Martin Bright

Yvonne Ridley and Press TV

I thought my old friend Yvonne Ridley was just taking the money from the clerical fascists as a presenter at Iranian state channel Press TV. I didn’t realise she had been spouting the Iranian regime’s line on the election. 

But here’s her reply to my post to her Facebook page asking her when she was going to resign:
“What I find particularly upsetting is the inference that the working class and poor living in rural areas don’t really count — that their votes are inferior to the elite classes in north Tehran… maybe it’s ‘cos I’m a working class lass from Tyneside.”

I must say it’s the first time I’ve encountered Yvonne’s class consciousness. But there you have it: oppression is fine if the working classes voted for it (though quite how anyone would know that’s what they did is beyond me).

Anyway, at least Yvonne believes this nonsense. Andrew Gilligan has no such excuse. He’s on holiday at the moment and says he is “thinking about” his position.

I suggest both Yvonne and Andrew look to the fate of Maziar Bahari, the Canadian-Iranian journalist and filmmaker who was arrested after giving footage of violence against protestors to Channel 4. He was paraded on Iranian TV on July 30 after “confessing” to helping the western media foment the uprising. This weekend Canadian media sources have suggested Maziar will now stand trial.

So after the crackdown came the round-ups. Now we will have the show trials.

Most working class people I know would find this completely appalling.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in