Comments on: The media need to get over their Europhobia 2011/03/31/the-media-need-to-get-over-their-europhobia/ London MEP European Parliament Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:57:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Daniel Oxley 2011/03/31/the-media-need-to-get-over-their-europhobia/#comment-4305 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:39:16 +0000 ?p=14230#comment-4305 It is always good to see a new person commenting on the Honeyball Buzz and I hope that Neil Reynolds will continue to respond to the articles. I have said it before and I will say it again – this blog does not get the attention it deserves.

It would perhaps have been a better comment if he had read my comments a little more carefully. I did not speculate on UKIP sweeping to power ‘any time soon’, I said ‘some day in the future’.

Those seeking a return to Labour’s previous policy of a UK withdrawal from the EU are described by Mr. Reynolds as a significant minority but according to a poll undertaken by ComRes for the BBC Daily Politics, 55% of us want to leave the EU. It is hard to see how this can be dismissed as a significant minority, surely it is a majority.

The poll also found that 84% believe that voters should decide whether any further powers should be transferred to the EU and that 51% did not think that there was any benefit in trade or jobs from EU membership.

It is a pity that the Lib/Lab/Con Party holds views which are so remote from those of the public. They nearest they have come to consulting us so far has been to make unfulfilled promises about a referendum on EU membership.

]]> By: Neil Reynolds 2011/03/31/the-media-need-to-get-over-their-europhobia/#comment-4299 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:55:02 +0000 ?p=14230#comment-4299 Daniel to say I disagree with you is an understatement. You suggest that the disparity between nigel Farage and Glennis Willmott is only beacuse of some inate greater demand for Farage’s views. This is spurious to say the least the fact that Nige recieves so much extra air time means that he is bound to be searched for more often on YouTube. I also think that it is extremely unlikely that a party that has never come close to winning a Westminster parliamentary seat (finishing about 40% behing labour in a bye election does not count!) is going to sweep into power (or coalition!) any time soon. UKIP’s realtive success in European parliament elections does show there is a significant minority out there that are in favour withdrawal. The reality is that the many in the UK may be wary of the EU, but see it as an unavoidable necessity, which is why as country we would benefit from more coverage of the EU in a more reasoned way.

Mary, I entirely sympathise with your point about the Express, in my locality, Ealing, they have recently published a nonsensical article about the local Labour council and its efficiency savings (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/234192/Cash-hit-council-to-spend-1m-on-shortening-desks), which was so partisan that not even the Tory party press release went as far! Like you I have been trying to blog to debunk their nonsense…

]]> By: Daniel Oxley 2011/03/31/the-media-need-to-get-over-their-europhobia/#comment-4277 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:08:32 +0000 ?p=14230#comment-4277 There is nothing disproportionate about the media coverage of Nigel Farage. He is an interesting charismatic leader and people want to see him.

To add some weight to my assertion I did a bit of research. There was no EU grant for it and it only took me a few minutes. Mary is unhappy with the infrequent appearances of Glenis Willmott (Labour MEP leader) compared to Nigel Farage.

I went to You Tube and typed in Nigel Farage indicating that the video clips should be ranked by the number of viewings and I then repeated the procedure for Glenis Willmott. Mr Farage’s most popular video clip had been watched 711,718 times and Ms Willmott’s most popular video clip had been watched 584 times. So, members of the public are more than a thousand times more likely to watch Nigel Farage than Glenis Willmott!

No wonder the media want to feature him. If there is any bias in the BBC it is a bias against Nigel Farage. He should appear mch more frequently.

Mr Farage is described in the article as not being in a mainstream party. If this is true I am not sure that there are any mainstream parties. UKIP beat the Labour Party and many others in the last Euro Election and in the most recent Westminster by-election UKIP beat the Tories, the LibDems, the Greens, the BNP, etc.

Some day in the future UKIP will win a general election with a huge majority and the Lib/Lab/Con Party will still be going on and on about it being just a fringe party, not part of the mainstream, etc.

The media needs to get over its Europhilia and reflect the Eurosceptic nature of the British public.

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