Time was when the BBC concentrated its efforts on making radio and TV programmes. The internet has changed that, which explains the existence of its children’s service, BBC Teach. It offers “free classroom resources to schools throughout the UK via our YouTube channel.”

This sounds harmless enough but this week I was alerted to a new 5-minute BBC Teach video on immigration which is insultingly simplistic, misleading, dishonest, irresponsible, and exposes any pretence that the BBC is impartial on this most pressing subject. Indeed, I’d say it deliberately poisons young minds into thinking it is somehow unacceptable to want to curtail immigration.

The film is aimed at children aged 14 to 16. It begins with a 60-second voiceover commentary which must be repeated in full to appreciate how slanted the BBC’s approach to this debate is. It states:

“Think immigration’s a recent thing? Think again. Because, you see, you’ve got the Celts, the Romans, the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings, the Normans, the Flemish, the Irish, black Britons and Jewish people. Yup, we were multicultural long before curry and carnival. It’s in our DNA. There’s no such thing as a pure Brit, despite what some flag wavers would have you believe. The average one is just 36 per cent Anglo Saxon. Migration did step up after the Second World War, when people arrived from all over the colonies. Places like India, the Caribbean, Pakistan, Uganda and Kenya. Then we joined the EU, which meant we could easily move to Paris, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, and that people there could come here. Some people come fleeing war or poverty. Others, because we have a better music scene. But it’s only the past 20 years that have seen more people come and go. Even so, you can’t open a paper without some people giving it large about immigration.”

“Flag wavers” is the first unmistakable slur in this horribly muddled passage. The insinuation is obvious and in places like America, which positively encourages citizens to be proud of their country, it would be considered offensive.