the humour of the late left-wing Labour MP Tony Banks, “known for acid tongue and sharp wit“, who “will be remembered for his hilarious insults“
“Tory MP, Terry Dicks, was dismissed as “living proof that a pig’s bladder on the end of a stick can be elected to Parliament”.
The former sports minister, who became Lord Stratford last year, showed reputations did not intimidate him when he accused Lady Thatcher of having “the sensitivity of a sex-starved boa-constrictor” during a Commons debate.
He added to that by calling the former Prime Minister a “half mad old bag lady” on another occasion.
Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke was “a pot-bellied old soak” while another former Prime Minister John Major was “so unpopular, if he became a funeral director people would stop dying”.
During the 1997 Labour Party conference he sparked controversy by describing then-Tory leader William Hague as a “foetus”.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats were “woolly-hatted, muesli-eating, Tory lick-spittles”.”
Just let me pick myself up off the floor – that is so funny. And so original.
Although the BBC don’t tell us his brilliant follow-up to the ‘foetus‘ jibe.
“I bet a lot of Tory MPs wish they hadn’t voted against abortion“
First Ronnie Barker. Then Richard Pryor.
Now, as the BBC remind us, another comic genius has left us.
BBC News 24 at 16.18 hrs. Main Story: Bird Flu in Turkey.
Helpful map shows the area in grey while Israel is highlighted in orange.
Did Lord Tony Of Stratford have a view on whale fishing by the Japanese and also Bush meat imports into the UK? If so, would these subjects be prioritised according to prejudice? The BBC has numerous web pages on Japanese whale fishing and has recently aired film by Greenpeace.
It appears that importing Bush Meat into the UK is a threat to UK health but its the the Japs who get the stick.
Remember when Tony Banks went hysterical about James Goldsmith fielding referendum candidates at one election.TB(Tony Banks accused him of trying to bribe the electorate for,now what was it,bread and circuses..no not that wait a minute,..money..no no..oh yes putting up candidates in a general election.
Hope the other parties never do that.
“Because of US sanctions, Iran cannot buy spare parts of its ageing military and civilian fleet – something that puts lives in danger as air crashes become increasingly frequent, says the BBC’s Frances Harrison in Tehran.”
The BBC article describes the crashed plane as a “small Falcon jet”.
Is this the HU-25 Guardian (Falcon) Jet, “one of the few aircraft flown by the [US] military services that is built by a foreign company, Dassault-Breguet of France”?
What a surprise. Tony Banks gets a “Your Tributes” headline on HYS.
Let’s see if we can predict how (D)HYS will go on future passings:
Margaret Thatcher: “reaction”
Michael Foot: “tributes”
Ariel Sharon: “reaction”
Nelson Mandela: “mucho tributes”
Norman Tebbit: “reaction”
Dennis Skinner: “tributes”
etc.
etc.
What was that socialist Banks doing in Sanibel Island, Florida – the fiefdom of Jeb?
Shouldn’t he have been holidaying in Cuba or Venezuela?
Might this damage his street cred with the Dave Spart types?
“Because of US sanctions, Iran cannot buy spare parts of its ageing military and civilian fleet – something that puts lives in danger as air crashes become increasingly frequent, says the BBC’s Frances Harrison in Tehran.”
I asked this question when an Iranian jetliner crashed last month, and I’ll ask it again – if Iran knows its planes aren’t safe, why do they keep flying them?
Also – even if the US won’t sell them planes or parts, there’s no shortage of other willing vendors (China and Russia spring to mind), so why not buy there? It’s not as if the Iranians can’t afford it.
Cheers
OT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4595282.stm
“Galloway reality TV move defended”
Sorry, but if he was my MP I would be bloody furious.
Dont suppose we will be havinh a (D)HYS???
Didnt think so.
Tony Banks,”man of the people”didnt want the people to have a say on Maastricht.What did he say about his constituents that bothered him in his surgery?
the camp commandant – I thought the th letter was an eth.
BTW, on a sidebar on the Beeb’s front page, some moron has spelled Menzies Campbell’s name as Ming. You have to laugh.
The above entry about the Iranians flying their unsafe planes should have been credited to me.
Cheers
We discussed the airplane question on jihadwatch.org recently. The most burning question was “Why do muslims in general use aircraft as most of them are shaped like crosses?” – that was in regard to the article “BMI staff banned from taking Bibles, St Christophers and teddy bears on trips to Saudi”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/009722.php
I don’t think I read anything about this development on the BBC News Website.
Helpful map shows the area in grey while Israel is highlighted in orange.
Sarge | 09.01.06 – 4:33 pm | #
The Future’s Bright – the Future’s Orange !
Anonymous is right, Tony Banks chose to vacation in a place where there are no Socialists, haters of big business, campaigners against gas guzzlers, Euroweenies or animal rights activists and where the only minorities are the cleaners and the waiters.
Hypocrite.
Another person away from it all.
The BBC front page says
OTHER TOP STORIES
Galloway defends reality TV move
How does he do that from there?
Perhaps it is an excuse he made earlier
Mr Galloway has said his presence in the house is a way of getting his message across to millions of people who might not otherwise be interested in politics.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4595282.stm
Follow the link for the kindest photo of a politician ever to appear on BBC Online.
A piece on Radio 4`s (Socialism this) PM Program on “Why arent we more happy” had as a primary contributor one Oliver James (Psychologist) who, when asked how societies might be happier made the most astonishing statement that I have ever heard on the BBC;
“..the less you are like America, the less mentally ill you are going to be”
Now, why would anyone say a thing like that about a society that provides the best outcomes for the largest number of people?
so I google Oliver James Psychologist
and anothr Authoriarian Socialist is unmasked
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1033904,00.html
http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/00000006DAE5.htm
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2310/is_200408/ai_n7464269
http://www.lies.com/wp/2003/09/02/oliver-james-psychoanalyzes-bush/
naturally, no question was asked about the correlation between the welfare state and long term listlessness.
there are many people that the bbc can choose to interview, why is it always those who conform to thier world view?
It is truly a tragedy that Mr Banks,the Late Lord Stratford passed away after climbing the greasy pole,raising himself from proledom to the aristocracy.This was socialism at work at its most ironic.
BTW,
Is it true that with the new ID cards,the government will be able to take tax straight from your bank account?
Kulibar Tree,
“Colonel”, a word known to everyone,is actually pronounced fully in French, a language which has otherwise not reformed its orthography. “Menzies”, on the other hand, is not that common a name, and to confuse the rest of the world with obscure Scottish language patterns seems a bit barmy. All I’m saying is that perhaps the BBC should explain the anomaly since they are supposed to be operating a “world service”.
“…and her translator fatally hurt.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4597222.stm
?
Re: “translator fatally hurt.”
This piece is uncredited to anyone, but I suspect it is agency copy and this bizarre phrase added by a just-out-of-university-RESPECT-coalition-voting-Beeboid.
Very strange.
“Perhaps the BBC should explain the anomaly since they are supposed to be operating a “world service”. – [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4595228.stm[/url]
“Sorry, but if he was my MP I would be bloody furious. Dont suppose we will be havinh a (D)HYS??? Didnt think so.” – [url]http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=722&&edition=1&ttl=20060110105318[/url]
My personal view is that while it’s fine to criticise the BBC for something, having a go at it for not doing something it HAS actually done makes your criticism look a little daft…
Thom Boston:
Yes, you have made me look a little daft. And I accept that I didnt look through the HYS section enough before making my comment.
I was wrong and incorrect.
See, its not difficult for a person to hold up his hands and say he was wrong.
Thom, this site needs people like you to spot mistakes, as this makes it balanced. Balanced and fair. Both sides of the story.
Thank lord the BBC is so honest when it makes mistakes.
SiN writes:
“”..the less you are like America, the less mentally ill you are going to be””
That was one of the lamest interviews yet on PM – and, as a consequence, one of the better examples of BBC bias.
Not once was James challenged with the fact that rates of mental illness in the USA reflect both the cultural attitude to psychology/psychiatry and the diagnosis and availability of treatment, while those in Shanghai (his preferred model of society, apparently) do likewise.
It’s bad enough that the BBC gives air time to halfwits like this – but to allow them to talk rubbish without challenging it is unforgivable.
Then again, the supremely smug Eddie Mair was handling the interview, so perhaps he was busy rehearsing his next “funny” and didn’t notice the gaping chasm in James’ logic.
ot
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4597754.stm
The truth is finally out. The Govt has lied about the true threat of bird flu. No surprise there.
I am please that the BBC is covering this, as this could well kill more people than Terrorism in Britain..perhaps time to start warning people how to reduce the risk and prevent catching it??
I would also ask how difficult is it to stop bullying in the Army?
And most laughably i thought Labour
“would never privatise public sector industry”
what you mean like these@:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4592238.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4671517.stm
“Galloway reality TV move defended”
Sorry, but if he was my MP I would be bloody furious.
He is my MP. I am furious.
OT But have you noticed the BBC frontpage:
“The Hajj
Islamic holy pilgrimage”?
Funny they don’t seem to cover Lourdes in quite the same gushing fashion (despite the fact that it gets about 2 million more pilgrims than Mecca every year.)
Paulinus, that is funny.
The BBC are scared witless of Islam but so too are Blair, Cameron and whichever pillow biter becomes leader of the Lib dems.
Bush is not scared of islam, The EU is.
All of our leaders are fightened, nobody is standig up for our feedoms in the face of assault from islamofacists.
Ian
I can assure you that the Government have not lied about the possible extent of bird flu. Most medical experts expect a maximum 25% infection rate, the HSBC crisis manager is factoring the wider effect on his staffing and also taking the reasonably foreseable worst case scenario (a doubling of the infection rate is not unreasonable but unlikely).
Before we all get increadibly worried about AI, it is not nearly as rare as seems to be indicated in the news, what is very rare is the mutation into a virus that can be transmitted between humans. There has not been a single case of this in this outbreak.
Lurker, I tell you someone else who isn’t frightened. Sharon. Have been reading a bit about his life since he became ill in recent days.
Now there is one tough MF.
Where the the_camp_commandant led, the BBC now follows:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4595228.stm
Don’t use the resources of a £3bn-a-year institution for background info – use biased-bbc!
Not once was James challenged with the fact that rates of mental illness in the USA reflect both the cultural attitude to psychology/psychiatry and the diagnosis and availability of treatment,”
clearly – Britain is so poorly resourced with Psychiatry on the NHS that the issues are simply ignored. Those turned out of treatment centres need to kill before the courts find them secure accommodation; and the non-violent are just dosed on SSRIs until they are oblivious.
Fact is: if you don’t want to treat something you don’t bother to diagnose it.
Oliver James is a Clinic Psychologist and NOT a Clinical Psychiatrist
(D)HYS is no running a debate on whether or not we can trust Iran. The number of “I trust Iran with nukes more than I trush Bush/Blair/Israel” is simply astounding.
Get ‘recommending’ people.
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=729&&edition=1&ttl=20060110150926
Anonymous,
I am less than whelmed by al-BBC’s account of the letter yogh…not least the claim that
It fell out of favour with the Normans, whose scribes disliked non-Latin characters and replaced it with a “y” or “g” sound, and in the middle of words with “gh”. But the Scottish retained the yogh in personal and place names, albeit mutating into a “z” to please the typesetters of the day.
Despite which, yogh somehow survived into Middle English, i.e. into fourteenth-century works such as Piers Plowman, The Canterbury Tales, Pearl, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which were all written by southern authors three hundred or so years after the Normans arrived and with no Scottish literary input discernible.
Here are the opening lines of the latter work in Middle English:-
SIÞEN þe sege and þe assaut watz sesed at Troye,
Þe bor brittened and brent to bronde and askez,
Þe tulk þat þe trammes of tresoun þer wrot
Watz tried for his tricherie, þe trewest on erthe:
(found online at http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/c/cme/cme-idx?type=HTML&rgn=DIV1&byte=6163598 )
Render all those yoghs and thorns as gh and th, modernise the spelling, and it starts to read like reasonably modern English:-
Sithen [after] the siege and the assault were ceased at Troy,
The burgh brittened [breached] and brent to brands and ashes,
The man that wrought the trammels of treason there
Was tried for his treachery, the truest on earth….
It took me perhaps 100 seconds to rustle up a dated example of the letter yogh in English use hundreds of years after the Normans supposedly killed it off. In fact, I have a feeling it’s still in use in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, written a hundred years later still, although I can’t be arsed to find an online text of that as well.
And as far as I know, yogh didn’t mutate “please the typesetters of the day” but because g, h, and yogh were all very common letters while z, then as now, was not. So a typesetter who was short of yoghs would usually have a few spare letter zs lying around. The BBC account suggests that printers got rid of it because they didn’t like it.
Are the BBC bone bloody idle, or does their firewall block Google, or something? How difficult is this? And does Fox News have a “Pronunciation Unit”, or does that only exist because of the unique way the BBC is funded?
Truly al-BBC is the Leyland of news. Obviously those English graduates got their degrees from white tile “universities”.
the_camp_commandant:
At least it shows they’re reading this site. Now, I think you should put in a complaint to the BBC for infringing your copyright!
TCC:
Truly brilliant. Thank you.
So the favoured candidate to herd the LibDems is a man whose main stimulus to discussion is his peculiar first name !
I had thought his parents had been newsagents and didn’t want to call him Smith after W.H. but chose instead Menzies as in John.
Now at least I know why the BBC wheel him on each time they need a pompous advocate to confirm their own prejudices. I suppose Charles Kennedy will be bumped up to the House of Lords now as Lord Kennedy of Gretna Green – orr with the Campbell role in mind maybe he will choose Lord Kennedy of Glencoe ?
Lord Kennedy of Glenlivet?
Sorry, that’s a bit tasteless.
Further to Rick’s post, way above
BBC’s Frances Harrison says “Almost every time I enter the foreign ministry building in Tehran, I am told to pull my headscarf further forward to cover my hair. My colleagues say it’s because I look Iranian and the staff don’t realise I am a foreigner
Her picture accompanying a report from Iran on News24 shows her to have dark blonde hair – very Iranian looking, eh?
“Lord Kennedy of Glenlivet?
Sorry, that’s a bit tasteless.”
The Glenlivet?
Paulinis
Re The Hajj. I saw yesterdays gushing coverage on BBC News 24 yesterday. They didn’t call it “The Hajj” though, the female presenter went to great lengths to emphasise the full title, which I have forgotten. I did remember her voicover showing the milling crowd (what’s the queue like for the toilets I ask myself) saying something like “This is area where the faithful will congregate on the day of reckoning before being received by Allah” My question is, does this include Atheists, catholics, Shintos etc or is it Islam exclusive?
Anonymous
The best leader of the Liberal Democrats in my opinion would appear to be John Major.
Phil,
Mr Galloway could set a precedent, how about Charles Kennedy, reform candidate, for Big Brother. Lets big it up for MP’s in da house.
The BBC never did explain the significance of the Basalt in The Haj…….I was hoping they might find a Muslim “Dave Allen” or “Father Ted” to do a quick tour-de-force…………..
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencoe/
The Kennedy Clan NOT at Hyannisport brooding on what the Campbells have done…………..
Sarge – William Hill are already quoting odds on “Mine’s a Scotch” Charlie being in the next Big Brother House. You couldn’t script it, eh? Luckily we only vote for these guys…
Sarge
The best leader for the Liberal Democrats would appear to be David Cameron.
The_camp_commandant – Did you see my post yesterday? I said I thought what you refer to as a thorn was actually an eth. If not, what is the difference?
Read the comments of “Helen Of Romford” then look at her email address!
http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall/2006/01/gary_younge_on_.html
The BBC is a culturally communist circle jerk, funded by millions of hours of forced labour.
Destroy it.
Rob Read.
WTF?!?
Complaining NOW!