Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 1, 2010 17:02:49 GMT
This story both shows the anti-Tory agenda of the BBC, as well as the lack of quality in the stories they choose to report.
Scrounger ‘cons’ BBC viewers
By DAN SALES
A JOBLESS 22-year-old portrayed by the BBC as a helpless victim of benefits cuts has admitted he REFUSES to work - because he is better off on the dole.
James Van-Cliff told the BBC he faced eviction from his council flat and a life on the streets because David Cameron's housing benefit reforms will leave him unable to pay his rent and bills.
But now Van-Cliff, who told the BBC he "worked his butt off" to get the flat, has admitted he quit his last job because the £93 weekly pay was not good enough.
And he insisted he will not accept a new one or go on job training courses.
He said: "I'm better off on benefits to tell the truth. I'm not going to work on minimum wage for sh*t money. That won't keep me going."
Art school dropout Van-Cliff confessed when The Sun visited him at his £9-a-week flat, where he and jobless girlfriend Charlotte, 18, were idling away the hours by chain-smoking and watching daytime TV.
On Thursday the BBC's News at Ten painted a very different picture of Van-Cliff - as a hard-working individual whose desperate attempt to get back on his feet was being scuppered by an uncaring coalition government.
As viewers watched a miserable Van-Cliff doing the washing-up, deputy political editor James Landale claimed the cuts would reduce his benefits by £9 a week - half his food bill.
The report failed to reveal Van-Cliff walked out of his job as an office cleaner more than a year ago.
He has not had a job since and has worked only four months since leaving school.
He gets a Jobseeker's Allowance of about £51 a week and has applied for £93 a month housing benefit for the flat in East London's Bethnal Green, which he moved into days before the BBC report.
The BBC was last night accused of misleading the public. The TaxPayers' Alliance's Matthew Sinclair said: "I think this is an example of the BBC looking too hard for a story that isn't there."
Vivianne Patterson, of Mediawatch, said: "If the BBC is misrepresenting things it would be unfortunate."
Conservative MP Philip Davies said the report was proof of the BBC's anti-Tory bias. He added: "This is typical BBC, trying to pursue their own anti-Government agenda."
By DAN SALES
A JOBLESS 22-year-old portrayed by the BBC as a helpless victim of benefits cuts has admitted he REFUSES to work - because he is better off on the dole.
James Van-Cliff told the BBC he faced eviction from his council flat and a life on the streets because David Cameron's housing benefit reforms will leave him unable to pay his rent and bills.
But now Van-Cliff, who told the BBC he "worked his butt off" to get the flat, has admitted he quit his last job because the £93 weekly pay was not good enough.
And he insisted he will not accept a new one or go on job training courses.
He said: "I'm better off on benefits to tell the truth. I'm not going to work on minimum wage for sh*t money. That won't keep me going."
Art school dropout Van-Cliff confessed when The Sun visited him at his £9-a-week flat, where he and jobless girlfriend Charlotte, 18, were idling away the hours by chain-smoking and watching daytime TV.
On Thursday the BBC's News at Ten painted a very different picture of Van-Cliff - as a hard-working individual whose desperate attempt to get back on his feet was being scuppered by an uncaring coalition government.
As viewers watched a miserable Van-Cliff doing the washing-up, deputy political editor James Landale claimed the cuts would reduce his benefits by £9 a week - half his food bill.
The report failed to reveal Van-Cliff walked out of his job as an office cleaner more than a year ago.
He has not had a job since and has worked only four months since leaving school.
He gets a Jobseeker's Allowance of about £51 a week and has applied for £93 a month housing benefit for the flat in East London's Bethnal Green, which he moved into days before the BBC report.
The BBC was last night accused of misleading the public. The TaxPayers' Alliance's Matthew Sinclair said: "I think this is an example of the BBC looking too hard for a story that isn't there."
Vivianne Patterson, of Mediawatch, said: "If the BBC is misrepresenting things it would be unfortunate."
Conservative MP Philip Davies said the report was proof of the BBC's anti-Tory bias. He added: "This is typical BBC, trying to pursue their own anti-Government agenda."