Weldon, Duncan - EX TUC hired as Economics Correspondent

[Teddy Bear]

The BBC’s Newsnight programme announced on Friday that it had appointed Duncan Weldon, as the programme’s Economics Correspondent.

Mr Weldon was until recently the senior economist at the Trades Union Congress. He also used to work for Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader and wrote a blog.
The announcement was made on Twitter, the social media networking site, by Ian Katz, the programme’s editor and a former deputy editor of The Guardian.

Mr Katz described Mr Weldon as “one of most exciting and original economic thinkers around”. Mr Weldon replied: “A huge thank you to everyone for their congratulations. I'm pretty excited & looking forward to getting started.”

For the BBC he's “one of most exciting and original economic thinkers around”. Rather than see Tory MP's flailing their arms at this appointment, I hope they'll privatise the BBC and have Weldon advise the BBC how to stay afloat. That would be perfect.

Bias row over appointment of union official as BBC Newsnight Economics Correspondent
A new row about alleged BBC bias has broken out after one of the corporation’s flagship news programmes hired a TUC official to report on the economy.

Christopher Hope

The BBC’s Newsnight programme announced on Friday that it had appointed Duncan Weldon, as the programme’s Economics Correspondent.

Mr Weldon was until recently the senior economist at the Trades Union Congress. He also used to work for Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader and wrote a blog.
The announcement was made on Twitter, the social media networking site, by Ian Katz, the programme’s editor and a former deputy editor of The Guardian.

Mr Katz described Mr Weldon as “one of most exciting and original economic thinkers around”. Mr Weldon replied: “A huge thank you to everyone for their congratulations. I'm pretty excited & looking forward to getting started.”

But the Conservative party said it was outraged by the appointment which it sees as further evidence of Labour bias at the corporation.
Officials are still fuming after the corporation appointed James Purnell, a Labour Cabinet minister under Gordon Brown, as its director of strategy and digital last year.

One Tory source said: “Arthur Scargill or Len McCluskey would have been a more objective appointment. This is a ‘Grade A’ BBC stitch up.”
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has now lodged a formal complaint with James Harding, the corporation’s head of news.

He said: “Mr Weldon follows in a long line of Economics Correspondents who have had clear links either to the Labour Party or left-wing politics.
“Mr Weldon was, until recently the senior economist at the Trades Union Congress, an organisation which openly attacks this Government’s economic policies.
“Indeed much of Mr Weldon’s career thus far has been spent campaigning against the Conservative Party.”

He added: “It also raises real concerns about the recruitment policies at Newsnight. What are the selection criteria? Was this post advertised externally?
“What reassurances can you offer that Mr Weldon’s personal beliefs, and the cumulative output of his career so far, will not have an impact on the political neutrality of Newsnight’s broadcasts?”

A BBC spokesman said: "Duncan’s economic commentary is widely respected on all sides of the political spectrum as fair and intelligent. BBC journalists do not bring political views to work and Duncan will be no different.”
BBC sources also pointed out that Newsnight also employed Chris Cook, a former special adviser to Tory minister David Willetts who is now its policy editor, as well as Mark Williams, the programme's output editor.

[Teddy Bear]

Well well, it appears Weldon has been a supporter and admirer of Mosley's fascists earlier on in his life.
What's more interesting is how he refers to Mosley's group as far-right. In fact it's far-left, but it's a ploy often used by the likes of the BBC and left-wingers to distance themselves from the more evil connotations related to groups such as BUF, Nazis, BNP, etc.

The BBC actually confirmed this a few years ago when Digger, one of our posters here, complained about the use of right-wing in this regard. Here's what the BBC responded with:

The BNP was born out of the National Front - a "national" party, who like many parties purporting to represent the national interests of a particular country, claim themselves to be national socialists. NS is an extremely left wing form of political belief - Hitler's Nazi party were national socialists, and therefore technically left wing - but so left wing as to appear right wing in their extreme and racist views. The same can apply to the BNP.

Very devious, as we've come to expect.

'I was a fascist and admired Sir Oswald Mosely': Bizarre claims of new Newsnight reporter as he denies being a 'dangerous leftie'

• Duncan Weldon was adviser to Harriet Harman and worked for TUC
• BBC man supported Fascist leader after reading biography of him
• Tories claim appointment is evidence of BBC's anti-Conservative bias
• Wrote article for university newspaper explaining his right-wing views

By Daniel Martin

The BBC’s controversial new signing as Newsnight economics correspondent yesterday denied he was a ‘dangerous leftie’ – and revealed he once supported the leader of the British Union of Fascists Sir Oswald Mosley.

Duncan Weldon, a former adviser to Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, and economist at the TUC, was given the plum job earlier this week despite having little experience as a journalist.

Senior Tories were furious, saying that the appointment was proof that the corporation is becoming increasingly biased against the Conservatives.

Yesterday, Mr Weldon hit back in a bizarre online article in which he said he spent more time as a banker than a Labour adviser, and admits having had some sympathy when he was a teenager for Mosley.

After the year-long flirtation with the far right ended, he joined the Labour Party at the age of 18.

He wrote on his blog that it had been a ‘weird few days’ since his appointment was announced.

‘Given my current role at the TUC and brief stint as a Labour adviser, I fully expected my appointment to raise a few eyebrows,’ he said.

‘Even so I wasn’t quite prepared for the howls of outrage from some quarters.

‘Never mind that I have spent more of my career working in the apolitical worlds of the Bank of England and fund management than working for Labour or the unions, or that several right-wing economists and commentators familiar with my work warmly welcomed my appointment, or that I have frequently been critical of Labour’s economic policy.

Mr Weldon, a former adviser to Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, and economist at the TUC, was given the plum Newsnight job earlier this week despite having little experience as a journalist

‘None of that seemed relevant to those who saw me as a dangerous leftie corrupting the BBC’s coverage of economics.’

He said he had come clean about his involvement with the far right - during what he called the ‘hormone-charged mists of adolescence’ - following an approach from a Sunday newspaper.

He said he had had a ‘brief and misguided flirtation’ with the ideas of the far right after reading a biography of Mosley by Robert Sidelsky, whom he said had ‘seemed to grasp the need to tackle unemployment where other politicians did not’.

He said he never attended any far right meetings and had joined Labour by the time he was 18.

A year later, he wrote a piece about his involvement with the far right for a student paper in Oxford, which appeared under the headline: ‘I was a fascist’.

The first paragraph of the piece said: ‘Like a lot of bad things this started with the Tory party.’

He said in his blog that the wording made him ‘wince’, adding: ‘I suspect I may be reminded of that line a few times in the coming months.’

Mr Weldon concluded: ‘Reflecting on the last week, it’s hard to escape the irony that I have been accused of being a dangerous leftie and also a fascist within 48 hours. I hope I’m neither.

‘I think I’ve got a long track record – from the Bank of England to the TUC – of examining the economic facts and letting the chips fall where they may.

‘The BBC is full of journalists from a wide range of backgrounds who left their political baggage at the door the day they started work. I’m confident that once in the job I’ll be able to do just that.’

WHO WAS SIR OSWALD MOSLEY, LEADER OF BRITISH UNION OF FASCISTS?

Before he founded the British Union of Fascists, Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley was the MP for Harrow from 1918 to 1924 being elected for the Conservatives before becoming independent and then joining the Labour Party.

He served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Ramsay Macdonald’s Labour administration.

He resigned from the government in protest at their unemployment policies, which he had tried to reform but found himself blocked by the party hierarchy.

He formed the New Party which amalgamated with the BUF in 1932. Mosley allied himself with Nazi Germany.

In October 1936, Mosley and his supporters decided to march through Cable Street in the East End, the home of a thriving Jewish community, to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the founding of the party.

By 1pm on the day, around 2,000 of Mosley’s black shirts had gathered around Cable Street while around 500 Jews and anti-fascists congregated at Gardiner’s Corner.

They ran to Cable Street where they armed themselves with sticks and formed a barricade by overturning a lorry. At 3.30pm, Cable Street was the scene of some of the worse street fighting seen in England and Mosley’s Bentley drove into Dock Street where it was pelted with bricks.

Mosley’s supporters began chanting his name while the anti-fascists retaliated with the Internationale. Mosley then gave a Hitler salute and was advised by the police to drive back through the City of London rather than press ahead. Mosley gave a brief speech in which he accused the government of surrendering to “red violence and Jewish corruption”. At 4pm, the remaining fascists dispersed allowing the local to claim victory.

Mosley was interned in 1940 and the BUF proscribed. He was released in 1943, and, politically disillusioned in Britain, he moved abroad in 1951, spending most of the remainder of his life in France. He died in 1980.

[Teddy Bear]

More about Weldon's involvement with the BNP.

Newsnight reporter faces call to quit over secret links to BNP: Controversial Left-winger tried to cover up role in racist demonstrations

• Economics reporter Duncan Weldon was part of BNP campaign in 2000
• The campaign was organised by self-confessed racist Kevin Scott
• Scaremongering included claims of refugees being 'shipped' to Newcastle
• Admitted his affiliation to the party in an article at Oxford university

By Glen Owen

A BBC journalist faced calls for his sacking last night for attempting to cover up the extent of his involvement with the far-Right British National Party.

Duncan Weldon, the controversial new economics correspondent for Newsnight, took part in a racist leafleting campaign in 2000 which made scaremongering claims about refugees being ‘shipped’ to Newcastle.

The leaflets alleged that a London council planned to move 16,000 asylum seekers to the area, saying the ‘shipping’ of refugees would ‘change the ethnic make-up of the area’, lead to ‘whites living in fear’ and cause Newcastle to become ‘riot-torn’.

The campaign was organised by Kevin Scott, a self-confessed racist with a conviction for assault who used the slogan Rights For Whites.

BNP leader Nick Griffin was later forced to apologise for the leaflets, but Mr Scott refused, saying: ‘I think the multi-racialists should apologise to the people of Newcastle .  .  . for trying to impose a multi-racial society on them against their democratically expressed wishes.’

Mr Weldon – already embroiled in a row over his suitability for Newsnight because of his Labour Party affiliations and lack of journalistic experience – posted a blog online this weekend to try to play down his part in the BNP’s campaign.

Writing after being asked about his BNP links by The Mail on Sunday, he said he had spent ‘a year or so’ when he was a school sixth-former ‘flirting’ with the far-Right, but insisted: ‘During that time I never joined any political organisation or attended any meeting, but read ravenously.’

However, in an article he wrote in 2002 as an Oxford student under the false name Sam Healey, he admitted being involved in a number of BNP events, including one demonstration that descended into a violent encounter with the police.

At one event, he handed out the ‘decidedly racist’ leaflets, while the other event was a demonstration of ‘about 200 members’ which saw police ‘holding people back’. He added: ‘I don’t know if my parents ever suspected, but most of my friends at home knew. They were incredibly relieved when I stopped attending meetings.’

Last night Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who wrote to Newsnight editor Ian Katz questioning Mr Weldon’s suitability, said: ‘Given the revelations about his secret BNP past, it is clear Mr Weldon is unsuitable for a position in our national broadcaster.’

A BBC spokesman said last night that Mr Weldon ‘is a highly respected professional who has assured us he has not been a member of the BNP’.

[Teddy Bear]

Newsnight editor Ian Katz has defended his decision to hire Weldon.
Mr Katz said Mr Weldon’s ‘specialist expertise’ in economics was more important than his training as a reporter.

He said: ‘Duncan was one of several candidates we considered who came from an economics rather than a conventional journalistic background…we believed a deep knowledge of economics was more important than journalistic experience for this role.’

He added: ‘It will certainly not be the first time that an individual’s communications skills and specialist expertise have made him or her the right choice despite a comparative lack of formal journalistic experience.’

'Communication skills'? 'Specialist expertise'?

More like Last week, the Mail revealed he has penned hundreds of left-wing articles on his economics blog in which he consistently attacks Conservative economic policy.
That'll do it.

Newsnight boss defends top job for left-winger who has never worked as a journalist before saying he was 'most suitable candidate'

• Ian Katz has defended appointment of Duncan Weldon as economics editor
• He said Mr Weldon got the job because he was 'the best candidate'
• However Mr Weldon has never worked as a journalist before
• He is also prominent left-wing blogger and associated with the BNP
• Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said Mr Weldon's position was becoming 'untenable'

By Alasdair Glennie

Newsnight editor Ian Katz has defended his controversial new economics correspondent, insisting he was the ‘most suitable candidate’ for the job.

Duncan Weldon, who starts work with the flagship BBC show next month, has come under fire for his strong links to the Left and the trade unions movement, as well as a youthful flirtation with the far Right.

Others have questioned why he was preferred over more experienced candidates, given he has never worked as a journalist before.

But in a letter Tory MP Andrew Bridgen - who had raised concerns about the appointment - Mr Katz said Mr Weldon’s ‘specialist expertise’ in economics was more important than his training as a reporter.

He said: ‘Duncan was one of several candidates we considered who came from an economics rather than a conventional journalistic background…we believed a deep knowledge of economics was more important than journalistic experience for this role.’

He added: ‘It will certainly not be the first time that an individual’s communications skills and specialist expertise have made him or her the right choice despite a comparative lack of formal journalistic experience.’

Mr Weldon’s previous jobs include a stint as an adviser to Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman and time as an economist at the TUC.

Last week, the Mail revealed he has penned hundreds of left-wing articles on his economics blog in which he consistently attacks Conservative economic policy.

But Mr Katz – who is the former deputy editor of The Guardian – rejected concerns his political affiliations could affect his impartiality, saying: ‘It is a fact that BBC journalists are required to put any personal views to one side when employed by the Corporation’.

He even described Mr Weldon’s blog as being ‘highly respected’, despite the concerns over its partisan content, and said it was considered to be ‘relevant experience’ when he was considered for the job.

Last night, Mr Bridgen said Mr Katz’ letter failed to address his concerns about the appointment as he did not explain how many other candidates had been interviewed for the post.

He said: ‘There has been no transparency in this process and there are still more questions than answers.

‘Mr Weldon’s position is becoming increasingly untenable given he has admitted supporting the BNP in the past, and more recently has had strong ties to the left.

‘It is difficult to believe that someone with such strong beliefs is going to be impartial when he is conducting interviews on Newsnight.

‘How long is Ian Katz going to carry on defending him?’

In a recent blog post Mr Weldon admitted he had a ‘misguided flirtation with the ideas of the far Right’ when he was a teenager.

He was also accused of taking part in a ‘racist’ BNP leafleting campaign before he rejected right-wing politics and joined the Labour party.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘We are not going to comment on political affiliations of people in their teenage years whatever they may have been.’