THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS
It is an unexplained mystery that many hard-hitting interviews by Eddie Mair with left of centre politicians have disappeared from the unbiased BBC’s archives.
After much painstaking archeological research, a few fragments of these interviews have been recovered. We proudly present them here in order to give credence to the myth, sorry fact, that BBC journalists are not vindictive, left-leaning lackies.
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: ZILLIONAIRE TONY BLAIR
EDDIE MAIR:
You were the first serving Prime Minister to be interviewed by the police. Not once, but three times.
Under your premiership, your administration was rocked by unprecedented scandals over cash-for-honours and MP expense frauds.
You were accused by one of your researchers, Andrew Neather, of actively implementing the policy of mass immigration whilst publicly denying it at the time. This has been said to have created overcrowding in schools and hospitals, unaffordable, huge house prices and the cause of much friction within society.
You actively promoted the case for the Iraq war based on known lies and half truths. Some say that without your active support and the carefully crafted propaganda that you, Alistair Campbell and John Scarlett (later promoted) created, the Iraq war would not have been waged and a peace settlement could have been made.
You have made vast fortunes from the American lecture circuits and from directorships of US banks, all thanks to your war crimes. This blood money has helped you and your acquisitive, shop-lifting, fare-dodging, over-lenient magistrate of a wife amass a huge multi-million pound property portfolio.
Do you sleep at night knowing that you are responsible for hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths that are still occurring now?
You’re nasty pieces of work, the pair of you, aren’t you?
New York Times – Blair questioned by police
Sky – Labour encouraged mass immigration to UK
Max Hastings – If scintilla decency Tony Blair Alastair Campbell John Scarlett faces public again
Guardian – bounty-blair-war-criminal-chilcot Telegraph – Has Cherie Blair no shame I think we know the answer to that
Guardian – Cherie Blair, fare dodger
Independent – Results-of-cherie-blair-inquiry-were-covered-up
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: HIGH STEWARD OF HULL PETER MANDELSON
EDDIE MAIR:
Mr Mandelson, I put it to you that not only were you caught lying twice, but you did so while you were a Minister of the Crown.
On one of those occasions, the lie was to cover up your actions in giving an unauthorised British passport to a millionaire Labour party donor.
You are loathed by most in your own party and you were considered a rank hypocrite when you betrayed your labour roots by shamelessly pursuing the lifestyle of an oligarch and accepting a place in the House of Lords.
You’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
Guardian – Mandelson loan scandal
BBC – Mandelson and the Hinduja brothers
Guardian – Guardian – Glassy eyed Mandelson: Labour, man and boy
Littlejohn – Peter Mandelson: “This time next year Reinaldo we’ll be billionaires”
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: CLEGGIE
EDDIE MAIR:
Cleggie, You famously claimed to support low student fees and then, months later when the smell of coalition power was in your nostrils, you let those students down by raising tuition fees by a factor of 300% to £9,000.
You’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: JOHN PRESCOTT
EDDIE MAIR:
You maintained an affair with one of your subordinates, throughout which you very likely told many lies to those around you. I wonder, was she coerced into that affair? You formed many liaisons with your mistress during work time, whilst taxpayers were still working to fund your indulgent lifestyle.
You betrayed your Labour roots by not only playing croquet on a posh lawn of your state-supplied mansion (during working hours) but you didn’t really seem to care about being photographed.
Your incompetent “Pathfinder” housing schemes destroyed row upon row of viable housing stock, much of which now forms “Prescott” wastelands in the North.
You betrayed the taxpayers, you betrayed your wife, and you betrayed your old-fashioned, hard working Labour supporters.
You’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
Guardian – Prescott two year affair
BBC – Prescott, croquet
Money Week – How John Prescott wasted 22bn
Express – John Prescott has left us in slums
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: MICHAEL MARTIN
EDDIE MAIR:
You brought the position of speaker of the House of Commons into disrepute, you became known as an ignorant, inarticulate bully and, later, a figure of fun.
You and your wife hoovered up expenses and the lavish Speaker lifestyle like there was no tomorrow.
You sacked civil servants for the crime of being too “posh”.
You spent £100,000 of taxpayers money on a soviet-style clampdown on any exposure of the crooked MPs’ expenses frauds.
You presided over a regime of biased, political thuggery that saw its zenith when you encouraged police to arrest Damian Green purely for doing what all opposition MPs should be doing.
You’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
Irish Independent – Undignified-downfall-of-a-bullyboy-speaker
Guardian – Sacked by Michael Martin for being posh
Daily Mail – Speaker-Michael-Martin-condemned-120-000-taxpayer-funded-legal-bid-MPs-expenses-secret
Guardian – Michael Martin – Damian Green
THE LOST EDDIE MAIR INTERVIEWS: DAEDALUS X. PARROT
EDDIE MAIR:
You’re a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
DAEDALUS X. PARROT:
I have no time for Boris Johnson and I regard him as a two-faced, selfish politician, pretending to be a buffoon in order to cover up the fact that he really is a buffoon.
But I find it the height of nastiness and hypocrisy when you and your colleagues habitually show a blatant bias against centre right politicians while simultaneously showing a casual, cooperative attitude to left wing politicians.
If you regard the likes of Blair, Mandelson, Prescott, and Martin as not being nasty pieces of work, then I am proud to be so accused by you.
March 29, 2013 at 11:57
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‘disappeared from the unbiased BBC’s archives.’
—
Can’t think
why.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21530542
- March 29, 2013 at 09:31
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None of those politicians above are centre Left with maybe Prescott being
the exception. Why do people think Labour are Centre Left when they clearly
aren’t by their policies?
- March 29, 2013 at 05:53
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Superb analysis, Mr P! Like the Prescott bit best of all!
- March 28, 2013 at 20:20
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He is from Dundee. Its not noted for producing extreme right wingers – or
public schoolboys.
Anyway, he is usually amusing,and treats most of his subjects with a sort
of tongue in cheek mild cynicism. In as lefty an organisation as Aunty he is
the only journalist I am actively interested in listening to. So he gave Boris
a hard time, so what?. Boris is not a paragon of virtue, any more than
Prescott or the war criminals that were running the show last parliament. I do
like Boris, but wonder just how in touch with real people its possible for a
political class that attended Eton, Fettes, Westminster School et al to be.
They may understand the pain of a mendicant merchant banker, but are they
likely to know how a single mum on a council scheme survives on beans til the
next JSA comes through?
As to his being “gay”, he lived in the same block of flats as me a few
years ago, and it was common knowledge then. He doesn’t make any issue in his
interviews of the matter. Its his private business, he isn’t lecturing anyone
else on their lifestyle. Again, so what?
-
March 28, 2013 at 16:42
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Top post, Mr Parrot !
- March 28, 2013 at 14:36
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In the PM interview Eddie Mair asked: “You are credited with saying –
perhaps that’s not the right word – you are credited with saying previously
that Gordon Brown would be ‘a fucking disaster’ in the role of prime minister.
Did you say that?”
Mr Hutton replied: “That’s not my view, of
course.”
Eddie Mair: “Did you say it?”
Mr Hutton: “I am not going to,
sort of, go into this… sort of, who said what to whom again here because, you
know, I could say yes or no to that question.”
After refusing to answer the
question a few more times Eddie Mair asks: “My guess is you said it. You
haven’t denied saying it, and you… So, come on. Did you say it?
Mr Hutton
replied: “Well, there’s no point in me denying that I didn’t have very serious
concerns about….”
Eddie Mair: “You said it. Didn’t you?”
Mr Hutton: “I
did say it. Yes, I did. Yeah. Let’s just get that over with.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8426050.stm
- March 28, 2013 at 15:20
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Moor, I commend you for your diligence in finding that interview. No,
really, no sarcasm there. Well done.
That’s what makes this such an informative blog. As well as our good
landlady, many readers such as your good self go to a lot of effort to
research and inform us of pertinent facts.
However, just out of curiosity, if you were to count the number of
Mair-on-Lefty car crash interviews and the number of Mair-on-Tory car crash
interviews, which would be the highest number? Also, how many times has
brother Mair interviewed senior (i.e. not the likes of 3rd division
wossisname Hutton) Labour politicians and scalpelled them like he did Boris
Johnson. No conferring, fingers on buzzers please.
As far as I can tell, Andrew Neil seems to be the only genuinely
objective, professional interviewer at the Beeb. He shows no fear and gives
no favour to any political party.
- March 29, 2013 at 00:22
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Got to agree about Andew Neil, he is the only one I watch now, a one
time politics junkie I have given up on Q Time, any Qs and the Andrew Marr
show. Such a shame that the stopped the wonderful Straight Talk, Andrew
Neil was great on that, too unbiased I suppose. Nothing annoys me more
than having to pay for this crap called the BBC.
- March 29, 2013 at 10:15
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Great stuff from DXP.
Agree entirely about Neil and his occasional
skewer.
At least we’ve been spared Marr doing his more sucking up
better than a hoover act.
But the bloated broadcasting corporation
biased?
Just because of apparently unbalanced reporting and
interviewing; uncritically pro eu, nhs and benefits reforms are a plague
of boils, running with labour’s bedroom tax line, anti Israel, &
more; the ever ready academics prepared to promote their views on air?
Although to be fair on the latter point, anybody with an input of real
relevance is likely to be fully engaged in the world of work.
But why
would they recruit staff with a different view?
Wouldn’t fit in,
would they?
When I think of how I used to look forward to the SW
broadcasts when working overseas; fool.
Just a view.
- March 28, 2013 at 12:47
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Brilliant stuff. Made my day.
- March 28, 2013 at 11:43
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Hee hee hee. Marvellous. I think for this extended weekend I shall
endeavour to say this to all my chums at the most inappropriate times; ‘pint,
Dicky?’ – ‘oh, you’re a nasty piece of work arentcha?’
Cheers Anna. Hope you & yours have a lovely Easter.
- March 28, 2013 at 11:16
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Brilliant!
And do you think the shadowy “common purpose” network is perchance deeply
involved in the Biased Bullshit Corp?
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March 28, 2013 at 11:12
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Bullsey, Mr Parrot!
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March 28, 2013 at 11:13
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And rather better than my spelling!
- March 28, 2013 at 15:06
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Thanx Gildy. Praise indeed, coming from a learned scribe such as
yourself.
- March
28, 2013 at 21:43
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Not at all. As sharp as knife!
- March
28, 2013 at 14:15
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Indeed – it’s an outstanding example of what blogs should be used for –
and why! My compliments to Mr Parrot and our charming hostess.
- March 29, 2013 at 23:48
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I can only second that: it is rare indeed that I see opinions so close to
my own expressed so lucidly and succinctly.
Deadalus (if I might be so familiar), I offer my hearty and appreciative
congratulations.
- March 28, 2013 at 10:50
- March 28,
2013 at 10:39
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With regard to what you rightly call the “casual, cooperative attitude to
left wing politicians”, I’ve always noticed one of the subtler elements of BBC
bias is literally the soothing tone of voice with which I’ve heard BBC
newsreaders occasionally talk about Labour politicians – you just know these
people must be paragons of selfless decency.
Ok it’s not that subtle..
Then the unsubtle stuff: news bulletins giving 30 seconds to a Conservative
and 2 minutes to Labour/Libdems criticising them; then airtime given to story
about a Conservative who attended a party where someone gave a nazi salute
(these 2 exampled from the same Radio2 bulletin); the extraordinary number of
BBC journalists & producers who either wrote for SWP affiliated journals,
or were friends or lovers of Labour party members, etcetc; the arts programmes
like Saturday review with repeated jokes about tories, with guests longing for
“more lefty/socialist protest singers”; the attacks on the Murdoch press, on
Michael Gove, etc; the tone of Nick Robinson’s interview with Cameron after
the Dec 9th EU summit; Emily Matlis’ (and others’) patronising attitude on air
towards Nigel Farage.
Ah, the “impartial” BBC …
- March 28, 2013 at 09:55
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I always enjoyed Eddie Mair on the radio and had no idea he was gay or that
he was especially plump. Once he came onto the telly, all I read about him was
that he was gay and had been on a diet to make himself suitably “televisual”.
Somebody once said that television is a medium, which means that it is
neither rare nor well done.
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March 28, 2013 at 19:16
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Did you never hear him on “Broadcasting House”? Gayer than a treefull of
monkeys on Nitrous Oxide.
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