What on earth are they so afraid I am going to say?
Today Channel 4 News contacted me to ask me on to discuss wikileaks. I was not over keen to venture out in the snow, so a very nice lady called Leona said they would send a car to Ramsgate as they were “extremely anxious” to have my views as an ex senior diplomat who supported wikileaks.
She has just called back to say they have cancelled as “the running order has changed”. In fact I had made no preparations to go as I knew it would happen. This was approximately the fortieth consecutive time I have been booked by mainstream media then cancelled. In every case they approached me – I do not approach them – and then pull out usually close to the last moment.
I last blogged about this three years ago, when I posted this:
Blacklisted?
The last five times I have been invited on to television current affairs programmes, all within the last four weeks, my appearance has then been cancelled shortly before filming (except in the case of my comments on Newsnight’s piece on the Uzbek cotton industry, where I was called in and filmed, and then edited out).
This has not only been happening on the BBC. For example I received this:
Dear Mr Murray, ITV Sunday Edition – interview request I hope you don’t mind me approaching you out of the blue. I am writing to invite you onto our show, The Sunday Edition on ITV, this Sunday 18 November.
To give you some more background on the show, The Sunday Edition is ITV’s weekly news and review show, presented by journalists Andrew Rawnsley and Andrea Catherwood. We would like to ask you on to talk about aspects of international affairs: picking up from Gordon Brown’s Guildhall speech, what can and should we expect from his foreign policy?; the situation in Pakistan, Iran; and also the current domestic counter-terrorism measures. We would be happy to discuss other areas you wished to cover.
In terms of logistics, the programme is recorded live at 9.25am this Sunday, 4 November, at the ITN studios in Gray’s Inn Road, central London. We would of course of provide transport to and from the studio.
I do hope this is of interest. If you need any more information about the programme, or this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
James Reid
Followed by this:
Dear Craig, Many thanks for agreeing to come on the show this Sunday. Just to confirm the details, we will need to get you there for 8.45, to come on the programme at 9.25. Bekeh, our production co-ordinator will confirm the travel details with you when this is booked.
In the meantime, if you need any more information, please do not hesitate to let me know.
All the best
James
Then suddenly this:
Dear Craig, I hope all is well. I have been unable to get you on the phone this afternoon to let you know we had a change of plan for Sunday regarding the set-up for the programme, and are not going ahead with our planned interview. I wanted to say thank you very much for having agreed to come on, and for taking the time to talk to me on the phone. I apologies for this very late notice, and I hope this does not put you out.
Once again, may thanks for your time on this.
Best regards
James
Here is another example:
Dear Craig, I’m contacting you from the BBC’s Question Time programme where we are currently about to start a new season of programmes. I’m sure you are familiar with the format but just in case, each week five panellists take part in the programme – usually three politicians and two non-politicians. These other two panellists might be authors, artists, entrepreneurs, actors, pop stars or journalists. The idea is that they are non-political figures with an interest in current affairs – recent participants have included soul singer Beverley Knight, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and entrepreneur Martha Lane-Fox. We were wondering whether you would be interested and available at some point in the run to take part as a member of our panel? We have a number of dates coming up and it would be good to see if you are around. For example, we are in Leeds on the 18th October, Oxford on the 25th, Swansea on 1st November, London on the 8th November and Buxton on the 15th November. I hope this might be something that is of interest to you. Please let me know if I can give you any more information. Regards, Tom Gillett
Followed by:
Hi Craig,
Just getting in touch as I’m aware that we’d pencilled you in for this week’s programme.
I’m sorry to have to do this but I don’t think that we’re going to be able to go ahead with the booking this week. It just feels that this week is going to be all about Westminster politics and very little foreign policy which I think would be a waste of your experience. It would be better to book you in on a week where international matters are more prevalent so could you let me know your availability over the next few weeks and hopefully we can slot you in somewhere else.
Again, sorry not to be able to go ahead this week but hopefully we can re-arrange for a convenient date.
Very best,
Tom
No reply has been forthcoming to my emails on potential other dates.
Now obviously, it is not unheard of for current affairs programmes to invite people and then to cancel them. But it is very unusual – contrary to popular myth, television people are not notably more rude than normal. It is indeed so unusual that for it to happen five times in quick succession reaches the point where an underlying cause is definitely more likely than chance. It is worth noting that on all five occasions I did not approach the show; the show approached me. My contribution was discussed and a date agreed.
For Newsnight, I commented that the British government was not telling the truth in denying that they knew of the use of forced child labour in the Uzbek cotton industry, as I had reported it officially four years ago and written a book on the subject which they heavily vetted. On Sunday Edition this Sunday I was intending to query the veracity of the government’s claim that there are 2,000 Islamic terrorists in the UK, and consequently the need for yet more draconian anti-liberty legislation to “protect” us. I was also intending to point out the contradiction between Brown’s professed support for “Internationalism”, and his slavish devotion to an aggressively unilateral US foreign policy.
These are neither unusual nor extreme views, but you almost never hear them on television, and you won’t now be hearing them from me. I wonder why?
Posted by craig on November 17, 2007 5:59 AM in the category Other
End quote
It has happened, again and again, ever since – though with decreasing frequency, as I suppose it has become generally known I am not to be filmed. I don’t normally post about it, because obviously it makes it easy to portray you as paranoid. You will recall that even when I gave shocking formal evidence before the parliamentary human rights committee on UK complicity in torture, or when David Tennant played me in a BBC radio play of my life by David Hare, or when I presented the Sam Adams award to Julian Assange, I was not given a single UK broadcast interview about any of these pretty startling events. I have given literally hundreds of foreign TV interviews throughout this period.
I am convinced that there must be a formal mechanism behind this blacklisting. It is too complete, and kicks in so effectively every time I actually am invited. To edit me out of a lengthy feature on slavery in the Uzbek cotton industry, as Newsnight did, for example, is inexplicable otherwise.
This started in 2007. In 2005 and 2006 I made about 50 TV appearances on UK national television in each year. In the first half of 2007 I made over thirty. Since then, not one, but numerous invitations cancelled at the last minute. Now give me a credible alternative explanation to blacklisting.
“So how did anyone know that it was going to fall down before it did?”
Well, the Fire Department had declared the building unsafe and in danger of collapse an hour or so before. The BBC claims it had received news of this warning and, in the chaos of the day, this was erroneously reported as the actual collapse.
But yes, a better example of a controlled demolition you are unlikely to see.
I know all about the clip, and wasn’t expecting it to be shown on msm.
When you said you’s seen it on Ch4 news last night I was surprised, so that’s why I asked. There’s nothing stupid about that.
My point anyway is that pre-1987 it would have been shown and discussed on the BBC and certainly Ch4.
You only have to have seen the BBCs coverage of the Falklands war to know that.
@IanJackson – splendid effort. I fear FoI exempts “national security” matters, so Auntie may reply with a file containing “all information that relates to your FoI request” i.e. the communications, if any, that relate to a blacklisting, will be removed.
@Alfred – I disagree with your position on the monarchy, but find your suggestion that they should be beyond criticism very strange indeed. I am surprised at your position on Assange too. Stating as fact he is ‘an enemy of the state’ should be countered, of course, by a reminder that such a statement is not fact, it is an opinion. Just as my view is that he is an enemy of malfeasance and megalomania, which of course is a compliment.
On Wikileaks more generally, I am thrilled at the leaks, and am looking forward to the new ones. It is too early to say that this threatens the old model of elite control, but I reserve the tiniest glimmer of hope that it might be. My only concern is that Assange is sitting in the limelight rather too much, and that a variety of spokepeople for WL might be preferable. Assange sometimes becomes the story, rather than just a conduit.
Craig
As Dreolin mentioned, one reason you are persona non grata is that, on this blog, you accurately predicted that Chilcot would be a stitch-up.
The latest Wikileaks data dump confirms your assessment of that inquiry-
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/11/30/brown-govt-pledged-to-foil-its-own-iraq-probe-for-us/
As far as the establishment is concerned, you are a fully paid up member of the awkward squad, and you therefore have to be smeared every so often as a ‘conspiracy theorist’, and denied a platform from which to disseminate your views to a wider audience. (In that sense, ‘conspiracy theorist’ has become the C21 version of ‘racist’- it is the designation which puts its holder beyond the pale of ‘legitimate debate’).
Once you have been declared beyond the pale of ‘legitimate debate’ , it is very hard to claw your way back onto the stage- but best wishes to you in your efforts anyway.
Jon,
” but find your suggestion that [the Royal Family] should be beyond criticism very strange indeed.”
I don’t assert that the Royal Family is or should be beyond criticism, only that they should not be insulted. To insult someone because they are a member of the royal family is either bigotry or ill-mannered republicanism. The end result of republicanism, ill-mannered or otherwise, is David Cameron living at the Palace, David Cameron as Head of the Armed forces and David Cameron as Head of the Church of England. That would constitute a very dangerous accumulation of symbolic power in the hands of a politician who already, in my view, has too much power.
To advocate otherwise suggests ignorance of Britain’s constitutional history and of why Britain avoided a bloody revolution along the lines of the French, Russian and Mexican revolutions.
Re: Assange
” I am surprised at your position on Assange too. Stating as fact he is ‘an enemy of the state’ should be countered”
You misquote me.
What I said was that Craig was “holding [Assange] to be a hero rather than an enemy of the state (both views absurd of course).”
Actually, both views are not necessarily absurd. Perhaps Assange is an agent of Cass Sunstein’s Agency of Cognitive Infiltration, in which case he is an agent of a friendly state. Otherwise, I should think he is about to be assassinated.
As strange as it may seem around 10-12 years ago when we were all pretty innocent, I and a few fellow conspirators were actually invited to a TV Studio to do a live interview…
I responded you must be fucking joking, I’m not having some tart paint my face.
Tony
So boring he had to say it again. (From the P Andrew piece)
@CC:
“Your rabid defence of the monarchy is actually kind of cute”
Do try to use your intelligence, girl. I explained the function of the constitutional monarchy and is origins. What was rabid about that. Nothing, obviously.
It is those who seek to destroy the constition of the country and put David Cameron in Buckingham Palace, make David Cameron head of the Armed Forces and make David Cameron head of the Church of England, who are rabid.
@Somebody:
“He seems to possess no recognition of the royals’ part in the promotion of the evil wars carried out by the coalition of the willing. The flag, the medals, the anthem, the trumpets ”
You’re a bit confused, young fella. The royals promote nothing of their own volition. You’d soon be yelping if the Queen started to dictate national policy, to demand war or peace contrary to the dictates of the elected government. Or would you rather see everyone in the military, the police and in every other hierarchy on which the nation depends act just as they see fit? It’s call anarchy.
Posted by: Alfred at December 1, 2010 5:00 PM
Note the patronizing forms of address. Why does he make assumptions as to Cheeba Cow’s and my sex and age?
I notice that the second in line heir to the throne is fawning round the FIFA crooks in Zurich who have Blatter to keep the lid on their corruption. Anyone see the Monday Panorama?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11869322
@Somebody
“So boring he had to say it again. (From the P Andrew piece)”
So boring you had to repeat yourself.
“Note the patronizing forms of address. Why does he make assumptions as to Cheeba Cow’s and my sex and age?”
Since were cows not female?
And since when were people of my age so ill-informed as you are. LOL.
Fuck Me. I don’t know why I have voluntarily largely banned myself from Craig Murray’s website for over 6 months…
You lot are even more insane than me.
Its just that, I thought I was wasting Craig’s time
He has got far better things to do than spend his time deleting the crap I write when I have had too much to drink
You see Craig’s innocence and courage is beyond reproach.
I have read his book.
Tony
Typical self-aggrandising from Alfred. He disapproves of anyone insulting the precious Royal Family but thinks he can swagger around here and insult anyone he likes.
Admit it, Alfred, you’re only here to amuse yourself. A bit like Larry.
You see, now it is even more important that us ordinary people who live outside of America, do our best to make REAL FRIENDS with ordinary Americans who are Fighting For Their Very Survival – Not Just By Donating a Few Quid, Euros or Dollars to
http://feedingamerica.org/
But actually phoning our American Friends up
And Writing NICE Things on Their Blogs and Websites and Stuff
You see – They are Trying To Cut Off – Official Diplomatic Contact
So We Have To Replace These Official Diplomats
And Make Friends With Real Americans Ourselves
Most of Them are Really Nice If You Give Them a Chance to Say What They Think
They are Just Amazed That You Feel The Same Way
Tony
Dreoilin,
I simply answered in kind. Cheeba Cow called me rabid. So I call her “girl”. you think that an unreasonable response?
Somebody, calling themselves “Somebody” ridiculed my position on the monarchy in a way that was both silly, unwarranted by any evidence, and insulting. Very much along the lines of Craig’s repeated, unwitty and unjustified attacks on members of the royal family. So I respond to him as “Young fella” assuming he didn’t know much and couldn’t therefore be held much to blame for his ignorance.
Do you really think that was unreasonable?
What is interesting to me, however, is that neither you, nor CC nor “Somebody” will address the arguments I made. I assume that is why you have resorted to personalities.
Your comparison with Larry is odious and unjustified. Larry never offers an argument. But maybe you don’t come here to exchange ideas. Just to hear your anti-British prejudices aired.
This fine Scottish MSP thinks that P Andrew should get sacked.
Defending corruption for sake of profit should get Prince Andrew fired
Wednesday, 01 December 2010
Dr Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) has called on the UK Government to investigate the WikiLeaks allegation that the UK’s special representative for trade and investment, Prince Andrew, railed against investigation of BAE’s corrupt Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia and, if it is found to be true, to cease to use the Prince in this role.
Speaking after lodging a motion on the subject, Dr Wilson said, “There appears to a culture in certain spheres of business, such as arms-dealing and the extractive industries, that anything that makes a short-term profit is acceptable, no matter what the negative consequences for people and the environment might be.
/….
http://www.billwilsonmsp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1042&Itemid=1
He also thinks we should get out of Afghanistan.
During a Member’s Debate in the Scottish Parliament on the topic “Nine Years of Conflict in Afghanistan”, Dr Wilson said that the countries occupying Afghanistan now are making the same arguments to justify their actions as the Soviets did when they invaded Afghanistan at the end of the 80s.
He asked, “Moving past UK and US or Soviet propaganda, why have we invaded Afghanistan?”
/…
http://www.billwilsonmsp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1043&Itemid=1
This thread concerns blacklisting in the media and the effective public marginalisation of whistleblowers.
Frankly, I do not give a toss what Andrew of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha might or might not have enunciated, ingested, secreted or excreted. That is another fatuous opera generated largely to obscure and to re-direct public attention from the ‘real deal’ in which the UK state is deeply implicated: arms, blood, corruption, billions, ongoing systemic corporate war.
Good links, Somebody.
A guy who publically denounces Zionism as “bullshit” one day and expects to get on the BBC the next is even more naive than I thought!
They’ve got you down as an anti-Zionist,mate. You’re on Rothschild’s blacklist!
Even Nick Griffin only got on Question Time when he started expressing the view that the BNP endorsed Israel’s right to “defend itself against” ( read obliterate ) its neighbours.
With Hollywood ditching the idea of filming Murder in Samarkand, Bradd and Angelina embarking on other projects and now this BBC rebuff-2010 has not been a good year!
Don’t forget your signing day at Ramsgate Jobcentre!
LOL!
@Somebody
Re: the UK’s special representative for trade and investment,Prince Andrew, railed against investigation of BAE’s corrupt Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia and, if it is found to be true, to cease to use the Prince in this role.
Having Prince Andrew or any member of the royal family connected with British arms deals seems likely to damage the credibility of the Royal family, since to do the job expected of them, they would have to rail against investigation of corruption, without which most if not all such deals could not be sealed.
So Dr. Wilson’s recommendation that Prince Andrew be dropped as the UK’s special representative for trade and investment is wise.
And surely there are slicker and trickier sales people for British arms than Prince Andrew.
One might have hoped that Dr. Wilson had urged the British Government to outlaw bribery in the arms trade and apply the law effectively, but that is too much to expect, I suppose.
According to this website, every job in the arms export industry is subsidized to the extent of 9,000 pounds per year, which suggests that outlawing bribery, insofar as it reduced exports, would benefit the treasury.
http://www.caat.org.uk/issues/jobs/jobs_overview.php
Craig Murray,
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
I have absolutely no idea whilst we have got the next Olympics in 2012 – Shit – Thats almost next year and EVERYTHING Will Be Ready On Time – and It Will Be The Best Olympics Ever…
We actually are quite Warm and Friendly Really…
We are Also Going For The 2018 World Cup (Thats Soccer To You Americans)
But The Funny Thing Is That The BBC of all organisations have VERY Seriously Attacked Corruption in FIFA…
They Must Be Trying To Win Back a Bit of Respect…
But sure we can do The 2018 WORLD CUP as Well No Problem
ENGLAND is The BEST Country In The World
We are Actually PROUD Of How Nice We Are
http://www.england2018bid.com/
Tony
Alfred, at 951pm, exactly my thoughts wrt what ought really (to extrapolate) to have been condemned in relation to corruption arms dealing, etc. Of course, the monarchy has been an oilaceous part of that killing industry for a long time – they serve as the ‘front-men/women’. So it is right that the whole be condemned. As you correctly say, the arms trade is subsidised to an enormous degree by the taxpayer.
Of course, ex-King Constantine of Greece was famed for his sales skills.
Shouldn’t the banner for this thread read “SHILL FOR BLACKLISTING” ?
Tony,
I have enjoyed your coherent posts and you are right when you say something strange is going on. Interestingly Assange said,
“All of them are taking note of what the United States’ attitude is, which is, instead of immediately saying these relevations are a serious concern, we never wanted to harm Afghan civilians or to bribe the media, as an example of one of the revelations in there, and we intend to launch an immediate investigation to understand this and compensate those people accordingly and change our procedures?”that’s what the rest of the world wants to hear. That’s what Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan want to hear. But instead they heard a personal attack on me and on our organization and an announcement that they would be going after the whistleblower or whistleblowers involved in this. And now we see them living up to those words and stalking around Boston, spying and harassing MIT graduates, and trunking around the United Kingdom, where they raided Manning, the alleged whistleblower, for a video release called ‘Collateral Murder’.”
I do not condemn Assange, personally I think he has been manipulated. From my point of view and from what I know from painful research and a big helping of insight from Robin Cook, (PBUH) is that we are trying to kill our way to victory in Afghanistan and British/American special forces are moving the eastern front into Pakistan attempting to locate and neutralize Pakistan’s nuclear storage sites (apologies) before an Israeli attempt at striking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure while escalating the ongoing attempt to murder it’s top nuclear scientists engaged in uranium enrichment and deuterium-tritium fusion neutron technology.
Sh*t. I did a post and the damn thing swallowed it.
Alfred sez,
“But maybe you don’t come here to exchange ideas. Just to hear your anti-British prejudices aired.”
Dying to stir it up aren’t you, Alfred? More of the same. But you’re barking up the wrong tree, mate. If you think you’ve seen any anti-British sentiment from me, please do quote it. I’m sure my English family members will be intrigued.
CheebaCow didn’t call you rabid, but made reference to your “rabid defence” which is rather different. I don’t know what all the fuss is about the royal family anyway. Or why nobody is allowed to insult any of them. They live a life of luxury out of the state purse, a life of privilege they acquire purely by virtue of birth, and I know many (in the UK) who would be quite happy to see the back of them.
I said you were “a bit like Larry” because I believe you come here strictly for your own amusement, and if you have another motive, maybe you’d tell us.
“Having Prince Andrew or any member of the royal family connected with British arms deals seems likely to damage the credibility of the Royal family”
and damage Britain’s credibility, which is more important.
I have come to the conclusion
That yes it was a great deal of fun
Sitting in front of a computer screen all day
So how come I have not posted my stuff here….
You see I joined Facebook a few weeks ago,,,
And he looked a bit younger than me
And his wife looked absolutely fucking georgeous…
what with her blonde hair, slim figure, blue sarong – a bit hippy…
on an island in the middle of the fucking south pacific
…Yeh I thought…
But I didn’t publish what I recorded in High Definition
UNDERWATER
With My Kids and Their Angel Mum Who Had Only Done Sky Diving Before
with her blonde hair, slim figure, blue sarong – a bit hippy…
After a few lessons with My Boss (who just happenned to be a Diving Instructor) in England
We Just went straight down and did it in Paradise
Bubbles everywhere but sharing your air with your diving buddy is actually quite sexy when you are learning to do it in the Maldives
Do you know what it is like underwater – just being a FISH ?
Tony
Meanwhile, if Craig is being blacklisted in the UK, are there other channels like Al Jazeera to which he could “send his business card”? Maybe he already has done. Within limits, any channel has to be better than no channel.
Apparently one of the Wikileaks cables that originated in Ireland was reported on today, and it appears that the Irish Government was more interested in placating the US over Shannon than responding to the Irish people’s concerns about rendition. Plus
Hey Alfred, do you have an Enlish cousin who flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain? I do.
G’night now
Mark,
Please Excuse Me, I skipped up to see what people might be saying about what I had written, and
I thought it was dreoilin telling me off.
I don’t mind anyone else who posts here telling me off for not being coherent…
But I am doing my best to convert the thoughts of my origins which are of a Kind of West, North and French Country Celtic Origin
Into ENGLISH
I sincerely hope dreoilin understands because she is by far the nicest person who writes her words here
Doing Video is Much More Difficult – But Even More Fun
Tony
Big hugs, Tony. I really should be in bed. Gone now.
dreoilin,
How did you do the spitfire thing?
When we meet, I am going to ask you
Did you actually read what I wrote last night on I think was one of The Telegraph’s blogs – I can’t remember who’s blog it was – and there were over 500 comments
And I wrote just one thing
I wrote….
Haven’t we got a couple of old second hand Spitfires that we can Give To The Irish?
Surely you didn’t read that
And today you say
“Hey Alfred, do you have an Enlish cousin who flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain? I do.
G’night now
I am not making any of this up – and she is like an excited angel because it is snowing so much – and so is my son
He likes ski-ing but ain’t that keen on 15 hours in a bus
He thinks God has visited ENGLAND
And God is a SNOWMAN
I Just Think Its Fucking Cold and I Might Have To Brew My Own Beer AGAIN
Tony
“Hey Alfred, do you have an Enlish cousin who flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain?”
My Dad was an RAF pilot during WW2, though he didn’t fly Spitfires.