BBC axes the Mash Report

Nish Kumar's 'The Mash Report' has been axed due to pressure from right wing pundits like Andrew Neil.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9354927/BBC-axes-left-wing-satire-Mash-Report-presenter-Nish-Kumar-hits-back.html



The show has been accused of being too left wing.

This is censorship plain and simple and not at all dissimilar to what goes on in totalitarian regimes like Russia, China, etc.

Nish Kumar's 'The Mash Report' has been axed due to pressure from right wing pundits like Andrew Neil.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9354927/BBC-axes-left-wing-satire-Mash-Report-presenter-Nish-Kumar-hits-back.html



The show has been accused of being too left wing.

This is censorship plain and simple and not at all dissimilar to what goes on in totalitarian regimes like Russia, China, etc.

I'm not certain that people of the OP's political persuasion have much ground to stand on here. Having spent years telling us we should not watch x or y because of racism or other things and even going as far as enshrining diversity (an incredibly divicive and political concept) its hardly suprising that a Conservative government appointed somebody who might actually believe in balance or free speech to run the BBC and in turn remove a show which has been percieved as heavily political and of one persuasion in a crowded sphere (the BBC has no shortage of left and liberal comedy).

Among the article are just some of the reasons Kumar was an easy target..

Speaking on Graham Norton’s New Year’s Eve special, Kumar described long-time Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as ‘a sack of meat brought to life by a witch’s curse’.

In 2019 he said 'the architects of Brexit are a cocktail of lying racists and buffoons'.

It's not really censorship to end a show on a channel that you have been employed to run.

Why the **** does everyone, from every side, try to censor anything they don't like. If you don't like it don't ****ing watch it.

This is no more censorship than Dr Sesus Enterprises choosing not to publish some books or Piers Morgan quitting.

The difference is is that the BBC is a state funded entity. How would you like it if the BBC did a show hosted by Katie Hopkins?

He can say and do whatever he wants on a private channel.

Also the guy is literally not funny.

I disagree with Stewart Lee and Frankie Boyle but they are at least genuinely funny. (Well Boyle hasn't been funny in years...)

I would actually be fine with a Katie Hopkins show on the BBC. That would at least be an honest attempt to field genuine 'right wing comedy'.

What I object to is the BBC reflexively dumping shows defined as left wing because the government doesn't like criticism.

I would actually be fine with a Katie Hopkins show on the BBC. That would at least be an honest attempt to field genuine 'right wing comedy'. What I object to is the BBC reflexively dumping shows defined as left wing because the government doesn't like criticism.

But fair enough you're consistent at least. If they did do something like that then at least they would be acting in a more balanced way which they are not doing currently.

This is what is annoying me. The idea of 'balance' should mean across the schedules. They aren't balancing with this move, they are signalling that left wing comedy is no longer something they will tolerate. The original suggestion from the government was that more right wing comedy should be available. That was rubbished by comedians (and lampooned) because of course these things can't be planned and emerge from what people in the comedy circuits and street performers and so on are doing. They've realised that now, so the response is to start shutting left wing comedy down. Satire in particular is nearly always left wing. The establishment, the people with power and money, tend to be right wing. What's going on here is censorship and a sustained establishment attack on the right to be satirical.

The response is to start shutting left wing comedy down. Satire in particular is nearly always left wing. The establishment, the people with power and money, tend to be right wing. What's going on here is censorship and a sustained establishment attack on the right to be satirical.

LMAO no, it's just saying they don't have a right to do it on a TAXPAYER FUNDED broadcaster. They can still do it on every other channel. We both know why they couldn't have a right wing comedy show because it would inevitably offend some special group. The only group you can go after being straight white men of course.

You want to see a attack on the right to be satirical: see the police arresting count dankula for getting his pug to sieg heil as a skit. Not some unfunny left wing hack no longer being paid by the state.

If it was just a network pulling a show, sure, but that's not what's going on here. This comes after Tory politicians called for an end to left wing comedy on the BBC and this is a direct result of that. It's outrageous.

The decision has been taken by somebody fairly appointed to run the BBC by the government of the day.