BBC announce curriculum-based learning on CBBC, BBC 2, Red Button & BBC iplayer from Monday January 11th

 

Following pressure on social media over the weekend, as the focus moved to children unable to access on-line learning durign school closures, the BBC has announced a programme of curriculum based learning.

The BBC announcement

Reacting quickly to the news of UK schools moving to remote learning, the new offer from the BBC will ensure all children can access curriculum-based learning, even if they don’t have access to the internet.

Starting on Monday 11 January, each week day on CBBC will see a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am, including BBC Live Lessons and BBC Bitesize Daily, as well as other educational programming such as Our School and Celebrity Supply Teacher and much loved titles such as Horrible Histories, Art Ninja and Operation Ouch.

BBC Two will cater for secondary students with programming to support the GCSE curriculum, with a least two hours of content each weekday.

Content will be built around Bitesize Daily secondary shows, complemented by Shakespeare and classic drama adaptations alongside science, history and factual titles from the BBC’s award-winning factual programming units.

Bitesize Daily primary and secondary will also air every day on BBC Red Button as well as episodes being available on demand on BBC iPlayer.

Tim Davie, BBC Director General, says: “Ensuring children across the UK have the opportunity to continue to follow the appropriate core parts of their nation’s school curriculum has been a key priority for the BBC throughout this past year.

“Education is absolutely vital - the BBC is here to play its part and I’m delighted that we have been able to bring this to audiences so swiftly.”

This TV offer sits alongside a wealth of online content which parents, children and teachers can access when and where they need it:

• For primary, BBC Bitesize online has an expanded offer of structured lessons in Maths and English for all year groups - these can be used at home or in the classroom. ‘This Term’s Topics’ also covers other curriculum subjects and curates learning content that works for the Spring curriculum. This content can be easily incorporated into a learning plan or used to explore different topics at home. Visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize, click on the year group and subject and all the content is there.

• For secondary pupils, Bitesize is also home to two-week learning packs for English and Maths in KS3 (years 7, 8 and 9) as well as This Term’s Topics for other subjects to be used at home or to support teachers in the remote classrooms.

• For students in Years 10 and 11, the Bitesize GCSE offer allows students to pick their exam board and subject to find everything they need to help with their studies. Visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize/secondary for details.

Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, says: “The BBC has helped the nation through some of the toughest moments of the last century, and for the next few weeks it will help our children learn whilst we stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.

“This will be a lifeline to parents and I welcome the BBC playing its part.”

Educational content for all nations will also be available.

School’s Out, Learning’s Not! BBC helps out parents home educating their children during lockdown

Information from the BBC for parents and children home educating under lockdown:

LINK to BBC Bitesize Daily

The BBC opens the doors to its biggest ever education offer, Bitesize Daily, today and the teaching roll call looks mightily impressive with a register full of familiar names.

Collaborating with teachers and education specialists, the impressive roster has been compiled in just four weeks and will offer 14 weeks of curriculum based learning for kids across the UK.

Renowned physicist, Professor Brian Cox will bring science lessons to life as only he can as he covers topics including the solar system, force and gravity.

Sergio Aguero, Manchester City’s star striker, famed for his precision and skill on the pitch, turns his attention to numbers as he sets about getting kids across the country counting in Spanish! And former MP, Ed Balls continues the number theme as he goes back to his political roots in economics to deliver a KS3 maths class.

Danny Dyer, EastEnders actor and direct descendant of King Edward III, delivers the facts on another historic king, Henry VIII as he brings history to KS1 pupils whilst Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker will also be dropping into Bitesize Daily lessons.

Sir David Attenborough, known the world over for his natural history documentaries, is also set to be involved, helping youngsters to learn about the oceans, mapping the world and why animals look the way they do.

Reading and music come together as Liam Payne, Mabel and a host of musical stars take part in a week long  Musical Big Read – an extension to a weekly Book Club that will run throughout the 14 week term and see stars including  Anita Rani and Oti Mabuse read books aimed at both primary and secondary aged kids.

Both in front of and behind the camera, over 200 teachers have come together to help the nations kids keep learning whilst schools are closed. In week one students will meet; Mr Burton (Educating Yorkshire), Ms Webb (Primary), Mr Brown (Secondary), Ms Armit (Secondary), Mr Mycock (Secondary) and Mr McPartlin of Britain’s Got Talent fame. They will all front daily lessons available from 9am each week day on BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button.

A host of familiar faces are also signed up to keep students motivated and on track with inspirational messages of support and tips on how to stay focused.

The BBC is delivering the biggest Education offering in its history to ensure that kids across the UK have access to curriculum supported learning for the summer term, working closely with trusted education providers, teachers and partners. All elements of Bitesize Daily have been developed with teaching professionals.

Alice Webb, Director BBC Children’s & Education said “We’re proud that the BBC can bring together so many people to offer such a wide-ranging package of support to help children and parents right across the UK at such a challenging time. 

 
“We said the BBC would be there for people through this crisis, and we meant it. It’s vital that every child is able to continue learning – and the lessons we’re putting on will make sure they have fun at the same time.”

BBC Bitesize Daily will deliver a tailored day of learning across BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Bitesize website and app, BBC Four and BBC Sounds, with curriculum relevant offers across the UK.  Together, this comprehensive package is aimed at minimising disruption to children’s education and providing rhythm and routine in these challenging times.

Marr to Chakrabarti after on-air outburst: It was only robust questioning

The exchange between Andrew Marr and Shami Chakrabarti hit the headlines a few weeks ago on account of Marr's sudden and aggressive 'Don't patronise me' comment as he waved his notes towards her. I was moved to put an official complaint into the BBC and have now had a response. The BBC reveal that after the interview, and presumably after the social media reaction, Marr contacted Chakrabarti to say it was only 'robust' questioning.

My complaint summary: unprofessional behaviour amounting to bullying

Full Complaint: The moment when Andrew Marr interviewing Shami Chakrabarti exclaimed 'Don't patronise me' and left her visibly shaken. In my view losing his temper in this way and adopting an intimidating tone amounted to bullying and sexism; revealing bias against intelligent, young women who stand up for themselves. Such behaviour was not evident in his interviews on the same programme with male politicians.

BBC Response

Andrew used his interview with Shami Chakrabarti, Shadow Attorney General, to explore Labour’s position on the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiated by the Prime Minister. The Labour leadership have said they don’t support this deal. Andrew sought to clarify what areas of this deal Labour had issue with, what they would seek from an alternative agreement and the logistics of how they would achieve this.  
When interviewing any politician from any party, Andrew’s intention is to scrutinise their position on any given issue. Andrew didn’t intend anything other than to robustly question Baroness Chakrabarti on the proposed Brexit deal. He contacted her to make this clear afterwards.

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OF – a little word makes a big difference.

Guest post by Philip Grant

A couple of months ago I was walking along Empire Way, for the first time in a while, when a new street name caught my eye: 

Palace Arts Way street name sign

Many people, new to the Wembley Park area, might wonder who or what “Palace Arts” is or was, and why a road should be called that. As someone with an interest in local history, I realised that the road is by the site of the former 1924 British Empire Exhibition Palace of Arts building, so why was the “OF” missing from its name?

I wrote a joint email to Quintain’s Wembley Park company and to Brent Council’s street names department, asking whether there was a mistake on the sign, and if not, why the “OF” was missing from the name. Brent replied promptly, saying that Quintain had submitted the naming application in 2015, and that all proposed names are subject to consultation with the emergency services (they sent me a copy of the London Fire Brigade guidelines on street names) before being approved. 

It was a couple of months before I received a full response from Quintain, but when I did it was clear that they had asked for the street to be called “Palace of Arts Way”. Brent had declined to accept that name, and they thought this was because “OF” was not permitted as a word in street names. Having checked the L.F.B. guidelines, there is no mention of “OF”, although it does say that new street names should not begin with “The”. It appears that the reason the name was shortened may be because the guidelines suggest that names of more than three syllables (before the suffix “Road”, “Street” or “Way” etc.) should be avoided.

Guidelines should be respected, but they are not strict rules. No doubt I am biased over this particular name, but surely common sense and respect for the heritage of Wembley Park should allow an extra, two-letter, syllable in this case? Just speak the names out loud. “Palace of Arts Way” has a soft flow to it, and would take no longer to say in a 999 call than “Palace Arts Way”, which has a hard sound between the first two words that forces you to take a short break in speaking them.

Why all this fuss over a little word? What is special about the Palace of Arts which means that it should be remembered in a street name? Let me share at bit more Wembley history with you.

As with much of Wembley Park’s story, it involves the British Empire Exhibition, which was held in 1924 and 1925. Like its larger neighbours, the Palaces of Industry and Engineering, the Palace of Arts (seen here in a postcard from the time) was one of the big reinforced concrete buildings showing off the best that Britain had to offer.

Palace of Arts 1924 postcard

A full range of arts and crafts were on show in the building’s many galleries, including paintings by leading British artists from the 18^th century onwards, and furniture in room settings from the same period up to the 1920’s. There was a sculpture gallery, and rooms displaying works by artists from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Burma. Other exhibits showed the development of architecture, pottery, paper-making, printing and bookbinding. One room sold works by current artists and craftspeople, with nothing costing more than half a guinea (now 52.5 pence, but worth rather more then), showing that art could be affordable to the general public.

One of the main attractions was Queen Mary’s Dolls House, which visitors had to pay an extra 6d (2.5 pence) to see - more than 1.6 million did so in 1924, with all the money going to charities nominated by the Queen. The project to make this was begun in 1921, with the 8ft 6in x 5ft x 5ft high mansion designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Hundreds of companies donated 1/12^th scale working models of their products (including piano-makers Broadwoods, who had a works in Kingsbury at the time). Leading artists created miniature paintings to decorate the rooms, and top authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling hand-wrote short stories and poems in tiny books for the dolls house’s library.

Packing up Queen Mary's doll house 1920's

After the Exhibition, the Dolls House was moved to Windsor Castle (where it can be seen today), with money from visitors to see it still going to charity. Although some of the Exhibition’s buildings were demolished after it ended, the Palace of Arts survived. It was used mainly as storage space for Wembley Stadium, and especially for the Empire Pool / Wembley Arena after that was built across the road in 1934 (you need somewhere to put the sections of the banked timber track, that you use for your annual six-day cycle race, for the other 359 days!).

Palace of Arts as BBC Broadcasting Centre for 1948 Olympics

 The building got a new lease of life in 1948, when the facilities at Wembley were used to host the Olympic Games. The BBC took over the building to provide the broadcasting centre for radio presenters and journalists from around the world who came to cover the Games. It continued to be used as the main base for the BBC’s outside broadcast unit until the Television Centre in Shepherd’s Bush opened in the 1960’s. After that, the ageing structure began to fall into disrepair and, although it was a “listed building”, permission was given to demolish it in the early 2000’s. 

Palace of Arts awaiting demolition 2002

Basilica, Palace of Arts, November 2004

For a number of years the site remained derelict, and many local residents will remember the last, forlorn surviving part of the “Palace” alongside Empire Way. The Basilica had been a wing of the original building devoted to religious art. Before this part of the building was finally demolished, several beautiful mosaics were carefully removed, and one of these can now be seen in Brent Museum.

Cedar House, Emerald Gardens, on site of Palace of Arts

Quintain finally got round to developing this area of their Wembley Park estate around 2013. The blocks of apartments on the site are now called Emerald Gardens, fronting onto Engineers Way opposite the Arena. I admit that “Palace of Engineering Way” would have been too much of a mouthful, but I still think the little road along the back of Emerald Gardens should have been called “Palace OF Arts Way”.

Philip Grant

BBC Decision to Exclude the Greens ‘Impoverishes Our Political Debate’

The BBC’s decision not to allocate the Green Party of England and Wales a Party Political Broadcast (PPB) in England fails the electorate and our democracy, say the Greens.

Over recent weeks, the Green Party has written to the BBC three times to appeal the public broadcaster's initial decision to allocate three PPBs to the Liberal Democrats and UKIP each, and none to the Greens.

Over the course of extensive correspondence, Nick Martin, CEO of the Green Party, has sought to demonstrate the Party’s steady and consistent growth in England over the past two election cycles across election types. The Green Party contends that, with this decision, the BBC has failed to fully consider and recognise the pattern and direction of electoral support in England.

In their upcoming Party Election Broadcast (PEB), the Green Party will ensure that the Greens' voice is heard ahead of the London Assembly, Mayoral and local elections in May 2016. The BBC Trusts' decision to recognise the Greens as a major party in the London elections provides the Party with an opportunity to showcase how elected Greens can deliver real change of the common good.

Shahrar Ali, Green Party Deputy Leader, who, alongside Deputy Leader Amelia Womack, handed in an appeal letter to the BBC Trust (3), said:

Our public broadcaster’s decision to freeze the Greens out of the Party Political Broadcasts impoverishes our political debate. Ahead of this May’s elections, the Greens stand on a fresh, distinctive platform. We are the only party who place environmental sustainability at the heart of everything we do; we are united in opposing Trident; and only the Greens are presenting a viable alternative to our stuttering economic system which is insecurely grounded on unequal pay and long hours.

Womack said:

The BBC’s decision means over a million people will not be given the opportunity to hear from the party they voted for last May in a PPB in 2016. While this decision is bitterly disappointing and does a disservice to our democracy, Green politicians, members, activists and supporters will continue to work tirelessly to make sure our voice is heard and that Green values and policies are widely shared.

Not convinced by Junior Doctors' case? WATCH THIS!

BBC - Don't Shut Out the Greens who give a voice to the voiceless

Shahrar Ali and Amelia Womack at the BBc today

 The Green Party’s Deputy Leaders today handed in an official appeal to the BBC Trust urging the BBC to re-consider its initial decision not to grant the Green Party of England and Wales a Party Political Broadcast in England.

The Green Party has also launched a petition this morning calling on the public broadcaster to include the Greens LINK .

Amelia Womack and Shahrar Ali, Deputy Leaders of the Green Party of England and Wales, handed in the appeal on behalf of Nick Martin, the Green Party's Chief Executive Officer.

Last week, Martin wrote to the Director General and Director of Editorial Policy and Standards of the BBC to argue that the current proposals, which shut out the Greens and allocate three broadcasts to the Liberal Democrats, fail to recognise the pattern and direction of political support in England. That appeal was rejected and the Green Party has today lodged a further appeal with the BBC Trust, to be heard by the Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee.

Speaking at the hand-in, Womack said:

This time last year it was the public that ensured our inclusion in the televised Leaders Debates. Now we need that support again.

The Green Party’s membership has grown and the Green Party’s vote has grown. It’s time our public broadcaster reflected the general public’s support for the Greens.

This petition represents an opportunity for us to make sure that the Greens’ unique voice gets heard so we can send more elected Greens to the Welsh and London Assemblies.

Ali said:

The BBC is a public service broadcaster and we feel they have an obligation to treat all parties on an even keel.

By continuing to exclude the Greens from the PPBs it is our contention that the BBC is not fulfilling its duty to ensure balance by communicating the full range of political opinions to its audience.

We have been the only Party giving a voice to the voiceless and it is deeply ironic that the BBC thinks it is okay to exclude us from these important broadcasts.

PETITION HERE

BBC Question Time in Wembley on September 17th

My dodgy blood pressure may not be up to it but if you are keen to be in the audience for BBC Question Time, scheduled to be in Wembley on September 17th, this is how to get tickets: LINK

Details for People's Assembly March Saturday June 21st

Greens respond to Labour on railway nationalisation

 
A letter from 30 Labour PPCs to the Observer has been prominently featured today and has earnt top billing on the BBC news and current affairs programmes this morning. The letter calls on Ed Miliband to make public ownership of the railways a key part of Labour policy going into the general election.

Rupert Read the Green Party spokesperson for Transport issued the following response:

After many years of being in government, sitting and watching the privatised rail monopolies rake in huge profits, are Labour about to do something? Or at least "consider" doing something?

The Labour Party might finally be starting to catch up with the Green Party, on this key issue

The truth is that the British public have been down this road before with the Labour party and they have been let down time and again. You simply can't trust Labour to do what they say they are going to do."

Caroline Lucas MP has a bill in the House of Commons right now calling for exactly this. Labour had more than a decade in government to do something about this and they didn't lift a finger to help.

This is a flagship Green Party policy; Caroline Lucas has made it central to her agenda; the media really ought to report that Labour is hardly engaging in original thinking: simply stumbling falteringly toward something that voters can already plump for in unadulterated form by voting Green.

The letter from the Labour PPCs come as another poll shows the Greens overtaking the Liberal Democrats in the European Elections. The Green Party is on course to return its highest ever number of MEPs on May 22^nd.

Brent united against racist estate agents

Following the revelations by the BBC that two Brent estates agents were amongst those who operated a colour bar on lettings to Black people, there was a demonstration at short-notice in Willesden Green today.

There was a picket outside National Estate Agents and then a march  along the High Road to A-Z Estate Agents,  The demonstration was joined by some Labour councillors, several of the parliamentary hopefuls for the Brent Central nomination, the Socialist Workers Party, the Green Party, Brent Housing Action, the Counihan Campaign, Unit the Community, Brent TUC, Brent Fightback and many independent activists including Alex Colas who has launched an independent Make Willesden Green campaign for the local elections.

Khuran Siab and Kevin Smith

The protest was joined by Khuran Siab and Kevin Smith of the Willesden Green branch of Harts. They said that they were disgusted when they heard about the racial discrimination, which they had thought was a thing of the past, and had decided to make a stand.

Protesters and the public were reminded by Sarah Cox that such discrimination had been outlawed since 1975. There were chants of 'United we stand, divided we fall; an injustice against one, is an injustice against all'  and 'No colour bat - shut them down'.

Robin Sivapalan of Brent Housing Action, told the protesters that Cllr Butt, leader of the Brent Council, had said he would be talking to Brent Council Trading Standards about possible action against the offending estate agents.

The demonstration drew immediate warm support from local people and cars slowed down so that the drivers could take a leaflet.  It was heartening to see the community once again united against racism.

Although action  must be taken against such letting agents and landlords it is really the housing shortage that needs to be tackled so that people aren't left dependent on the private sector. We need new social housing  with affordable rents - not luxury developments such as that at Willesden Green Library on the market to foreign investors.

BBC London News Report HERE

BBC occupied by disabled activists over inaccurate and unbalanced reporting

Statement from Disabled People Against Cuts
 
Disabled activists from grassroots campaigns Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Black Triangle and Mental Health Resistance Network have occupied the BBC building in London to protest against the role the media are playing in worsening attitudes towards disabled people and a complete failure to give space to the realities of what this government are doing to disabled people.

Ironically just last week the BBC reported on a research report by Scope which highlighted how things have got worse for disabled people since the Paralympics, but the BBC themselves have contributed to this situation by a lack of balanced or accurate reporting. In fact their coverage of the research angered disabled people by spectacularly failing to draw any links between the worsening conditions disabled people are facing and government policy.

Despite the fact that Iain Duncan Smith has been pulled up before the Work and Pensions Select Committee for misrepresentation and manipulation of figures and statistics, the BBC continues to report information released by the DWP as fact.

This resulted in a situation over Easter weekend where disabled people, about to face an austerity Armageddon with benefits and income essential for their survival brutally slashed away, also had to contend with national media coverage that encouraged a view of us as benefit scroungers and cheats. 

It has since been proven that information released by the DWP ahead of the changes in April such as the figures for all of those who had supposedly stopped ineligible claims for incapacity benefit due to the tightening up of the benefit system, were misrepresentations with no basis in evidence. Just the smallest amount of research would have revealed to the BBC that they were about to report lies as objective fact.

 In addition to the misrepresented figures and statistics which the BBC promoted, further weight was given to the government’s propaganda by the succession of government ministers who were then given air time to continue to peddle their falsheoods. Where people were invited on to present an alternative view, they were non-disabled people from national charities. Firstly these people do not represent us, and secondly there are many more informed disabled campaigners who could have exposed the lies and misrepresentations.

Time and again the government and front bench Ministers have lied to justify policies which are causing the deaths of disabled people. Only last week the Disability News Service has had to raise formal complaints against the DWP press office for deliberately presenting false information about the level of spending on disability in the UK. Meanwhile the situation in the UK has gained international notoriety. The UN are currently in the UK to investigate and report on what the UK is doing through its housing policies. Solidarity protests outside the British Embassy have been organised by supporters in Canada.

Yet time and again the BBC have not only failed to report on what is happening but to contribute to public ignorance of what is going and to inflame hostility with questions such as “Why can’t disabled people take their fair share?” It is well evidenced that disabled people are bearing the brunt of austerity measures with those with the highest level of support need being hit nineteen times harder than the average citizen. To even put the question why can’t we take our fair share is damaging and in contempt of disabled people’s basic rights to be treated with respect and free from hostility.

Disabled activists from grassroots campaigns Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Black Triangle and Mental Health Resistance Network have occupied the BBC building in London to protest against the role the media are playing in worsening attitudes towards disabled people and a complete failure to give space to the realities of what this government are doing to disabled people.
Ironically just last week the BBC reported on a research report by Scope which highlighted how things have got worse for disabled people since the Paralympics, but the BBC themselves have contributed to this situation by a lack of balanced or accurate reporting. In fact their coverage of the research angered disabled people by spectacularly failing to draw any links between the worsening conditions disabled people are facing and government policy.
Despite the fact that Iain Duncan Smith has been pulled up before the Work and Pensions Select Committee for misrepresentation and manipulation of figures and statistics, the BBC continues to report information released by the DWP as fact.
This resulted in a situation over Easter weekend where disabled people, about to face an austerity armageddon with benefits and income essential for their survival brutally slashed away, also had to contend with national media coverage that encouraged a view of us as benefit scroungers and cheats. It has since been proven that information released by the DWP ahead of the changes in April such as the figures for all of those who had supposedly stopped ineligible claims for incapacity benefit due to the tightening up of the benefit system, were misrepresentations with no basis in evidence. Just the smallest amount of research would have revealed to the BBC that they were about to report lies as objective fact. In addition to the misrepresented figures and statistics which the BBC promoted, further weight was given to the government’s propaganda by the succession of government ministers who were then given air time to continue to peddle their falsheoods. Where people were invited on to present an alternative view, they were non-disabled people from national charities. Firstly these people do not represent us, and secondly there are many more informed disabled campaigners who could have exposed the lies and misrepresentations.
Time and again the government and front bench Ministers have lied to justify policies which are causing the deaths of disabled people. Only last week the Disability News Service has had to raise formal complaints against the DWP press office for deliberately presenting false information about the level of spending on disability in the UK. Meanwhile the situation in the UK has gained international notoriety. The UN are currently in the UK to investigate and report on what the UK is doing through its housing policies. Solidarity protests outside the British Embassy have been organised by supporters in Canada.
Yet time and again the BBC have not only failed to report on what is happening but to contribute to public ignorance of what is going and to inflame hostility with questions such as “Why can’t disabled people take their fair share?” It is well evidenced that disabled people are bearing the brunt of austerity measures with those with the highest level of support need being hit nineteen times harder than the average citizen. To even put the question why can’t we take our fair share is damaging and in contempt of disabled people’s basic rights to be treated with respect and free from hostility.
- See more at: http://dpac.uk.net/2013/09/for-immmediate-release-dpac-do-the-bbc/#sthash.tXXXA2Ec.ACAnlW3w.dpuf

Disabled activists from grassroots campaigns Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Black Triangle and Mental Health Resistance Network have occupied the BBC building in London to protest against the role the media are playing in worsening attitudes towards disabled people and a complete failure to give space to the realities of what this government are doing to disabled people.
Ironically just last week the BBC reported on a research report by Scope which highlighted how things have got worse for disabled people since the Paralympics, but the BBC themselves have contributed to this situation by a lack of balanced or accurate reporting. In fact their coverage of the research angered disabled people by spectacularly failing to draw any links between the worsening conditions disabled people are facing and government policy.
Despite the fact that Iain Duncan Smith has been pulled up before the Work and Pensions Select Committee for misrepresentation and manipulation of figures and statistics, the BBC continues to report information released by the DWP as fact.
This resulted in a situation over Easter weekend where disabled people, about to face an austerity armageddon with benefits and income essential for their survival brutally slashed away, also had to contend with national media coverage that encouraged a view of us as benefit scroungers and cheats. It has since been proven that information released by the DWP ahead of the changes in April such as the figures for all of those who had supposedly stopped ineligible claims for incapacity benefit due to the tightening up of the benefit system, were misrepresentations with no basis in evidence. Just the smallest amount of research would have revealed to the BBC that they were about to report lies as objective fact. In addition to the misrepresented figures and statistics which the BBC promoted, further weight was given to the government’s propaganda by the succession of government ministers who were then given air time to continue to peddle their falsheoods. Where people were invited on to present an alternative view, they were non-disabled people from national charities. Firstly these people do not represent us, and secondly there are many more informed disabled campaigners who could have exposed the lies and misrepresentations.
Time and again the government and front bench Ministers have lied to justify policies which are causing the deaths of disabled people. Only last week the Disability News Service has had to raise formal complaints against the DWP press office for deliberately presenting false information about the level of spending on disability in the UK. Meanwhile the situation in the UK has gained international notoriety. The UN are currently in the UK to investigate and report on what the UK is doing through its housing policies. Solidarity protests outside the British Embassy have been organised by supporters in Canada.
Yet time and again the BBC have not only failed to report on what is happening but to contribute to public ignorance of what is going and to inflame hostility with questions such as “Why can’t disabled people take their fair share?” It is well evidenced that disabled people are bearing the brunt of austerity measures with those with the highest level of support need being hit nineteen times harder than the average citizen. To even put the question why can’t we take our fair share is damaging and in contempt of disabled people’s basic rights to be treated with respect and free from hostility.
- See more at: http://dpac.uk.net/2013/09/for-immmediate-release-dpac-do-the-bbc/#sthash.tXXXA2Ec.FwrX7Hdn.dpuf

R4's Any Questions? Brent broadcast will include Caroline Lucas

 Caroline Flint, Sir Menzies Campbell and Caroline Lucas

Radio 4's Any Questions? is coming to Brent on Friday 26th April. The show will be broadcast from Claremont High School and panellists include Caroline Flint MP (Labour Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change) Sir Menzies Campbell (Liberal Democrat) and Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party).

Questions are picked on the evening of the broadcast but with the two Carolines on the panel are likely to include issues relating to energy policy and climate change including the issue of nuclear power.

The programme follows the 8pm News on Friday and is rebroadcast after the 1pm News on Saturday followed by Any Answers at 2pm.

For FREE ticket ring Box Office 0844 850 0093

Natalie Bennett on Question Time with Michael Gove tonight

Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, will be taking part in Question Time tonight on BBC1 at 10.40pm. You can watch here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rgszs/Question_Time_21_03_2013/

Other panelists include:

Michael Gove MP
Emily Thornberry MP

Mark Littlewood, Director General of IEA

Anthony Horowitz, Author

Reading, Writing and Rip-offs and Brent Schools tonight

BBC Panorama tonight at 8.30pm, BBC1 apparently includes section on Brent schools exploited by IT companies: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n2t2f