Post updates below

Some video I took at today’s DPAC protest in Portland Place. People in the group locked themselves together outside of the front door in protest at the Beeb’s rubbish coverage of social security cuts and austerity. And fair enough, too. The BBC has been garbage on these all-important topics. On the NHS, it’s been nowhere. The video shows people arriving, then Mark Thomas speaking (he was doing some work at the BBC and came over to say a few words in support of the protestors – good man) and then the closed doors.

Got to go out now – so more to say and more video to upload later on. Will observe for now that the response from the BBC was a bit…twatty. It was all a bit “JESUS CHRIST – PROTESTORS!!!! FILL THE MOAT AND PULL UP THE DRAWBRIDGE!!!” I mean – really. There was all sorts of rushing round to close the doors and pushing and shoving by Security and absolutely no sign of the many worthies who populate that building. If I was one of the Beeb’s many senior types (chances of my ever becoming one are diminishing by the hour, I imagine) I’d have just invited the group in and said – okay, let’s have a chat.

But – nobody said that. Pity. Sooner or later, somebody’s going to have to talk to someone.

Update Tues Sept 3:

More video from yesterday, in which Security got heavy and protestors explained why the BBC needs to wake its ideas up and fast. There’s text on the video and have also put it under the vid:

They’re absolutely right. Iain Duncan Smith in particular has been caught lying, exaggerating and talking total shit about benefit claimants, but he continues unchallenged by media outlets which should make it their business – their only business, if you ask me – to challenge government.

Text:

Protestor: Please understand why we’re doing this
Security officer offscreen: I do. I understand

Protestor: We’re licence payers and they need to do more proper reporting. They need to stop blocking our voices. They’ve got to get our message out. They blocked the NHS protests. Our NHS. Everybody out here uses it and they stopped people from getting the
story out. The people out there need to know what is happening in this country and people are dying.

Get some of your staff out here and see what’s going on, because they could be next.

Protestor 2: The government are churning out proven lies and they’re being caught out over and over again telling lies, Iain Duncan Smith is supposed to be talking to a parliamentary committee for grossly misusing statistics and misrepresenting benefit claimants in this country.

What’s happening is that this organisation behind us, the BBC, has given up on all efforts to be impartial, are running wildly and gleefully with the blatant propaganda that would put Nazis to shame about anyone who doesn’t fit a very, very narrow concept of what is considered an acceptable citizen.