BBC DIRECTION ALL WRONG

The BBC's interpretation of "North West"

I should be used to it by now. But tonight I watched the BBC news, and coverage of the debate on petrol prices. The item was introduced and almost immediately they said that there were going to the North West for a special report.


Ah, thought I, this will be interesting. There has been a special case up in the North West, where the government agreed to wave some of the tax, but immediately the company importing the petrol into the islands increased it's price by a corresponding amount. Let's see how this has impacted on the population, and how the expected 3p a litre increase will make the North West the most expensive petrol in the world.


Pfffff, silly old me. 


This was the BBC in London and for them the North West is in fact the South West to us.


So off we went to Manchester.


Is it worth £146 a year to be completely ignored? The world for the BBC stops at the border, except, of course, when they are collecting their tax so that Alan Yentob and his likes can travel first class to New York.

THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ARE NOT CARRYING ANY TORCH FOR SEB

We stay in the islands and highlands for tonight's tale of woe.

When The Rt Hon. Sir Sebastian, the Baron Coe of Ranmore in the County of Surry, MBE, OBE , KBE, PC, announced that the Olympic torch would be travelling all over these islands in the run up to London's Olympic Games, he pointed out that that would make all of us (who are paying for these games, but getting nothing back from them) feel a part of them...involved as it were.

People were asked to nominate friends, colleagues or neighbours who had given service to the community in some way, to carry the torch as it processed around the country. This is a big deal. They need some 8000 people for what Seb calls a 70-day journey of celebration, during which the flame will come within one hour's travelling time of 95% of the people in the UK. WOW. Did you ever? How exciting. Woop de Do.

Well, it seems that, in the highlands, no one is very excited about the torch or about carrying it. Only 3 people have been nominated for the "honour". Now, the good people of Inverness reckon that they will need around 120 people to carry it in relay around the city... you can only imagine how many will be needed for the highlands.

Poor old Seb... he'll obviously just need to get his running gear back on and carry it himself.

Even Alex Salmond has tried to stir up interest in the flame saying that the Scottish leg of the Olympic Torch relay will highlight the best of Scotland, our iconic landscapes, vibrant culture (except in the islands where it seems there is none, along with electricity and decent English food) and, most of all, our warm and welcoming people, to the rest of the world. He went on to urge people across Scotland to nominate potential torch bearers.

Oh well Eck, you can't win them all!!

PS... I think the torch comes within about 3 minutes on foot from where I live, and I still won't see it.

PPS... Baron Coe of RANMORE... is that a joke?

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