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General BBC-related comment thread.
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BBC thinks quality programmes are nasty medicine
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/janet_daley/blog/2009/03/31/bbc_thinks_quality_programmes_are_nasty_medicine
I’ve complained about Campbell:
Nicky Campbell insulted a guest, Guido Fawkes. The intellectually weak Campbell accused Paul Staines of fascism.
To the best of my knowledge, this is a completely groundless accusation and is highly offensive. Given that Mr Staines is well known for his Libertarian views (the antithesis of fascism), it is ridiculous to smear him in this way.
Perhaps the BBC needs to send Campbell for re-education? He clearly doesn’t understand what a fascist is/says/does. Perhaps he needs to look at our political system and ponder who currently poses the biggest risk to his freedoms – the Left or the Right:
The current fascist government have quite a record:
1) ID Cards
2) Smoking Bans
3) Numerous Databases
4) Detention without trial
5) End to trial by jury
6) Numerous witch hunts
7) Dirty tricks and smears
8) Arresting opposition MPs
9) Corruption
10) Electoral fraud ‘that would shame a banana republic’
11) Destruction of the economy
12) Creation of a client state
13) Numerous ‘consultations’, which are routinely ignored when they give the ‘wrong’ results
14) Broken election promises relating to constitutional issues
Paul Staines has done nothing more ‘sinister’ than oppose these horrendous impingements upon our freedoms. Is that all one has to do for the BBC to smear one as a fascist?
Disgusted as usual.
XXXX XXXX
Piggy prescott ought to be taken to the butchers for slaughter , the sad fat w****r makes me sick ,its no wonder the BBC love his jabba the hut fueled bullshit and give him a platform on which to charm us all he’s no different to them , apart from being the size of a small planet.
This might have a tenuous or spurious link with B-BBC, but I mentioned a ‘missing but trailed’ critical article about the BBC’s Sunday Programme by the Telegraph’s Damion Thompson. It was advertised in the paper, but was nowhere to be seen on the web. Looking again on his blog I came across this, about the resignation of Bishop Nazir-Ali and I wanted to share it.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson/blog/2009/03/28/the_resignation_of_bishop_michael_nazirali_is_a_victory_for_islamism
Grimer, good idea.
The Quotation Marks Are Baaaack!!!
‘US officials have pledged to help Pakistan target so-called “safe havens” for militants in Pakistan’s north-west tribal region bordering Afghanistan.’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7973540.stm
Dear BBC, if the “so-called ‘safe havens’ are not ‘safe havens’, what the hell are they?
‘EX RBS Chair insists Myners knew’:
Why have the BBC published this story solely in the business section of their website? Surely it has political ramifications as well. After all, Sir Tom Mckillop is effectively accusing a GVN minister of purposely misleading a House of Commons select committee. Even in these debased times, if guilty Myners has to go…. Now Auntie couldn’t be trying to bury the story could she?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7974371.stm
BTW Ian Dale has another story that’s not listed on the BBC Politics page • Apparently our Europe minister, Caroline Flint, has admitted that she hasn’t actually read the Lisbon Treaty. Quite remarkable!
http://www.iaindale.blogspot.com/
Oh! And the comments on Nick Robinson’s blog aren’t exactly going to plan; 494 and counting, 90% of whom are totally dismissive of Nick’s analysis. So much for the beeb having its finger on the pulse of public opinion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/
As for Nicky Campbell’s fascist outburst; its all rather revealing of the BBC mindset don’t you think. For instance, could you ever imagine a circumstance where a BBC presenter would mockingly label a left-wing commentator as Stalinist?
Still its nice to see that Guido (unlike our left-leaning friends in the media) can take a joke.
Can’t find it on iplayer yet. I’d love to hear it again. It was funny!
Sparky | 31.03.09 – 12:10 pm | #
Please do when… er… if you do. It is my experience that such things can become ‘not newsworthy’ sometimes.
frankos | 31.03.09 – 1:21 pm | #
Speaking of which, if this ‘show’ gets preserved, do try and catch today’s, as I did driving back from a meeting.
First up we had what I call ‘The Newsnight Twofer’ (seems to apply here too) , where two extremes are brought in to comment, on this occasion on the latest expenses scam… er.. diversion.
I am not up to speed on the facts, but it seems taken as read there is someone leaking, though I have yet to find out where this originated. Oddly, no news reporters seem too concerned about that.
So we get some ex-Sun type, now a commercial London station DJ, basically in full ‘geezer’ mode. And in calm rebuttal, we have… a Guardian political commentator. Hey, balance! Thing is I was with the Guardian guy most of the way until he ‘suggested’ that it ‘may’ have been leaked by a Tory mole.
Er… at their distracting best, I thought the BBC, via its tame, carefully-selected invitees, were just try to push the £300k greed angle? Now it’s a Tory plot? What the heck?!!!!
And while I think that touting for money does weaken our ‘hero’s’ (I don’t see the person, if they exist, as anything like that) case, there are a few points that came up that seemed not to get mentioned.
First, our Jezza and his mate from the Grauniad were pretty keen on the ‘Why now when it was all coming out later?’. Er… with the state of our government these days, I imagine most that would have come out was going to be accidentally shredded waaay before Dear Leader’s new deadline. Also, and this is no excuse, what are the prospects for an honest whistleblower? I say fired and stripped of pension at best. So £300k doesn’t seem too bad really as compo for exposing the sick, hypocritical farce that is our government.
Speaking of which, we then get that paragon of fiscal probity and moral rectitude, ex-DPM Prescott on to pitch his book… um… discuss his inspirational relationship with his protege and poster child for the Labour revolution…. assault your teachers, get expelled, meet a ‘celeb’ pol given airtime, ‘stay in touch’, get a job, get knocked up (‘…it were after I met John,’ she confirms, sparing us a mental image too far. I guess we’ll have to hark back to his secretary for word on his advice on contraception to those he mentors), leave job, stay in touch… and get touted as inspirational for being a bit miffed she hasn’t be shoved up the benefits register further by now. But… she does want to be a lawyer. Bless.
Even Mr. Vine and almost all his callers were having trouble keeping that load of b*llsh*t down. Though one was accused by Mr. Prescott, of being a Tory troll (rhymes with ‘mole’). If I were them I would sue the S.L.O.B (Senior Labour Outdated Bruiser) for libel. And the BBC and Mr. Vine for letting such a thing pass as a defence at their expense. Just because most folk are heartily sick of the sordid lot of them, the results of their failed experiments, and feel moved to comment, does not make all of us Tories. Though to the BBC, anyone not Labour must deafault this way.
But I am sure the Tristrams are delighted with the result, and ratings, but if called to account on Newswatch at dawn this weekend will grumpily assert that it was the public’s right to be kept informed on senior Labour Party thinking and the aspirations of their voting, grateful, democratic power base, innit?
DD getting cancelled very soon. Anyone know what happened to Charles Moore?
‘MP’s claims on sale for £300,000’ • screams the BBC headline.
I’ve just watched the ITV lunchtime news and their political correspondent has completely rubbished this story. Having interviewed the source of the rumours • Labour MP Stuart Bell • she claimed that Mr. Bell was unable to substantiate his claims in any way. Moreover, it was claimed, that there is no actual evidence that the much heralded H of C investigation into this matter is actually underway. But perhaps the killer line was provided by one of her colleagues, from the dead-tree press, who she said, had privately described the whole story as complete nonsense. It’s nice to see that some journalists still have enquiring minds and don’t just regurgitate what the GVN tells them. It’s just a shame none of them work at Al-Beeb!
I commented on this yesterday. The BBC have run this story as their leading story all day. Why? There is no evidence to back this claim up other than the word of some troll Labour MP.
I thought the BBC didn’t run stories unless they could be backed up by more than one source?
Oh hang on. The BBC were ordered to spin the story to take the heat off 5 bellies 2 chins smiff.
We see the BBC do this time and time again, but ONLY when a Liebour politician is in the shit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7974290.stm
“These are British citizens in a vulnerable state in a vulnerable area …” harps the BBC….
Then in the next paragraph…
Mrs Kallis had been living in the Syrian capital since 2002, where she was studying Arabic
So let’s get this straight, she’s been living in (presumably) her native country for 7 YEARS and they still expect good ol’ UK to help???
Beeb are in on the lie, deliberately trying to distract attention from Snouter Smith, McNulty, Nigel Griffiths, et al.
It seems that the rest of the broadcasters have noticed that the public is growing increasingly aware of the Beeb’s propaganda, omission and distraiction. Sky and ITV seem to be making an effort to rubbish the BBC’s blatant nonsense. It is fun to watch.
How are the Beeb reacting to Broon’s “Family Values” speech?
Has anyone ever seen Brown and Peter Griffin in the same rooom?
Grimer: Campbell is a pint sized mincing Scottish Queen. He is an openly pro Liebour supporter who sticks up for scum Liebour politicians at every opportunity.
He is a shit presenter as well. His jokes are crap, he interrupts guests every five minutes to crack some unfunny joke that he repeats several times if he thinks people didn’t get it first time around (we did they’re just not funny Campbell)
Campbell sums up all that is crap about Radio 5.
Campbell sums up all that is crap about Radio 5.
The Campbells (Alistair and Nicki) sum up what is crap about modern Leftie politics
Everything you need to know – what a piece of crap the man is.
Nicky Campbell stands by claim he is son of IRA man
* Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
* The Observer, Sunday 12 October 2003
BBC television and radio presenter Nicky Campbell was last night at the centre of a war of words with his own family after he claimed to be the son of an IRA man.
After his natural mother told The Observer that Campbell’s claim was ‘terrible and untrue’, the Radio Five Live star made clear in a statement that he stood by his comments that he discovered the truth about his father while researching his autobiography.
Campbell, who was adopted as a baby, told a Sunday newspaper last month that he had discovered that his natural father was an Irish republican from Belfast.
Campbell also claimed that his grandfather fought alongside IRA leader Michael Collins, the subject of Neil Jordan’s acclaimed biopic.
The 42-year-old radio and TV celebrity was being interviewed prior to publication of a book charting his rise from Edinburgh schoolboy to national fame on the BBC. But his assertions about his republican roots have been dismissed as nonsense by family members, including his birth mother.
From her sickbed in an old people’s home in Glenageary, Co Wicklow, Stella Lackey commented ‘people will say anything’ when told of her son’s claim. The 72-year-old pensioner gave birth to Campbell, who was christened Nicholas Lackey, on 10 April, 1961.
Aged 37 when she gave birth, Stella had fled Ireland to escape the shame associated with being a pregnant unmarried woman and was working as a state-registered nurse in Portobello, Edinburgh.
Nine days later Nicholas Lackey was adopted by Frank and Elizabeth Campbell and the baby given the name Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell.
Frank Campbell was a former major in the Indian Army who worked as a map publisher in Edinburgh and Elizabeth was a psychiatric social worker. The couple brought their adopted son up in the Protestant faith and put him through Aberdeen University, where he gained a degree in history in 1982. It was in the northern Scottish city that Campbell cut his teeth as a radio journalist.
In a recent interview with a Sunday newspaper, Campbell claimed he discovered his Irish republican roots when he began researching his origins more than a decade ago.
‘I was a privately educated Edinburgh Academy boy and discovering my true origins has been a profoundly startling thing.
‘My grandfather was in the IRA at the time of Michael Collins; my father was an Irish republican,’ said Campbell. He added: ‘It has been a very emotional journey – meeting all my brothers and sisters.’
Campbell told the Sunday Telegraph he was still investigating the extent of his father’s involvement with the republican movement. ‘I am researching the book and there is a lot to find out,’ he said.
A spokesman for Campbell’s publisher, Pan McMillan, said: ‘Nicky always knew he had been adopted and 12 years ago he embarked on the hunt for his birth mother. When he found her what she told him came as a shock. His natural father was not only an Irish Catholic but an Irish republican. The clash of cultures, creed and of ideology between their world and the world he grew up in could not be more striking.’
It has since emerged that Campbell’s natural parents were not Belfast Catholics. His mother belonged to the Church of Ireland and his father was a member of the Garda Siochana … a policeman.
The BBC man’s claims that his parents were republicans has been greeted with a mixture of fury and incredulity by his mother’s family.
Campbell’s blood aunt, Patty Stubbs, said: ‘Of course Nicky’s father wasn’t in the IRA. For one thing we’re Protestants. It’s a terrible thing to say and it’s not true.’
Campbell’s natural cousin, Ian Lackey, a 40-year-old member of the Garda, also expressed anger at the TV man’s claims. He said: ‘We didn’t know his real father’s name. My aunt never told us. But I know he wasn’t a republican. He was a public servant, a policeman like me. Getting into the police here means a rigorous security check and a suspected IRA man would certainly not get into the police. All this has been well known within the family for 10 years.’
Five years ago in an interview with Scottish journalist Joan Burnie, Nicky Campbell described the awkward first meeting with his mother, Stella Lackey.
He said: ‘It is a rite of passage for everyone who is adopted when, at last, the day comes to find the woman who gave you life, so I traced her.
‘I got her address and walked up to her door in Dublin and I said: “Hey, I’m Nicky, your son”. I mean what can I say in such a situation. I waited to feel something – but no, I didn’t.’
Last night Paul Simpson, who looks after PR for Campbell, said the broadcaster had no wish to discuss the queries over his origins. He said: ‘Nicky is only starting to research this and he stands by what he has said.’
Talking of Radio Five Live, whoever thought Fiona Phillips would make a good stand-in for Simon Mayo needs sacking. She is awful. I’ve been listening open mouthed for the past hour as she interviewed Nicholas Stern in the most excruciatingly fawning manner and then followed this with a group discussion about how like totally great Michelle Obama is and everything. It was a bit like yesterday’s Start The Week but with a not too bright schoolgirl playing the role of Andrew Marr.
Martin, that is a crude and personal attack on Nicky Campbell, with no evidence to back up your claims.
Grimer,
1) ID Cards – not been passed and unlikley to come about.
2) Smoking Bans – a good idea, will improve peoples health. Why would you support public smoking and the health effects that go with it?
3) Numerous Databases – nice and specific of you. Yes some are useless, but some are necessary. If you were a tad more specific, I would be too.
4) Detention without trial – Copied that one from the yanks I believe…
5) End to trial by jury – See above…
6) Numerous witch hunts – Unlike the old ‘lets find a commie’ days….?
7) Dirty tricks and smears – Labour do just as the Tories did. Politicians are filthy, get used to it.
8) Arresting opposition MPs – It happened once. It’s hardly a weekly occurence.
9) Corruption – Yeah, thats nothing new. Tories did it in the 90s, Labour doing it now.
10) Electoral fraud ‘that would shame a banana republic’ – When? Proof?
11) Destruction of the economy – Its in a recession, its not in permenant destruction. The bust only came about because the boom grew too big and too unchecked.
12) Creation of a client state – huh?
13) Numerous ‘consultations’, which are routinely ignored when they give the ‘wrong’ results – again, what??
14) Broken election promises relating to constitutional issues – You mean with the H of L reform? I agree, go further, get the hereds out.
Bill B:
1) I think Grimer might be referring to Labour’s straight unblinking lie in its manifesto when it promised a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
2) And “tu quoque” is a really pathetic argument from a party that boasted it was “whiter than white”.
3) Blank incomprehension, feigned or otherwise, does not constitute a rebuttal.
Bill Buchanan | 31.03.09 – 4:37 pm |
You dont half write some shite.
Bill Buchanan:
10) Electoral fraud ‘that would shame a banana republic’ – When? Proof?
Postal voting fraud, mostly involving Labour candidates in constituencies with a large proportion of Muslims.
(Birmingham and Glasgow, I think it was.)
12) Creation of a client state – huh?
All those Guardian non-jobs and featherbedding the welfare claimants is not creaing a client state of permanent Labour voters ?
11) Destruction of the economy – Its in a recession, its not in permenant destruction. The bust only came about because the boom grew too big and too unchecked.
=====
I couldn’t be bothered to rebut the other contributiuons but, really, you don’t have a clue, do you.
Just another recession you reckon? Back to normal in 6 months, eh? You simply do not understand just how big this really is, just how destructive this ‘recession’ is going to be? Just how your countrymen’s standard of living is going to be decimated.
And all becasue of one James Gordon Brwon, the one-eyed son on a manse. I could put it another way but I don’t think the comment would last.
See you in about 5 years and we’ll compare notes. If you can afford a computer that is.
Bill Buchanan: Troll alert (again)
DB: Now you know why the fat one eyed snot eater only ever went on GMTV to be interviewed by Philips and why snotty offered her a peerage and a job.
She’s perfect BBC material
“Arresting opposition MPs – It happened once. It’s hardly a weekly occurence.”
Oh well thats ok then
“4) Detention without trial – Copied that one from the yanks I believe…”
so does that legitimise it then?
“1) ID Cards – not been passed and unlikley to come about.”
Not for a lack of trying by Nulab
“14) Broken election promises relating to constitutional issues – You mean with the H of L reform? I agree, go further, get the hereds out.”
Typical..like the 90 odd hereds have any influence at all..the HoL is much worse since the hereds were largely expelled and replaced with party hacks.. Mandelson, Ahmed etc
The ‘Mail’, unlike the BBC, does not let this further Muslim demand on British society pass without comment:
“Now fire service introduces hijab headscarves” (and all-body cover) ” for Muslim workers”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1165999/Now-service-introduces-hijab-headscarves-Muslim-workers.html
The never-ending, separatist demands of Muslims on British society, is coupled with the easy, expensive, compliance by dhimmis and non-Muslims; and, inexorably, the predictable Muslims demands in this, and in scores of other demands, is part of a Islamic transitional programme (involving the Muslim Brotherhood) aiming at supremacism in the West and beyond.
On the broader issue:
‘Dhimmiwatch’ –
“The cost of monitoring Muslims in the UK” (by Hugh Fitzgerald, Oct. 2008).
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/023159.php
I’ve put in a formal complaint about the pint sized Radio 5 twat.
Jon Gaunt got sacked for calling someone a Nazi on air, I don’t see why Campbell should keep his job either.
Bill Buchanan:
Grimer,
1) ID Cards – not been passed and unlikley to come about. – That’s OK then…
2) Smoking Bans – a good idea, will improve peoples health. Why would you support public smoking and the health effects that go with it? Who are you to tell the owner of a business whether they can smoke (lawful activity) in their own home/business? Especially, when there is absolutely no evidence to link passive smoking to cancer
3) Numerous Databases – nice and specific of you. Yes some are useless, but some are necessary. If you were a tad more specific, I would be too.NHS database that will be available to 300,000 public employees. Child benefit database lost in post. Government passing laws allowing them to keep records of every email and phone call you make. Government plans to track you through social networking sites. Oh yes, nothing to worry about.
4) Detention without trial – Copied that one from the yanks I believe…So that’s OK? You don’t mind being locked up for 42 days, because the Americans thought of the idea? How accommodating of you!
5) End to trial by jury – See above…Labour abolishes a right that has existed since before the Norman conquest and you don’t give a shit? You are an absolute pillock, if you think you can trust these NuLabour scum
6) Numerous witch hunts – Unlike the old ‘lets find a commie’ days….?I think you’re confusing the UK with America. Look up McCarthyism – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism
7) Dirty tricks and smears – Labour do just as the Tories did. Politicians are filthy, get used to it.I’m amazed that anybody could argue that NuLabour are ‘no worse’ than the Tories – David Kelly’s ‘suicide’ anybody?
8) Arresting opposition MPs – It happened once. It’s hardly a weekly occurrence. So, as long as they only arrest one a month, that’s OK? A politicised police force isn’t anything to worry about? Seriously? No qualms at all? You really are a numpty.
9) Corruption – Yeah, thats nothing new. Tories did it in the 90s, Labour doing it now.I think Labour have taken things to an entirely new level. Especially, as it now seems that the ‘cash in envelopes’ saga was a load of Guardian bullshit (see outcome of Al Fayed’s court case – i.e. proven liar). Whereas, Labour are in power for a couple of months and they structure legislation according to £1million donations (F1 racing) and then flog peerages.
10) Electoral fraud ‘that would shame a banana republic’ – When? Proof? Do you even keep up with current events. Those are the words of a judge in Birmingham sentencing some NuLabour scum that had corrupted the electoral process – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/councillors-guilty-of-postal-votes-fraud-that-would-shame-a-banana-republic-531213.html
11) Destruction of the economy – Its in a recession, its not in permenant destruction. The bust only came about because the boom grew too big and too unchecked. Time will tell, but do you really think that printing money is the sign of a ‘normal’ recession?
12) Creation of a client state – huh? Five a day coordinators £35k, Breast is best coordinators £35k, millions ‘on the sick’, etc. The use of ‘tax credits’ to make people reliant on the state (i.e. ZaNuLabour)
13) Numerous ‘consultations’, which are routinely ignored when they give the ‘wrong’ results – again, what?? Heathrow, regional assemblies, transport policies, nuclear power, wind farms, etc – ZaNuLabour always ‘consult’ and then ignore.
14) Broken election promises relating to constitutional issues – You mean with the H of L reform? I agree, go further, get the hereds out.I was actually thinking about the promise of a referendum on the EU Constitution – oops, sorry, they renamed it as a treaty, so that’s OK…
Bill Buchanan | 31.03.09 – 4:37 pm | #
BBC 1 early evening News focuses on the great news about the South Downs National Park.
But they couldn’t resist the opportunity to pepper it with BBC multiculti propaganda. Their so-called Rural Affairs reporter explains that the whole project (designated since the 1940s) is to encourage “ethnic minorities to use the countryside more.”
And the point is?
How about focusing on the needs of the remaining 94% of the population? This narrow multiculti vision simply alienates the vast majority who have been disenfranchised by ZanuLabour and made to feel that we have fewer rights that the 6% of the population that this government concentrates its money and largesse upon.
Every time the Government and their mouthpiece, the BBC come out with this nonsense, the loss of votes through resentment and alienation must be huge.
Apparently for the BBC and the ‘Trust’, the issue is not the existence of the BBC licence fee, but merely that the letters which the BBC sends out demanding payment are ‘too harsh’:
BBC’s minimal report:
“Licence fee letters ‘too harsh'”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7973987.stm
‘Telegraph’ provides more critical context:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5083689/BBC-too-harsh-in-licence-fee-letters-says-BBC-Trust-report.html
Watched BBc 6PM news. Gordon is a hero
Watched ITV 6:30 news. Gordon is a twat.
I know who I believe
grimer: Buchannan is just another beeboid troll that floats in and out. I suspect it’s the same tosser that calls himself Mikewineliberal, gunnar, hillhunt, colinchase and so on.
Grimer: Campbell is a pint sized mincing Scottish Queen. He is an openly pro Liebour supporter who sticks up for scum Liebour politicians at every opportunity.
He is a shit presenter as well. His jokes are crap, he interrupts guests every five minutes to crack some unfunny joke that he repeats several times if he thinks people didn’t get it first time around (we did they’re just not funny Campbell). Campbell sums up all that is crap about Radio 5.
Martin | 31.03.09 – 3:17 pm |
Quite agree.
Martin, that is a crude and personal attack on Nicky Campbell, with no evidence to back up your claims.
Bill Buchanan | 31.03.09 – 4:32 pm |
You got anything to refute Martin’s assertion. The way I see it it’s Campbell who is guilty of a crude and personal attack
Re:Martin on Fiona Philips
‘She’s perfect BBC material’
Yes she sure is. In the ‘Scotland on Sunday’ supplement they interview different ‘celebs’ and ask them the same questions every week.
This week it was Philips:-
Q ‘Should you vote?’
A ‘Yes I always do. I vote Labour’
Always thought she was thick…been proved right methinks…
Twizzle: Sorry but that is bollocks. “Just how your countrymen’s standard of living is going to be decimated.”
Anybody caught up with a replay by the BBC of Vince Cable lauding Building Societies as bastions of prudence. The Dunfermline is, what, the fourth or fifth one to be taken over, usually just before they announce a “loss”.
Licence fee loophole needs to be closed with law change
A loophole that allows people to watch television on their computer without paying the £142 television licence should be closed by ministers, the BBC Trust said today.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6010943.ece?Submitted=true
The BBC may think they have the power to demand an extension of the TV tax to computers, but they are way off beam, even for labour liars.
Interesting is Jeremy Hunt’s comment, …that while his party still supported the principle of the licence fee to fund the BBC, the broadcaster urgently needed to find new funding models “that go with the grain of modern technology” because it “is not conceivable or practical to charge the licence fee to everyone who buys a computer”.
So they “support the principle” but perhaps not the reality. Interesting times ahead for Labour/BBC
Yes you will soon need a telly tax licence if you own a PC if the twats at the BBC Trust get their way. I have been saying this would happen for a long time and I take no satisfaction in saying – Told Ya!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166161/New-laws-force-users-pay-licence-fee-watching-BBC-online.html
I wonder if the political elite who are so in favour of the telly tax actualy pay the pax or claim it back as they do with their porn films and cable packages?
“10) Electoral fraud ‘that would shame a banana republic’ – When? Proof?”
” A Judge has delivered a devastating indictment of the postal voting system championed by ministers as he found six Labour councillors guilty of electoral fraud. He said checks against corruption were “hopelessly insecure” and accused the Government of being in denial about the risks to democracy.
Richard Mawrey QC, sitting as an electoral commissioner in Birmingham, found “overwhelming” evidence of fraud in last year’s city council elections that would “disgrace a banana republic”. The elections, where several Labour candidates bucked the trend to win, were dogged by claims of intimidation, bribery, “vote-buying’, impersonation and even the creation of a “vote-forging factory”.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/councillors-guilty-of-postal-votes-fraud-that-would-shame-a-banana-republic-531213.html
Now come back Buchanan and admit to Grimer you got it wrong.
ID Cards – actually a good idea if done right. Trouble is I don’t trust the current lot to administer anything right and I’m none to happy about the Tories or Libdems doing much better either.
Smoking – smoke in your own home, fine, thats your funeral, but don’t force your smoke on others in the work place, that is not unreasonable. Whether it is carconegenic or not (it probably is, its the question of how much), it is unpleasant for any non smoker to be forced to endure second hand smoke.
Numerous databases – yes some are necessary and some are not, but see ID cards above for the reason why they are a problem.
Detention without trial – actually we didnt copy it from the americans and this country has used in the past to lesser and greater effect, such as in the war or internment in northern ireland. There clearly is a need to stop terrorists threatening us and that alas means some loss of freedoms. Where that number of days lies though is an operational need, just one day is a loss of freedom, what is the difference between 42 and 41 days? It is an arguable judgement call. but I do expect to be protected.
Trial by jury – again see earlier that I don’t trust the current incumbents, but it is nothing new, trials by method other than jury have existed for along time. For accuracies sake I will say that trial by jury does not go back to the Norman Conquest, but I will grant it is very old.
Witch hunts, dirty tricks ansd smears – I will pass over this as it seems to be the stock in trade of all governments, needless to say Im sure the current lot are very guilty. Im not so sure anyone else would not be as well.
Arresting opposition MPs – Now that is a big one. King Charles tried it. Major fact in civil war. Got his head cut off in the end. it was bang out oforder, I don’t see how it can be defended. However whether it was at the direct behest of Brown I doubt, even he is not that stupid.
Corruption – yes that has gone on for time immemorial, the current lot are no exception. Labour take it to a new level? if so it wasn’t intentionally so, they haven’t the brains for that.
Electoral fraud – Yes, utter disgrace and we need to keep an eye out for it in future. I could point out that in local government that has alas been regular interjections of electoral fraud over the decades, not all from one party, but that would sound like justification and itmost certainly is not.
The economy is not destroyed – that talk is unjustified however angered you are about it.
Quantitative easing is new for the UK.
But then it is new for the US. It will be new for Canada. It is being repeated in Japan.
Its quite wrong to suggest only the UK is doing this measure, or is suffering ‘worst’.
That is false.
Plenty have it worse than us.
Ask Iceland, Ireland, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Spain, etc.
Ask Japan.
We are in no unique position. You allocate us a special place that we really do not have.
Things are extremely serious, what’s more they will continue to be, that is more accurate.
The consultation system is a farce, just slows decisions which 99 times out of a 100 are going to be done as is anyway.
Broken promises on constitutional issues?
As is nearly always usual, parties promise much and deliver little on this.
It was one of the few things you cannot complain about with Blair, you may not have agreed with them all but he carried several constituional reforms as promised.
Brown is the return to type for that.
He is no Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Atlee, Wilson, Thatcher or Blair.
He is more with Callaghan, Major, Eden, Heath, Douglas Home, McMillan. Sad.