David Baddiel was interviewed earlier today by Alan Davies on BBC Radio 5, to talk about his new film The Norris McWhirter Chronicles, to be screened in the ‘Little Cracker’s season of festive films over the Christmas period.The Norris McWhirter Chronicles covers a visit Norris made to David Baddiel’s school, the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, in 1978. Roy Castle’s Record Breakers was at the height of its popularity, and the latest guest speaker at teenage David Baddiel’s school is none other than editor of the Guinness Book of Records, Norris McWhirter, played (by all accounts very creditably) by Alistair McGowan.
But during the Radio 5 interview is an appalling misrepresentation by Baddiel of The Freedom Association, which Norris established in 1975 with his twin brother Ross and Viscount De L'Isle. The Association is at the forefront of campaigning in defence of personal and political freedom.
Yet Baddiel refers to it as ‘a very, very right-wing, kind of sub-BNP, slightly posher version of the BNP organisation’ (Radio 5 1h 23m in).
Alan Davies then proceeds to conjecture if Norris McWhirter was ‘a brown shirt with Mosley’
‘Brown-shirt’ is neo-Nazi vocabulary: Mosley’s British Union of Fascists instituted a corps of black-uniformed paramilitary stewards, nicknamed blackshirts, which is probably what Alan Davies meant.
Nazi brown or Fascist black, this slander of Norris McWhirter is quite outrageous.
But maybe it is quite unsurprising coming from the BBC which even its own Director General admits is guilty of ‘massive’ left-wing bias.
Perhaps in Luvviedom, TFA is akin to the BNP.
But Norris was in showbiz through three decades, working tirelessly for the BBC on Record Breakers until the death of Roy Castle in 1994.
One might expect the BBC at least to honour his memory and respect his magnificent contribution to the programme, not to mention show a little respect for his remarkable achievement in co-founding the Guinness Book of Records.
But here we have Alan Davies and David Baddiel trashing the honour and reputation of one of the nation’s finest.
It is easy to speak ill of the dead.
When he passed away, The Freedom Association was inundated with messages of sympathy and tributes to the man, his life and his work:
Baroness Thatcher: “…He was a man who cherished freedom and was never afraid to speak out when he felt that it was in danger. He championed its cause throughout his life, taking up alone the challenge which he and Ross had shared. Whether it was in defying over-mighty Soviet Communism or in trimming the power of local bureaucrats, Norris was tireless. He saw the dangers to the individual whenever the state, or other large institutions, intruded further into peoples lives – eroding responsibility and fostering dependency. Above all he was always on his guard against systems, and their proponents, who sought to lessen freedom. Truly, he was a valiant warrior, and life is diminished with his passing.”
Andrew Roberts: “The great 19th century historian Lord Acton was going to write A History of Liberty, but died before he completed the research. One day it shall be written, and when it is a golden, glorious chapter will be devoted to what Norris McWhirter did for all of us.”
Christopher Gill: “…Norris was a man of great courage, enormous integrity and a fearless campaigner for individual freedom and national independence. He was a man of principle, a truly honourable man but above all else, a committed and sincere patriot. As a champion of freedom he was a beacon of hope whose sudden and unexpected extinguishment will be an irreplaceable loss to the the cause for which he gave so much.”
Gerald Howarth MP: “…Norris's determined, unwavering and principled stand in defence of the ancient liberties of Her Majesty's subjects was an inspiration to all who shared his love of freedom. His campaign to protect the rights of the British people against those who would hand power to others on the Continent played a part in shifting public opinion.”
Robert Halfon MP: “A great and kind man who did so much for the cause of freedom and fought so hard to stop Britain being submerged into a European superstate.”
Professor Patrick Minford CBE: “…Norris was one of the earliest to understand the threat to the interests of the UK and indeed those of ordinary Europeans from the European Union and its burgeoning bureaucracy. He worked with others in the early 1990s to spread understanding among MPs and the general public about the economic and political threat. He took the government to court for its actions in betraying British sovereignty. He was a pioneer in the ongoing endeavour to turn the tide against this dangerous project, once thought ‘inevitable’ but now increasingly seen as seriously damaging in the absence of a massive change of EU policies.”
Roger Foster OBE: “…As a founder member of the Freedom Association, working with Norris to set up our own charter I remember so well his determination that the Magna Carta had to be the basis of our charter for the rights of the British people to live their own lives in the way they wanted and not be controlled by rules and regulations. His equal determination through the Association, was to try to bring the government closer to and more understanding of the people who had elected them to govern….”
John Redwood MP: “…he will best be remembered for his courageous fight to maintain real democracy in Britain. Norris was never too busy to take up a cause. He fought against abuses of power here in Britain and for the rights of Soviet dissidents. He fought against the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and against subliminal advertising. As the head of the National Association for Freedom, he supported parents who were desperately trying to keep grammar schools going and he took up the cases of workers who were sacked because they refused to join a union. Norris richly deserved the CBE awarded to him when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister.”
And there are very many more tributes to Norris McWhirter on The Freedom Association website. He was not only a good man: he was tenacious for liberty, principled for freedom, a distinguished all-rounder; he was great.
Yet despite all this praise, respect and reverence, the BBC is content to broadcast an interview in which he is tarnished with neo-Nazi and fascist allusions, and in which The Freedom Association is portrayed as BNP-lite.
His Grace is really quite outraged, and would like to encourage his readers and communicants to make a formal complaint to the BBC, demanding a full apology for Alan Davies' slander of Norris McWhirter and David Baddiel's quite outrageous and unwarranted attack on The Freedom Association.
You may do so by clicking HERE.
Bless you.
