TOMMY ROBINSON AT MEDIA CITY

Editorial note:  At last Saturday's Tommy Robinson event reported below. an editor from Northern Voices and an editor from 'The Word' went into the Tommy Robinson enclosure to cover the story as presented by the Robinson contingent.   Our view was that based on the material released prior to this event by Robinson in his You Tube excerpts neither the BBC or the Panorama presenter, John Sweeney, had covered themselves with glory in their approach  in producing a proposed Panorama program entitled 'Tommy Takedown'.  As such the screening of the Robinson film purporting to document the BBC's research methods used was a newsworthy story.

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YESTERDAY up to 5,000 people supported the former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson in a protest against the BBC's allegedly unethical methods of producing a forthcoming program entitled 'Tommy Takedown'.

The theme of the event was to criticise the Panorama journalist John Sweeney's conduct and alleged use of fake news to discredit Mr. Robinson.  The demonstration took place in Media City in front of the BBC's Salford offices.  Only some 500 people attended a counter-protest by anti-fascists.

The BBC has insisted that the proposed episode will follow its 'strict editorial guidelines'.

Mr Robinson said the aim of the protest was to make a stand 'against the corrupt media' and effectively called for people to withhold the BBC licence fee.

During the protest, undercover filming of BBC Panorama journalist John Sweeney, carried out by 'a mole' and a supporter of Mr Robinson, was broadcast on a large screen.  This all presented Mr. Sweeney in an unflattering light.

At one point Sweeney is heard saying 'one of my political heroes is the former head of the IRA Martin McGuinness', which the BBC says was taken out of context as Mr Sweeney was referencing Mr McGuinness's role in the peace process.

Mr McGuinness, who, as a prominent Sinn Fein politician, became Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, had acknowledged he was a member of the IRA. He died in 2017.

Mr Sweeney was also recorded making remarks which Tommy Robinson has described as racist, homophobic and anti-working class.

In response, a BBC spokeswoman said:
'The BBC strongly rejects any suggestion that our journalism is "faked" or biased.
'Any programme we broadcast will adhere to the BBC's strict editorial guidelines.
'Some of the footage which has been released was recorded without our knowledge during this investigation and John Sweeney made some offensive and inappropriate remarks, for which he apologises.  BBC Panorama's investigation will continue.'

At yesterday's event the UKIP leader Gerard Batten told demonstrators that Mr Robinson 'speaks up for things that are right, he tells the truth and he can mobilise lots of people like you, and that's what they fear'
.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said they 'roundly condemn Tommy Robinson... and his fellow, far-right thugs who intend to intimidate staff at the corporation, particularly those working on Panorama.'


The case of Tommy Robinson has been a long running affair, and in October 2018, the judge retrying Robinson for contempt of court referred the case to the government's top legal adviser.  Mr Robinson faced an allegation that he had committed contempt by filming people before a criminal trial.  But now Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC has ruled that the case needed to be referred up to the attorney general to decide and that is the current position.  Robinson is still awaiting his decision.

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Danczuk, Baker and 'Inaccurate Journalism'

by Les May

YESTERDAY one of the editors of Northern Voices received the following e-mail from Matthew Baker, who co-authored the book 'Smile for the Camera' (April 2014) with Simon Danczuk:
'In the article below your publication says Simon Danczuk was happy to share a platform with Chris Fay. 

 http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/tom-watson-simon-danczuks-nifty-footwork.html

‘This is not true.  He told the organisers he would only speak at the event if Chris Fay was removed from the list of speakers, which he subsequently was. In the interests of accuracy, can you change this please.'  
I wrote the article, and if this is indeed true, then I accept that the information I gave was incorrect.  But this prompts the question of just when Danczuk concluded that Mr. Fay was a fantasist and that the stories he peddled were unlikely to be true.
As the recent Panorama programme showed much of what Mr. Fay had to say about paedophile activity centred on the Elm Street guest house.  But the interview with a man who had first worked and then provided 'services' at the guest house, showed that the only reasonable conclusion was that it had been operating as a homosexual brothel, which is why it was raided by the police in 1982, and later closed down. 
But in their book Danczuk and Baker wrote (p227-228): 
'Secret parties, underground grooming activities and vile associations all developed out of these thriving networks and the Elm Street Guest House in south-west London soon became the centre of a VIP paedophile ring. 
'Paedophiles from all over the country would attend parties there and the boys were sexually abused.'
As in much of the book they produce not the slightest evidence that what they have to say is true and on the evidence of the Panorama programme it is not.   So Mr Danczuk and Mr Baker:  'In the interests of accuracy, can you change this please?'
Further on we read:  'There has been much speculation as to who was part of this sordid club, but the Metropolitan Police has confirmed that Cyril Smith visited the premises.'
The intention seems clear; the authors want us to believe that Cyril Smith visited Elm Street Guest House in order to attend parties during which boys were sexually abused. Interestingly this is just about the level of 'evidence' of Smith being a paedophile that the authors are able to produce in most of the the book.  The fact that Smith was dead meant of course that it was safe to mention his name without fear of libel. 
The weak link in this story is that the guest house wasn't the centre of a paedophile ring, it was a homosexual brothel.  As Smith was a homosexual one prosaic explanation is that he visited it for 'services'.  When you strip the 'flowery flannel' from their prose it is clear that this is just what the authors were told by a man who provided those 'services'.   So why the embellishments which make it read like another exercise in 'queer bashing'?
In an article published on 24 September, I drew attention to a story about Cyril Smith which  
appeared on pages 221 and 222 of the book, and which is totally untrue.

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-humbug-of-simon-danczuk.html

Mr Danczuk's answer to it all was that the Northamptonshire police had not 'disproved' the allegation about Smith, something which is of course logically impossible. 
So Mr Baker and Mr Danczuk:  'In the interests of accuracy, can you change this please?'
It is a matter of record that I have on a number of occasions challenged Mr Danczuk in the Rochdale Observer, and by letter to say how many men were interviewed by the authors who claimed to have been abused by Cyril Smith after the closure of Cambridge House.  It is also a matter of record that one of the editors of Northern Voices asked the same question to both authors in Danczuk's Deli in October 2014, before being ushered out of the door by Mrs Danczuk.  Neither of us has ever received an answer. 
As a child I received a Good Sunday School education, and I seem to remember a story about 'moats' and 'beams' which seems to be appropriate in this context. 

Tom Watson & Simon Danczuk's 'Nifty Footwork'

by Les May

Tom Watson & Simon Danczuk

YOU'VE got to admire Simon Danczuk's nifty footwork in making sure that the opprobrium which is being heaped upon Tom Watson for his pursuit of Leon Brittan does not fall upon him.
Chris Fay, a former social worker, interviewed in the recent Panorama programme also passed allegations about Leon Brittan to Tom Watson.  But Simon wanted to make it clear that he was above that sort of thing and was reported in The Times a couple of days ago as saying Fay was 'wholly unbelievable and some sort of fantasist'.
Now I wonder when he came to that conclusion?  Quite recently I assume because earlier this year he was happy to share a speakers' platform with him as you'll see if you visit the eventbrite website. (Mr. Matthew Baker now living in Bristol and a former aide to the Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, has since denied that Mr Danczuk appeared on the same platform as Mr. Fay - see his comment below).
Or did Simon 'forget' just as he did when he enthusiastically applauded the unveiling of a 'Blue Plaque' to Cyril Smith.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4583057.ece
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/csa-inquiry-time-4-justice-action-meeting-tickets-14973173164
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5iL2dDSyl0

Exposing the Apprenticeship racket!

Although the government has invested £1.4 bn on its apprenticeship policy there has been considerable criticism for  some time now, about whether the taxpayer is getting value for money. There have been allegations of 'fake' apprenticeships and criticism of the practice of 'converting', where existing employees are being labelled apprentices so that an employer can claim a government subsidy for training their staff through a 'learning provider' who also claims a fee. Others also point to the low number of 16 to 18-year-olds who are being taken on as apprentices under the governments' policy, and question the value of many of these apprenticeships, in terms of their labour market value.

The supermarket giant, Morrisons, is one of the countries biggest providers of apprenticeships. In 2010/11, they started more than 18,000 level 2 retail apprenticeships which are equivalent to a GCSE. Most of the apprentices learn 'retail skills' for an average of 6 months. However, most of their apprentices are over the age of 25 years and are existing employees. Indeed, last year the over 25s acounted for 75% of all apprentices in the U/K and there are even apprentices aged over 60 years old. Last year the government also gave £8m to City and Guilds to train 25,000 apprentices working for ASDA.

'Competence-based qualifications', which were introduced in the late 1980s, allow individuals to gain qualifications for skills they already have instead of attending training courses to retrain or to upskill. The practice of 'converting' existing employees to apprentices allows the government to increase the number of adults with qualifications within the workforce, which lifts the UK up the international league tables. England is the only country in Europe, where apprenticeships at level 2 far outnumber those at the higher level 3. Customer service, health and social care, and retail, are now the sectors with most apprentices and the average length of an apprenticeship in the U/K, is one or two years, with some lasting as little as 12 weeks.

In Germany, France and Switzerland, apprenticeships can take three to four years to complete and are a passport to a good job and real opportunity. Most of these apprenticeships are at the higher level 3 and are equivalent to A-level-type qualifications. Some apprentices, are also working towards a foundation degree. However, in the U/K, many employers do not feel that there is any value in training apprentices. In 2011, a survey conducted by the human resources provider 'Adecco Group', found that 57% of employers did not have an apprenticeship programme, and only 51% , thought they were cost effective.

Due to the outcry about bogus and fake apprenticeships, the minister responsible for apprenticeships, John Heyes, wrote to the National Apprenticship Service, asking them to scrutinise the quality level of apprenticeships to ensure that skill levels were maintained. But despite this, it would seem that some of these so-called apprenticeships would appear to be of little value in terms of offering proper skills, and little more than a means for obtaining labour for less than the National Minimum Wage (NMW).  Last month, Jobcentre Plus, advertised this vacancy for an 'APPRENTICE CUSTOMER SERVICE' based in a tea room in Stalybridge in Greater Manchester:

Job No: STC/14341 - Employer Reference: SDTS - Wage: £2.65 per hour. Hours: 5 days.
Location: Stalybridge Cheshire. Duration: Permanent. "This is an Apprenticeship. A Stalybridge based tea rooms is seeking a customer service apprentice. Full training will be provided as part of this role by Plato Training. We are looking for a keen and committed person who is seeking a career in customer service. The role will include: serving customers hot and cold drinks and food. Cleaning and keeping the premises clean. Taking orders and waitress service. You must have good communication and presentation skills. The role is full time. Full training is provided and you will work towards your QCF Certificate in Customer Service. If you are looking for a company that will provide you with training and support, this is the post for you. This is a Government funded Apprenticeship and funding is guaranteed for 16-24 yeard olds, although anyone can apply...This vacancy meets the requirements of the National Minimum Wage Act."

In her report on vocational training, which was produced for the government, Professor Alison Wolf of King's College, stated that many of these apprenticeships had "little or no market value" and judging from the above example, it is not difficult to see why. Nevertheless, young people in this country, have a right to proper techincal and practical education and it serves no one to pretend, that 'micky mouse' courses in 'customer services' amounts to the same thing.