My focus groups this month took place in Ilford, Guildford, Bolton and Altrincham, where we heard from (respectively) regular Labour voters, and Conservative switchers to the Lib Dems, Reform and Labour. We talked about the forthcoming Budget, crime, prisoners, the Tory alternative and, first, the BBC.
The BBC bias revelations, including Panorama’s doctored Trump speech, came as no surprise to many in our groups – particularly those leaning towards Reform UK: “I take it with a pinch of salt because it’s very one-sided. They’re not supporting Trump, they’re not supporting Israel, but it’s not just international news. It’s not representing facts from different sources. It’s strictly following a kind of pathway;” “It’s more so with trans. They’re frightened of being told off, aren’t they?” “When I was growing up you either watched BBC news or ITV news and you just took it that that was the facts and that was gospel. But we’ve been lied to that many times. The BBC is definitely not gospel.” The Panorama scandal made some question other things they might have seen: “What else has been doctored in the past?”
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