Jeremy Vine. Channel 5. 14th June, 2021.
A lesson in bias …
I follow Beverley Turner – writer, broadcaster and one heck of a courageous lady – on Instagram. Highly intelligent, honest and very much her own person, my admiration for her never ceases to increase. Realising, very quickly – at the onset of this psychological warfare – that she was a voice to be trusted, crucially, she has become my kindred spirit and vital to my strength. I know, from her hundreds/thousands of messages of support and thanks, that I am not alone. I repeat, her intelligence shines and her words and opinions reflect her research and the facts gleaned. No shouting, no anger. Instead, she presents her arguments confidently, secure in their validity. Over the past year and a half, I have watched her struggle to be heard in the face of the media bias; the party line which is non-negotiable – ‘arm out to infuse’. (Ode to COVID) Vaccine or die! What happened to the right to choose?
Programmed to receive, increasingly, the presenters of This Morning threatened to self-combust in the face of Bev’s arguments – contrary to the script they are paid to promote – and one could only surmise the editor’s comments in their earpieces. No more. Apparently, the producers of said programme have been issued with the instruction not to book her for any further slots as guest news reviewer. Embarrassing. So telling. Whatever happened to the balanced debate? Only those with something to hide – or who are not confident in their argument – shy away from open discussion.
It had been some time since Bev was a guest on Jeremy Vine. Her last appearance – virtual – was alongside Dr Sarah Jarvis, of course, though I forget the other guest. Suffice to say, Jeremy is sycophantic in the extreme, when it comes to the absent GP who, clearly, puts her television appearances before her patients and, together, I have witnessed them deride Bev on many an occasion. It seems she could never win, let alone speak without interruption. I became increasingly irritated as my opinion of Jeremy Vine sank.
Checking Instagram this morning, I watched Bev’s latest story as, battered and bruised – and holding back the tears – she spoke of her appearance on said show. My heart went out to her as, clearly, wounded, she questioned why she, alone, was subjecting herself to such treatment. Who could blame her? A lone voice thrown to the wolves. Could it be any worse than before? Surely not. I had missed it, live, but I caught it on catch-up. It was difficult to watch …
I thought long and hard about how best I could describe the behaviour I witnessed – and why I was so affected by it. Just another morning programme debating the topics of the day. Of course, that is the format; that was the intention. However, more recently, I have noticed a marked difference in the tone of these supposed debates. No longer a mere sharing of views, this is about domination; forcing one’s opinion on others, or else. This is COVID. There is only one topic. There is a party line. There is no balanced debate!
It dawned on me that this particular episode of Jeremy Vine represented a microcosm of human interaction, widespread, today; the best and the very worst, reflecting the aftermath of captivity, isolation and incessant scaremongering. People are angry. People are frustrated. People are scared. Everyone is. However, while the majority may choose to bury their heads and comply without question – it’s just easier – there are those who choose to question, research and make up their own minds. In the words of Rudyard Kipling in The Ballad of East and West, ‘never the twain shall meet’ – or should!
Hats off to the government and the media, together in the relentless vaccine drive. The rehearsed script, agreed rhetoric, celebrity rollout and ‘amazing scientific minds’ before whom we should all bow. Or should we? The answer is only time will tell for, what most cannot be bothered to do, is question. Question the fact that this vaccine was developed in ten months; question how long it normally takes to develop a vaccine ensuring it is sufficiently tested allowing for the relevant data regarding both short and long-term effects; moreover, question the vaccine itself. The Pfizer and Moderna are what’s called messenger RNA vaccines (mRNA). This is new technology whereby they teach our cells how to make a protein – or piece of protein – which, then, triggers an immune response in our bodies. Quite! This is not so of the Oxford AstraZeneca which, apparently, uses the harmless weakened version of a virus which causes a common cold in chimpanzees …
I digress in a bid to impart the division: those prone to blind acceptance and those who choose to see. Yesterday, the two came together on Jeremy Vine except, in hindsight, of course it was a set-up. Like the BBC – and all the terrestrial channels in this country – Channel 5 must follow the party line and adhere to the government. Already banned from This Morning, accused of being too controversial, Beverley Turner accepted an invitation to appear on the Channel 5 show, with courage, for she knew she would be shouted down and derided for her stance on the vaccine, now green-lighted for children over the age of 12. She believed it was worth it, representing the voice of thousands like her who are without such a platform. Turns out, however, the vicious just got more vicious!
Angela Epstein (journalist) and Emma Dabiri (writer) were the two guests on the panel. Bev was making a virtual appearance from home. I recognised Angela Epstein immediately, the epitome of the aggressive, chip-laden woman one would hate to meet in the Ladies! It was going to be bad. The question up for debate: Are vaccine refusers letting the country down? Classic! Of course, Jeremy went straight to Bev who described the notion as ‘absolutely ridiculous!’. Cue the Mancunian devil who, immediately, made it personal by directing her accusations at Bev while describing those who chose not to have the vaccine as ‘selfish, morally repugnant, irresponsible people who are enjoying their freedom because the rest of us have been vaccinated.’ Don’t mince your words, Angela! Next, Emma Dabiri – who, strangely, had her own pronunciation of COVID – who waded in with ‘deeply selfish’ and ‘anti-human’! A mere taster of things to come …
As Bev, calmly and eloquently, tried to put forward – and justify – her argument, not only did Angela Epstein put her hands in her ears while uttering the words, ‘la, la, la’, twice, but she, also, pointed at her repeatedly. The following are a few of her other choice insults: ‘Can we take the Duracell batteries out?’, ‘I don’t have a PhD in patronising other people for their views’ (well, no, you attack them!), ‘Do your basic medical homework!’ and, the most heinous of all, ‘we need a vaccine to keep her quiet’! The definition of a low-life! From whence comes the aggression? Completely unacceptable, Jeremy did nothing. In fact, most of the time he provided a chorus for the harpies when not tee-ing up the next attack. Thus, he directed Emma to tell Bev how her father died of COVID! The fact that she admitted that he had underlying health issues …
As the attacks became more intense, Bev held her ground, secure in both her research and argument – and she knocked them all out of the park when she was told that COVID kills but there is no evidence that the vaccine does the same. Really? She asked when was the last time any of them had looked at the Yellow Card stats – the government website which reports on adverse reactions to the vaccine, including fatalities. No response. Complete blank. No surprise there, then! However, following the break, Jeremy made a sneering remark about nobody being able to find Bev’s figures. Interesting. I can. In fact, up to the 2nd June, 1,295 deaths have now been reported within 28 days of vaccination and that is in the belief that only 10% of adverse reactions are being reported. Jeremy’s retort? Death caused by the vaccine is not recorded on any certificate and, therefore, Bev’s figure – taken from the government website – was anecdotal! What, then, of all the manipulated figures arising from COVID being put down on every death certificate, regardless? I, myself, listened to two guys, separately, tell of their fight to have COVID removed from the death certificate of their loved ones who, most definitely, did not die from it!
There came the argument that the stats for deaths within 28 days of vaccination could not be verified as vaccine fatalities. Excellent. Gift for Bev who came back with the obvious: how can one accept COVID as being the cause of death within 28 days of a positive result and not accept the vaccine as the cause of death within 28 days of vaccination?
Intelligence, logic gained no ground when outnumbered by those determined to make it personal. The icing on the cake came when a caller – a former NHS worker – spoke out in support of Bev, accusing the other panellists of hypocrisy and laughing at her – and that they most certainly did. However, when she asked if she could put a question to Angela, Jeremy immediately said ‘Let’s leave it there’ and the caller was no more. No further questions. Bev was dismissed without Jeremy even turning his head in acknowledgement. Instructions from above. I have a reference number for my subsequent complaint to Ofcom …
A microcosm of human interaction today borne of the psychological indoctrination courtesy of the pandemic? As I said, the anger, frustration and fear are manifest in aggression, bullying, intolerance and division, all in evidence on this programme. Bev Turner’s treatment was shameful. It seems the damage of the past eighteen months goes far beyond statistics …
‘Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.’
Winston Churchill
This is Trish, signing off.
p.s. Apologies to This Morning. Since posting this, I have learned that Beverley Turner is to be a guest news reviewer on the programme today (16th June). A case of never believing what one reads in the papers or bowing to pressure? You decide …
