine myself for bias. Turning on Radio 4 is rather like going to a restaurant expecting fine dining with silver service, and finding on arrival that I must give myself an internal examination of my prostate before I can sit down: Irrelevant to me, intrusive, uncomfortable, unnecessary (I don't have a prostate), and no suitable topic for conversation at the dining table.

[drstrangelove]

I was a lifelong supporter of the BBC and proud of it being the best TV in the world. I think it used to be, but no more. I remember a few years ago in nice polite Norway, having dinner with colleagues. On mentioning the BBC news coverage of an event, they good naturedly spontaneously called back, almost to a man and woman, ‘British Bullshitting Company!’ Imagine my shock!
It took me a while to cotton on, but last year I cancelled my TV Licence Tax and have never looked back.

[featherbrain]

Once the people who disagree stop watching and listening, the BBC will have a VERY small audience.

[hammersmithbridge]

Darren we have to move from 'Defund The BBC' to 'Don't fund the BBC' - It needs to be over and done with now. They dont offer anything to anyone - they can stay as The BBC but they simply have to fund themselves through whatever means they see fit. I used to be an avid viewer of Question Time, Newsnight, even The News but I haven't watched a single episode of any of this for over 2 years now. I used to watch the main drama's but as soon as you hear who the producers are you know what box ticking event its going to be so I simply cancel them without even watching. The only people who would vote to save the BBC are the very people the BBC despises but the dam has broken and they are done!

[christinerussell]

This takeover of the BBC by the lefty Metropolitan elite has been going on for some time, it has merely been accelerated over the past couple of years. Burke, one of the mainstays of that organisation, cannot claim to have only recently become aware of this situation, so why is it only now, towards the latter part of his career, that he has found the courage to speak up. And he is not the only BBC stalwart who, obviously for career security, has chosen to remain silent, until at or near retirement. Well, sorry, too late now. I would suggest that a majority of the British public would happily see it abolished. It is beyond saving.

[catherinedickinson]

I was an avid listener of bbc radio 4 for over 20 years. I particularly enjoyed Michael Buerk on The Moral Maze with contributers like David Starkey and Clare Fox. You will not see or hear these people’s opinions on the bbc anymore. One good reason to stop watching/ listening

[catherinesyme]

New Zealand has fallen 💔🇳🇿 medical apartheid begins today! Where is the commonwealth?

[David-ufex]

Imagine the carbon footprint saved if Vanessa feltz shut her gob, loathe the bbc and will never listen or watch again

[savagejabem]

My dogs just pissed on my TV licence ! Oh dear, how sad, never mind

[bottleneckbobbridgemusic]

As usual Darren you are absolutely correct, I am a 65 year old business owner, for years the BBC was my broadcaster of choice. However I have not watched or listened to the BBC for a couple of years except for the 6 nations Rugby. It is a travesty what the BBC has become and the sooner it becomes a subscription service the better. I will not be a subscriber!!