And now it is Sir David Attenborough's turn!

A well-known member of the "left-wing liberal wokerati" that the culture war populists mock and try to silence is now the latest to suffer censorship by the BBC.

Yes, after Gary Lineker, there is another target .... Sir David Attenborough!

The recent appalling and unjustified suspension of Gary Lineker by the BBC has been in the news for days .... see here.

Whilst I am a lover of football, I obviously appreciate that not everyone likes or cares about the game.

However, what everyone should be deeply concerned about is the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis with accelerating decreases and extinctions of wildlife populations, especially in the UK which is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

Sir David Attenborough's new landmark series "Wild Isles" started last night on the BBC .... see SS15 wildlife watching: I am really looking forward to this ....

Sadly, it appears that yet again the BBC has bowed to political pressure form the Conservative Party and its donors and supporters and decided that the episode regarding the destruction of nature will not appear on TV. Instead, this episode has been relegated to the BBC iPlayer.

It is thought that the BBC has decided not to broadcast this episode because of fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Conservative politicians and the right-wing media. The decision has angered the programme-makers and some insiders at the BBC who believe that the BBC has bowed to pressure from lobbying groups with “dinosaurian ways”. The BBC has strongly denied this is the case and has insisted the episode in question was never intended for broadcast.

The 6th episode of "Wild Isles" is understood to be a stark look at nature loss in the UK and what has caused the declines. It is also understood to include some examples of rewilding, an essential and successful policy initiative that has been controversial in some right-wing circles.

"Wild Isles" was part-funded by the nature charities WWF and RSPB. All six episodes were narrated by Sir David Attenborough and made by the production company Silverback Films which was responsible for previous series including Our Planet.

Senior sources at the BBC told The Guardian that the decision not to show the 6th episode was made to fend off potential critique from the political right. This week the Daily Telegraph newspaper attacked the BBC for creating the series and for taking funding from “two charities previously criticised for their political lobbying”, namely WWF and RSPB. 

One source at the BBC told The Guardian “lobbying groups that are desperately hanging on to their dinosaurian ways” such as the farming and game industry would “kick off” if the show had too political a message. They added: “Frankly, this idea that you sort of put it in a separate programme to almost parcel it to one side is disingenuous. Why don’t they integrate those stories into all of them at the time?”

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion told The Guardian: “For the BBC to censor of one of the nation’s most informed and trusted voices on the nature and climate emergencies is nothing short of an unforgivable dereliction of its duty to public service broadcasting. This government has taken a wrecking ball to our environment – putting over 1,700 pieces of environmental legislation at risk, setting an air pollution target which is a decade too late, and neglecting the scandal of our sewage-filled waterways – which cannot go unexamined and unchallenged by the public. BBC bosses must not be cowed by antagonistic, culture war-stoking government ministers, putting populist and petty political games above delivering serious action to protect and restore our natural world. This episode simply must be televised.”

Chris Packham, who presents Springwatch on the BBC, also criticised the decision. He told The Guardian: “At this time, in our fight to save the world’s biodiversity, it is irresponsible not to put that at the forefront of wildlife broadcasting.”

Stephen Moss, a natural historian and TV producer who has worked for the BBC on nature programmes, said focusing on a conservation angle could win political support for the cause. He said: “Often, if you lead on environmental issues, people genuinely turn off. But if you drip feed it within the programmes and then hit people with a message at the end when you convince them how brilliant wildlife is, it tends to work. With Blue Planet, you got Theresa May standing up and Philip Hammond, the chancellor at the time, saying: ‘this is the BBC as its very best’, doing what Conservatives never do, basically praising the BBC and saying: this is fantastic. So maybe that will happen with this. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Tory politicians jump on the bandwagon and go on and on about how brilliant it is.”

The Guardian - The truth about Britain’s wildlife crisis is stark: the timid BBC must let David Attenborough tell it loud and clear

General Election now!

Vote in a progressive and internationalist Government that cares about people, society, nature and the environment!

#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife 

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature