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McBride and Prejudice

Victoria Derbyshire | 09:05 UK time, Monday, 20 July 2009

mcbride_2261.JPGHere's our full-length interview with the former Downing Street spin doctor Damian McBride about the day he had to tell Gordon Brown he'd been caught trying to smear senior Tories.

In his first and only broadcast interview, McBride talks about his shame at sending the emails which, you might remember, invented vile things about David Cameron and George Osborne's private lives.

The former political press officer was forced to resign in April after the emails emerged.

To begin with Mr McBride explains why he decided to speak out now:

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  • 1. At 10:08am on 20 Jul 2009, Sarnia wrote:

    "Gordon Brown furious"? McBride's "shame and regret"? Don't be so naive. Do you honestly think that McBride would have done ANY of this without the explicit say-so from Brown?

    This is just another example of the depths this increasingly desperate Prime Minister will plumb in a (ultimately futile) attempt to cling onto power.

    Disgraceful.

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  • 2. At 10:11am on 20 Jul 2009, jimmy-dean-2009 wrote:

    why is it we do not have any mention of a genuine winner on the show today amir khan has just become world champion and one of the youngest ever in this country at the age of 22 by winning on saturday and done the country and britain proud and what a performance by the young man from bolton his footwork and hand speed were lightining fast yet i have heard no mention of it all morning on five live why do we celebrate losers in this country the number of phone ins on andy murray a few weeks back and last week beggers belief yet tennis is a middle class sport unlike boxing a working class sport but it gets no mention i think what khan has done is incredible maybe if he had lost we would have been discussing it today the mentality in this country is all wrong thats why we never win major sports like golf,tennis,football,cricket and most other world class sports cos we only celebrate losers

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  • 3. At 10:21am on 20 Jul 2009, Peter1970 wrote:

    I thought the racists were going to be banned from the BBC?

    When did Andy Murray become a loser? Khan is celebrated for NOT WINNING at the Olympic games. That's celebrating nobodies.

    Mcbride is just typical ZanuLiebor filth. James G Brown was up to his eyeball in it. Just have a look at the Scottish news(hah!)papers and you will see all the scum in action.

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  • 4. At 10:22am on 20 Jul 2009, diamondtrottaz wrote:

    hahahahaha.... i nearly slipped in the shower listening to McPoison squirming just then..! I mean c'mon mate, do you really think we believe ANY of what you say given the track record?? You'd have been better off sliding back under the stone you've been hiding under and staying there..!!

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  • 5. At 10:25am on 20 Jul 2009, Sarnia wrote:

    Oh for goodness sake! NO-ONE believes a word McEvil is saying! It's a joke - why give him airtime?

    Pass the sick bucket.

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  • 6. At 10:28am on 20 Jul 2009, jimmy-dean-2009 wrote:

    peter1970 we have had phone ins on tennis in the last few weeks on a middle class elite sport which is tennis that cant be accessed by the majority yet andy murray was getting mentioned on the phone ins on the nicky campbell show yet we have a genuine world class winner in amir khan competeing in boxing and he has become champion of the world at the age of 22 its a remarkable achievement and its a working class sport but its getting no mention especially the achievements of amir khan

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  • 7. At 10:31am on 20 Jul 2009, Leonard-Zelig wrote:

    I was under the impression that the BBC likes to think of it self as independent body.

    With interviews like this it just goes to show that the BBC has become even more of a propaganda machine for more New Labour spin.

    It's hard to believe a word this guy is rabbiting on about but Victoria and the BBC give McBride more than enough airtime and lend him a sympathic ear.

    Disgusting.

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  • 8. At 10:33am on 20 Jul 2009, Jack Ittin wrote:

    Methinks McBride might be telling a few porkie pies - the following is from Guido Fawke's blog dated today:

    //Suffice to say Smeargate wasnt something put together in a few minutes as he claims, they had many planning meetings, including some at Unites HQ with Charlie Whelan in attendance. Lying again, that will be five Hail Marys Damian, what kind of example are you to Cathlic boys?

    Anyway, if Guido was in Damians shoes, hed be more worried about the wrath of Nadine than getting revenge. Now Damian has a job her lawyers will be able to serve her writ at his place of work. They had been unable to locate him until now
    //

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  • 9. At 10:37am on 20 Jul 2009, diamondtrottaz wrote:

    AAAHHHHH GOT IT!

    this is nothing more than an application for ANY job in the civil service..!

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  • 10. At 10:44am on 20 Jul 2009, jimmy-dean-2009 wrote:

    i could not care less about damien mcbride and spin doctors but what i do know in recent weeks we lost in the cricket in the 20/20 world cup and then the tennis and this weekend in the golf the only thing to be proud of was the magnificent achievements of ami khan the new world champion at the age of 22 representing great britain and england and i belive that desserves a mention we talk about sport on the nicky campbell and victoria derbyshire phone ins all the time in fact i think we are discussing the cricket today on victorias show but we have a genuine winner in amir khan who has delivered the goods on the big stage as a proud english man i felt a great sense of pride when i saw amir khan win for the country and britain

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  • 11. At 11:17am on 20 Jul 2009, Operation_Overlord wrote:

    All journalists knew what Mcbride was about. All of you knew.

    It is insulting for a third rate journo like you Miss Derbyshire to actually give this deeply mendacious & anti democratic character the oxygen of publicity ihe needs to re-habilitate himself in the public domain.

    I am so sick of the BBC cheerleading for this corrupt, duplicitous Government & party.

    You should be ashamed of yourselves - ion years to come I am sure historians will treat the BBCs output of late with the same disdain & contempt that they used to treat the USSR's Pravda.

    Yes, yes I know - comment rejected for being truthful.

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  • 12. At 12:51pm on 20 Jul 2009, StrongholdBarricades wrote:

    Hopefully your allotted radio space for Mr McBride will now assure those big wigs at al jabeeba that some journalistic training is required to be able to carry out interviews, to push questions that guests don't necessarily wish to answer

    Where was the balance to put up against Mr McBride for the harm that he created whilst in his position?

    Where were the journalists who had listened to Mr McBride's tirades and received the text messages whilst he was in position to challenge the lies and assertions that Ms Derbyshire left unchallenged?

    How does al jebeeba justify giving valuable airtime, and how much did it cost the licence payer in expenses?

    Surely it would have been more credible to give radio time to some other topic

    Where can I discover information on Ms Derbyshire's remuneration for the "position that she fills"?

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  • 13. At 1:44pm on 20 Jul 2009, Leonard-Zelig wrote:

    I couldn't agree more with the above comments.

    The BBC and it's highly paid presenters, management and exec's need to take a long hard look at themselves and decide what kind of a news broadcaster they have become.

    Far too much of the BBC is now ' in the comfort zone ' reporting and interviewing and willing subserviant of their New Labour masters as Victoria's programme noticeably demonstrates each day.

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  • 14. At 5:54pm on 20 Jul 2009, piperfleming wrote:

    What a pathetic performance. I am astonished to hear that he is now moving into a new job within our Civil Service. Who, in God's name, is prepared to offer this man any job which is in the service of our country ? The person responsible ahould be taken to task by the appropriate Government Minister and asked to explain. Mr McBride should be shown the door. If that means he has to join the ranks of the umemployed he deserves it. Let's hear no more from him or Derek Draper.

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  • 15. At 09:03am on 21 Jul 2009, dimpseydave wrote:

    Biggest surprise for me from this interview was McBride's complete inability to articulate. This was Brown's 'wordsmith' yet he is unable to 'express himself' without the insertion of "y'know" in virtually every sentence. Brown seems to surround himself with third raters of this kind. This country needs an election, now!

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  • 16. At 6:07pm on 21 Jul 2009, 4aBetterFuture wrote:

    This was Brown's 'Wordsmith'- so no wonder we are living in the "Age of Stupid".
    This interview shows McBride would have difficulty of getting a job cleaning Public Toilets if the Public Sector was run to benefit the Nation instead of for the pals of Failed Politicians.

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  • 17. At 10:50pm on 22 Jul 2009, Nick Vinehill wrote:

    Actually 'Operation_Overlord' 'Miss Derbyshire' popularly known as Victoria was only doing what she was told by her producers when she interviewed Damien McBride. Whether you deem her a third rate journalist or not, you shouldn't take politics so personally!

    As he wrote these emails the real question is why wasn't McBride interviewed at the time of his resignation particularly as the scandal seemed to obliterate every other item of news off the agenda!

    What really happened here was a classic bit of 'news engineering' by the media and political establishment to imbue into the public that there is intense hostility between New Labour and the Tories when in fact, in terms of economic and social policy there's not a pin-prick between them.

    All these frequenting petty scandals, where the plight of our troops in Afghanistan or enemployment going through the roof issues are second best, are quite probably contrived or manufactured deliberately to create a news sensation with the intention of conveying to an apathetic public that one party can be trusted and the other can't before people cast their votes in less than a year!

    Hence an interview with McBride was all kept in abeyance until now because if he'd been interviewed at the time the real political objective would have been defeated!







    The reason why he wasn't I suggest is because it would have spoilt the original purpose of all these stage-managed sagas that corrupt real news by

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