Last week's BBC Radio 4 Sunday Programme, on which I've commented here
http://irenelancaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/bbc-sunday-prog.html
may no longer be accessible.
On Friday I was contacted by the BBC and asked for suitable contacts in the Liverpool Jewish community who might be prepared to discuss an item on this week's Sunday Programme.
In the event the item was not used because a new story had broken - that of the Bishop of Rochester and no-go areas in some areas of Britain.
We all know that these areas exist and have done for some time, but it takes a great deal of courage for a Bishop of Pakistani origin to state what is generally known, given the recent suicide-bomb murder of Benazir Bhutto.
and
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/01/bishop-warns-of-no-go-areas-for-non.html
The Bishop was unavailable, so the BBC interviewed a member of the Muslim Council of Britain for his reaction instead:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/sunday/index.shtml
It's the last item, by the way.
The MCB spokesman stated that British Muslims were quite fond of church bells and even mentioned the Hindu and Jewish communities (in passing). He spoke of the warm feelings that many Church of England Bishops have for the Muslim community and how they would welcome more Muslim rituals in the public spaces of Britain.
The Bishop of Rochester, on the other hand, was attacked for being 'defensive' and for not having provided the names of specific no-go areas. Unfortunately, he was not there to defend himself against this accusation.
The BBC would no doubt argue that this was a very important story that had to be challenged, as it had appeared in the Telegraph, and couldn't be ignored just because the Bishop wasn't available for comment.
However, it would be nice if they could occasionally comment on stories like this as well:
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/01/muslim-leaders-back-ken-livingstone-for.html
Then we have this - a blogger threatened with arrest for describing how his home town of Luton has been taken over:
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/01/british-blogger-to-be-arrested.html
That's the reality of Britain today, whatever face the MCB chooses to show to the public via the BBC.
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