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Were you up for Boris Johnson? – politicalbetting.com

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  • IshmaelZ said:

    But that is everything if you include spatial coordinates
    TSE will tell you just how much you can rely upon Oxford!
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841
    HYUFD said:

    So still 19 short
    This is going to go to an MPs VOC, which he’s going to lose, isn’t it?
  • Scott_xP said:

    Apparently the report has been delayed, so Tory MPs get a whole week of bad press and another excruciating PMQs
    It gives them time fo get sorted and act on publication
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    edited January 2022

    Give over and face reality
    Boris could also get Priti to announce a crackdown on potential terrorists and tougher asylum screening given it turns out the hostage taker in the synagogue in Texas was a British citizen
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    Are you just piling on? By subtly insinuating that Werner von Braun did more to beautify the metropolis than Mayor or PM Johnson?
    LOL. No; genuinely interested. There's also a place where there are still bits of V2 lying around, it seems, though not that one. Just an excuse for an outing somewhere eccentric - ideally with a decent pub for lunch.

    My mum's cousin lived in a classic 1930s semi in that quarter. WE used to stay with her many times when I was a child but it is only in recent years that I came to read the street and realise the history of this gap there, and a flat roof instead of a pitched roof there, and compare with the the newly published bomb maps of London.
  • RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,081
    Im surprised at how much YouTube forms a huge chunk of my daily viewing hours now. And the content / editing / info is pretty good.

    TikTok seems to be the key platform to buy into at the moment. I mean - some guy with a GoPro attached to his head getting excited about trains is strangely entertaining- and popular
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    eek said:

    The 54th letter will only arrive when everyone is certain there are 181 VONC votes ready to go.
    How will they know either of those?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288

    If the BBC is going to manage a transition to being a global player alongside Netflix it's going to need a very large dose funding to prime the pump. Whatever a new funding model looks like a two-year freeze to its current funding is the worst possible way to start this transition off. It's a route to killing the BBC, not saving it from the tyranny of the licence fee.
    Agreed.
    It would be making the same mistake all over again.
  • IshmaelZ said:

    But that is everything if you include spatial coordinates
    You can't be "highly" unique, we are all unique (unless you happen to be a clone, of course!).
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,786
    BBC1, BBC 4: Documentaries, original British drama, News, politics, sports finals, re-runs of classic stuff - free for all, out of general taxation.

    Radio 4 + all regional stations the same (regional very good during big storms etc).

    Everything else subscription. But don't sell it.
  • Scott_xP said:

    MPs waiting for Sue Gray to report before submitting their letters are cowardly.

    And stupid.

    Of course they are not

    It gives them time to agree the successors to go forward and that 181 will vote Boris out
  • Eabhal said:

    BBC1, BBC 4: Documentaries, original British drama, News, politics, sports finals, re-runs of classic stuff - free for all, out of general taxation.

    Radio 4 + all regional stations the same (regional very good during big storms etc).

    Everything else subscription. But don't sell it.

    Sky Arts has recently come onto Freeview (Channel 11). Output similar to BBC4 in most respects (and transmits before 7pm!).
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,968
    IanB2 said:

    This is going to go to an MPs VOC, which he’s going to lose, isn’t it?
    Yes. The more that come forward the more it will encourage others to do so, I expect speed up not slow down.
  • And so another week begins:

    "New No10 party revealed as Boris Johnson set to blame aides to save his job"

    https://twitter.com/MirrorPolitics/status/1482834541010108418?s=20

    Sigh. Of course there is. Of course he will.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,792
    Streaming - who can be bothered faffing around with a bloody computer/device?

    I love my Virgin Cable multiroom. Proper tellies in various spots around my house, can search for everything or watch live.

    Proper remote controls, loads of dedicated storage that each box shares with the other. All the sports in one place, iPlayer, Netflix and Prime in a single hub.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,786
    Eabhal said:

    BBC1, BBC 4: Documentaries, original British drama, News, politics, sports finals, re-runs of classic stuff - free for all, out of general taxation.

    Radio 4 + all regional stations the same (regional very good during big storms etc).

    Everything else subscription. But don't sell it.

    A lot also rests on the coverage of London Bridge. If they give in to whiny petition signers (waaaaah, why is the state broadcaster broadcasting the death of the head of state, waaah) then just get rid.
  • IanB2 said:

    This is going to go to an MPs VOC, which he’s going to lose, isn’t it?
    Yes or his resignation first
  • pm215pm215 Posts: 1,196
    Applicant said:

    If it is, then logically it should be funded from general taxation.

    Maybe so. I dunno what the 'right' way to fund the BBC is -- the license fee is notably regressive, has a massive overbearing enforcement infrastructure, and makes the cost of running a public service broadcaster more salient than is perhaps helpful. But I don't think "make it a subscription-funded service" is the way to go: the world has lots of commercially-funded subscription video services these days, and I think it's more important to look at what makes the BBC different and worth keeping, rather than to squash it into the subscription-service mould and cut off all the parts that don't fit there.

    (FWIW I pay a license fee but don't watch much TV; I do like bits of radio 4 and the BBC news website though.)
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,968
    edited January 2022
    Scott_xP said:

    MPs waiting for Sue Gray to report before submitting their letters are cowardly.

    And stupid.

    I disagree. I think it’s safety in numbers when you do this sort of thing. It’s supposed to be secret and confidential isn’t it, but…

    It might not even go to Friday and the report, at this rate of development.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,982
    edited January 2022

    Streaming - who can be bothered faffing around with a bloody computer/device?

    I love my Virgin Cable multiroom. Proper tellies in various spots around my house, can search for everything or watch live.

    Proper remote controls, loads of dedicated storage that each box shares with the other. All the sports in one place, iPlayer, Netflix and Prime in a single hub.

    That is called Sky Glass TV...not even a separate box, just plug in and off you go. All tellies have or will go this way.
  • HYUFD said:

    Boris could also get Priti to announce a crackdown on potential terrorists and tougher asylum screening given it turns out the hostage taker in the synagogue in Texas was a British citizen
    You really do not get it and Patel is the worst person to hang your hopes on

    I just do not understand why you cannot accept Boris is over
  • HYUFD said:

    Woman on Boris on BBC News 'I think what he did was wrong but he has done a lot of good things too.'

    Some hope for Boris, if he can get over this and then end Plan B and the remaining restrictions he can get back to what people voted him to be PM for

    Ever hear of the Rev. Baruch Korff, aka "Nixon's rabbi"? Not quite same thing. But close enough?

    Also, seem to recall that a Telegraph journo captured number of quotes from average voter types in North Shropshire who voiced similar support for Boris Johnson . . . on the very day of that famous by-election . . .
  • dixiedean said:

    How will they know either of those?
    The mps are all in contact with each other and they will know
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333

    Ever hear of the Rev. Baruch Korff, aka "Nixon's rabbi"? Not quite same thing. But close enough?

    Also, seem to recall that a Telegraph journo captured number of quotes from average voter types in North Shropshire who voiced similar support for Boris Johnson . . . on the very day of that famous by-election . . .
    32% still voted Tory in North Shropshire, it is at least a base for Boris to build on
  • And so another week begins:

    "New No10 party revealed as Boris Johnson set to blame aides to save his job"

    https://twitter.com/MirrorPolitics/status/1482834541010108418?s=20

    Splendid mixed metaphors in that piece:

    Rather than accept any responsibility for the scandal engulfing Downing Street, he is instead likely to throw a bunch of civil service flunkies under the bus, who could now face the axe.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,786
    Eabhal said:

    A lot also rests on the coverage of London Bridge. If they give in to whiny petition signers (waaaaah, why is the state broadcaster broadcasting the death of the head of state, waaah) then just get rid.
    In fact, the coverage is so simplified nowadays I'd rather watch a group of Constitutional lawyers/historians live stream it on twitch. Could have people asking them questions via donations, get loads of interesting insight (stuff like why is the Earl Marshal the Duke of Norfolk etc)

    A good business idea for any qualified PBers.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,792
    eek said:

    The 54th letter will only arrive when everyone is certain there are 181 VONC votes ready to go.
    Are they that well organised to know precisely how many are in? Sir Graham Brady Old Lady is sworn to secrecy apparently, so it’s probably not that easy to calculate?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    edited January 2022

    You really do not get it and Patel is the worst person to hang your hopes on

    I just do not understand why you cannot accept Boris is over
    Just merely changing the personality at the top does not mean the Tories are heading for another majority at the next general election and certainly not if that new leader is anyone but Sunak.

    However even Sunak would become unpopular quickly if his agenda for government becomes more tax rises, spending cuts and austerity and he fails to get a grip of our borders and imposes further restrictions on the vaccinated

  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,968

    The rest and more will come in on publication of Sue Gray's report

    Time to accept Boris is toast and back his successor whoever that is
    Rishi. The other options arn’t great.

    Rishi would be vast improvement on Boris at the dispatch box and he is good in interviews too.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,130
    Aslan said:

    Sancho is an outstanding winger. It isn't his fault that Man Utd are too tactically crap for his position to work.
    Pep Guardiola doesn't let an outstanding player go. J.S is vastly overrated though playing in a bad team doesn't help. He's currently the second highest paid player at Old Trafford and one of the four highest paid in the PL. I know one or two officials at the Etihad and they are bemused!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,138

    Of course they are not

    It gives them time to agree the successors to go forward and that 181 will vote Boris out

    The Lib Dems are going to call a VONC. Tory MPs will have to troop through the lobbies publicly supporting BoZo while they dither about sending their letters.

    If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
    It were done quickly:
  • HYUFD said:

    32% still voted Tory in North Shropshire, it is at least a base for Boris to build on
    What on earth are you going to do when your desperation is not enough and Boris is gone

    Of course, we all know the answer as you will forget Boris and move on
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841
    HYUFD said:

    32% still voted Tory in North Shropshire, it is at least a base for Boris to build on
    Once he’s been turfed from his job, I genuinely don’t think he’s going to be bothered.
  • HYUFD said:

    32% still voted Tory in North Shropshire, it is at least a base for Boris to build on
    What % do you think would vote Tory today?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841
    edited January 2022

    What on earth are you going to do when your desperation is not enough and Boris is gone

    Of course, we all know the answer as you will forget Boris and move on
    He’ll be telling us how he had doubts about that Boris from the start?
  • Scott_xP said:

    The Lib Dems are going to call a VONC. Tory MPs will have to troop through the lobbies publicly supporting BoZo while they dither about sending their letters.

    If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
    It were done quickly:
    The stupidity of that is that it is against Boris and not HMG so a pointless gesture
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,927
    edited January 2022
    If Boris can remove almost all restrictions on 26th January I think he might be able to regain a lot of his previous popularity with swing voters. (If this happens, voters who would never vote Tory probably won't be able to understand it).
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,644
    Scott_xP said:

    The Lib Dems are going to call a VONC. Tory MPs will have to troop through the lobbies publicly supporting BoZo while they dither about sending their letters.

    If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
    It were done quickly:
    No, it's an Early Day Motion - sort of like a press release. It won't be debated or voted on.
  • Splendid mixed metaphors in that piece:

    Rather than accept any responsibility for the scandal engulfing Downing Street, he is instead likely to throw a bunch of civil service flunkies under the bus, who could now face the axe.
    The uproar across our country will engulf him and he will be forced out in disgrace

    Then the senior civil servants responsible can follow
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,982
    edited January 2022
    Roger said:

    Pep Guardiola doesn't let an outstanding player go. J.S is vastly overrated though playing in a bad team doesn't help. He's currently the second highest paid player at Old Trafford and one of the four highest paid in the PL. I know one or two officials at the Etihad and they are bemused!
    Guardiola didn't let him go, Sancho walked out. They offered him a big contract, he wouldn't sign it and then went AWOL and refused to turn up to training until they transferred him.

    Pep Guardiola has accused Jadon Sancho of reneging on a verbal agreement to sign a professional contract with Manchester City, but admitted the England Under-17 winger will have more chance of playing first team football at Borussia Dortmund this season. Sancho rejected an eye-watering £30,000 a week offer from City.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/08/pep-guardiola-left-puzzled-jadon-sanchos-decision-leave-manchester/
  • HYUFD said:

    Just merely changing the personality at the top does not mean the Tories are heading for another majority at the next general election and certainly not if that new leader is anyone but Sunak.

    However even Sunak would become unpopular quickly if his agenda for government becomes more tax rises, spending cuts and austerity and he fails to get a grip of our borders and imposes further restrictions on the vaccinated

    You need to accept it is over no matter what follows
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    The point about streaming is the ability to watch sports and events no TV company is covering.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841

    Splendid mixed metaphors in that piece:

    Rather than accept any responsibility for the scandal engulfing Downing Street, he is instead likely to throw a bunch of civil service flunkies under the bus, who could now face the axe.
    They won’t like “flunkies”, not at all.

    Flunkies makes you think of the palace staff carrying Charles’s special toilet rolls about on plump red cushions.

    Press officers and policy wonks and correspondence clerks won’t like that description at all.
  • Rishi. The other options arn’t great.

    Rishi would be vast improvement on Boris at the dispatch box and he is good in interviews too.
    He has always been my choice and my mp knows that
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,968

    We do seem to agree quite a bit which is good
    I am a Libdem at the end of the day. But not one who would think it helpful to sign up to another party just to vote for someone dangerous and stupid as it’s leader. All the parties, and party leaders, being fit for office suits me. Soon as we get back to that, fighting over votes and seats on the merits of policy and priority of issues, our elections, our democracy, our country will be in a much better place.

    The first purpose of political parties is to help educate us all on issues, when they explain their unique take on them.

    Out of all Boris sins, the fluid lying and bs is the worst - politicians must at least make an effort to tell the truth, like to their own supporters and the electorate about how much can be delivered and how soon. We need to get back to that. Boris needs to go, Rishi needs to head up a fresh new government.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited January 2022
    IanB2 said:

    They won’t like “flunkies”, not at all.

    Flunkies makes you think of the palace staff carrying Charles’s special toilet rolls about on plump red cushions.

    Press officers and policy wonks and correspondence clerks won’t like that description at all.
    I don't know. Flunkies sound like very useful people, if you have ever had to defecate with the help of Izal toilet paper (a 1960s thing, I think). It was like greaseproof paper, only it smelt. Even before one did one's best with it.

    https://sheffielder.net/2020/04/02/izal-the-invisible-guardian-against-risks-to-health/
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,792

    That is called Sky Glass TV...not even a separate box, just plug in and off you go. All tellies have or will go this way.
    Yes, Sky Glass looks good. Presumably the downside is you don’t get to pick the TV? I have a couple of 24” in certain spots where a larger model either wouldn’t fit or would look stupid.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,941
    He has no shame. That is a statement of fact, not of moral values. So he'll tough it out. He won't "throw civil service flunkies under the bus" and he will take the Conservatives into the next GE.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824

    The stupidity of that is that it is against Boris and not HMG so a pointless gesture
    The Lib Dems can't call a VONC. Only HM Opposition can do that.
    And it would be pointless as you say. So Labour won't.
    Methinks this is the LD needing some publicity.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    edited January 2022
    Andy_JS said:

    If Boris can remove almost all restrictions on 26th January I think he might be able to regain a lot of his previous popularity with swing voters. (If this happens, voters who would never vote Tory probably won't be able to understand it).

    Indeed, according to Yougov's latest poll 25% of 2019 Tory voters are now Don't Know and 7% back Reform UK.

    However only 9% of 2019 Tory voters back Labour now and just 3% back the LDs

    https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/48dfh8v55q/TheTimes_VI_220113_W.pdf
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,644
    As I see multiple posts based on misunderstandings:

    1. There isn't a VONC at present. There's an early day motion which a few MPs have signed. That's not going anywhere - it's like a letter in the Times expressing a view.
    2. Sue Gray's report is now not expected until the week after next.

    I doubt if a formal VONC will be placed before Sue's report appears. So prepare for nothing much to happen for a few days, unless the report of 35 letters is right (doubtful if anyone knows for sure, except the 1922 guy) and another 19 join in.
  • dixiedean said:

    The Lib Dems can't call a VONC. Only HM Opposition can do that.
    And it would be pointless as you say. So Labour won't.
    Methinks this is the LD needing some publicity.
    It is not even involving a vote
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,982
    edited January 2022

    Yes, Sky Glass looks good. Presumably the downside is you don’t get to pick the TV? I have a couple of 24” in certain spots where a larger model either wouldn’t fit or would look stupid.
    Not the main tv, you have to have one of the glass tvs, but then there is a doggle you plug into any other tv and it just works.

    We will see this become normal across all tvs, rather than currently needing a firestick or chrome to get all the extra functionality.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    IanB2 said:

    BREAKING: The Times is reporting that at least 35 letters are already in

    Fun if only 53 come in.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,792
    Eabhal said:

    A lot also rests on the coverage of London Bridge. If they give in to whiny petition signers (waaaaah, why is the state broadcaster broadcasting the death of the head of state, waaah) then just get rid.
    That can be on BBC1 for sure. Doesn’t need to be on every single channel and radio station.
  • JonathanDJonathanD Posts: 2,400

    Splendid mixed metaphors in that piece:

    Rather than accept any responsibility for the scandal engulfing Downing Street, he is instead likely to throw a bunch of civil service flunkies under the bus, who could now face the axe.
    Shades of 2009 era Gordon Brown:

    "Making a clean breast about McBride's emails, Brown said: "I am sorry about what happened."
    ....
    "I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately."


    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/apr/16/gordon-brown-apology-email-smear
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,690

    That is called Sky Glass TV...not even a separate box, just plug in and off you go. All tellies have or will go this way.
    No, Sky are onto a huge money loser with Glass. The TVs are shite and people want their Samsung, Sony and LG OLED TVs and there's no way the big three bother with a custom firmware for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Italy. The cost for Sky per unit would be massive and there's also no chance that the major manufacturers will allow Sky to customise their software aftermarket.

    They need an all internet box of their own like Apple or Amazon but to also not completely devalue their offering. A TV that people don't want because it's a rebadged Hisense with Sky Q as the software interface isn't going to cut it.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841
    dixiedean said:

    The Lib Dems can't call a VONC. Only HM Opposition can do that.
    And it would be pointless as you say. So Labour won't.
    Methinks this is the LD needing some publicity.
    Actually, they can table one - both the LibDems and SNP did so to Mrs May - but only one tabled by the official opposition is guaranteed parliamentary time. A minor party motion could be debated if one of their very rare allocations of time is coming around, or if the Speaker decides it merits debate (the latter being most unlikely, given the convention).
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    I've said before. If I were Sue Gray I'd come out and say the sheer number of incidents and witnesses makes it impossible to report before Summer.
    Put it back on the MP's. Who clearly know what has to be done, but want cover. For some reason.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,714

    The uproar across our country will engulf him and he will be forced out in disgrace

    Then the senior civil servants responsible can follow
    What, the senior civil servants responsible for Boris's failings? Those ones?
  • What, the senior civil servants responsible for Boris's failings? Those ones?
    Boris has to go but so do those who organised these parties
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    IanB2 said:

    Actually, they can table one - both the LibDems and SNP did so to Mrs May - but only one tabled by the official opposition is guaranteed parliamentary time. A minor party motion could be debated if one of their very rare allocations of time is coming around, or if the Speaker decides it merits debate (the latter being most unlikely, given the convention).
    Fair enough. But that still means it won't happen.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,982
    edited January 2022
    MaxPB said:

    No, Sky are onto a huge money loser with Glass. The TVs are shite and people want their Samsung, Sony and LG OLED TVs and there's no way the big three bother with a custom firmware for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Italy. The cost for Sky per unit would be massive and there's also no chance that the major manufacturers will allow Sky to customise their software aftermarket.

    They need an all internet box of their own like Apple or Amazon but to also not completely devalue their offering. A TV that people don't want because it's a rebadged Hisense with Sky Q as the software interface isn't going to cut it.
    They won't need custom firmware, surely just have an app in the same way as every other service like Netflix. They are all running andriod underneath.

    I don't see why your tv just becomes an internet capable device same as an ipad and you stick your entertainment apps on. Amazon Firestick already is this.
  • dixiedean said:

    I've said before. If I were Sue Gray I'd come out and say the sheer number of incidents and witnesses makes it impossible to report before Summer.
    Put it back on the MP's. Who clearly know what has to be done, but want cover. For some reason.

    That would be just be unacceptable

    The report needs to be published urgently
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    edited January 2022

    That can be on BBC1 for sure. Doesn’t need to be on every single channel and radio station.
    It does, there should be a month of national mourning for the death of Her Majesty, one of our greatest ever monarchs.

    I want to see wall to wall solemn music and black on every TV channel and radio station before the funeral and the funeral itself must be broadcast on all the main channels too.

    Anyone who complains gets sent to the Tower until the period of mourning is over
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,690

    They won't need custom firmware, surely just have an app in the same way as every other service like Netflix. They are all running andriod underneath.
    That's not really something people are going to pay £70 a month for though. An Android TV app competes with £8/m Disney+ and £12/m Netflix.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,910

    Im surprised at how much YouTube forms a huge chunk of my daily viewing hours now. And the content / editing / info is pretty good.

    TikTok seems to be the key platform to buy into at the moment. I mean - some guy with a GoPro attached to his head getting excited about trains is strangely entertaining- and popular

    I don't watch much YouTube anymore - too many adverts.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,941
     

    That would be just be unacceptable

    The report needs to be published urgently
    Though the reporting of those misdemeanors by the Lord of Misrule was not very urgent was it? After nearly 2 years!

  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,786
    edited January 2022
    dixiedean said:

    I've said before. If I were Sue Gray I'd come out and say the sheer number of incidents and witnesses makes it impossible to report before Summer.
    Put it back on the MP's. Who clearly know what has to be done, but want cover. For some reason.

    I'm surprised she didn't when the Met said her report would influence their decision to investigate.

    I'm no expert on these matters, but I thought that was disgraceful from the police. She's a civil servant, not a sworn constable (or whatever the legal term is), and she shouldn't have the power to inform a charging decision.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824

    That would be just be unacceptable

    The report needs to be published urgently
    Rather than accurate?
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,138
    EXCL: Our @benglaze reveals that Boris Johnson attended yet another No 10 leaving bash in run-up to Christmas 2020 - that of defence adviser Steve Higham, now captain of Britain’s biggest warship. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/new-no10-party-revealed-boris-25962670
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,910
    HYUFD said:

    It does, there should be a month of national mourning for the death of Her Majesty, one of our greatest ever monarchs.

    I want to see wall to wall solemn music and black on every TV channel and radio station before the funeral and the funeral itself must be broadcast on all the main channels too.

    Anyone who complains gets sent to the Tower until the period of mourning is over
    Lol good luck with that
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,714
    Boris is finished. We don't need opinion polls or smart-arse commentators to tell us that.

    All we need is HYUFD's posts over the last few days. Read carefully: our man from Epping has given up the ghost, and is barely hanging on in quiet desperation (in the English way). He thinks it's all over. It is now. The writing is on the wall. Boris's days are numbered.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,286
    New thread.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,130
    edited January 2022

    I agree the seat is at risk, but to be fair to Boris I expect he'd take defeat with a cheery laugh, whatever he privately thought, and a couple more years running the country with a chance to leave with his reputation less damaged must have its appeal.

    I'm encountering a few people who are not exactly Boris loyalists (they all think he lies) but who express similar comments to DavidL - they're tired of people who they don't admire (Labour politicians, journalists) piling on, feel vaguely it was a year ago and he's apologised, and would rather move on. If Sue Gray's report is not especially focused on him, I'd think that tendency will strengthen.

    It's entertaining to see all the expectation management about it, anyway.

    You make a good point. Too much sanctimony from the opposition will be self defeating. Though there are lots of people who despise Johnson there is only so much kicking people are prepared to watch before they start feeling squeamish.

    Humour and ridicule is the best tactic. Jess Phillips hit just the right note today as as she so often does. I don't remember the whole line but it was beautifully patronising and ended with something like 'We deserve better"
  • Eabhal said:

    Watching the Argyll divorce thing on the BBC.

    The royal coat of arms is the English version, not the Scots one in the Court of Session. If the BBC can't get that right, then what is the point of it?

    SELL

    Surely NOT too high a standard for the BBC? Surely NOT for those of us admirers and consumers!

    For Americans of a certain age, it's an abbreviation that immediately summons to mind - freedom, integrity and the best of British.

    > A free people with free institutions (warts and all) with high standards of reliability & responsibility.
    > Broadcasting truth (or a reasonably facsimile) to the world, including men and women huddled in front of their radios, listening under threat of arrest or worse for the word in a bit of code ("berce mon coeur d'une langueur monotone") to go out into the night to strike another blow for freedom versus tyranny.
    > And doing it in a classically British way; indeed, for us perhaps THE definition of what "British" is all about (beyond red coats, powdered wigs and warm beer that is).

    Totally romantic crap. And very positive, appealing crap we are loath to abandon, even if we could.

    One reason for the great success of British content on PBS most notably in the early days (1960-70s) "Masterpiece Theater" which BTW was probably my mother's favorite TV series of all time (next to "I Love Lucy"). And also for making Monty Python and Doctor Who huge hits with the next generation(s).

    NOTE that for most Americans (even those who know better) "BBC" means anything British that's broadcast. Like saying generic use of coke (as in the beverage) or the way you say "hoover"

    Brits have every right - and apparently many good(ish) grounds - for criticizing-abusing-denouncing the Beeb. But do NOT be shocked when it rolls like Malvern water off a mallard's back.
  • This thread has been deported from Australia

  • Just for you @HYUFD

    Robert Syms, the conservative mp for Poole is considering joining those who have submitted letters telling the Telegraph

    'Like my colleague, Tim Loughton, I am considering whether or not I aught to put in a letter'

    He added

    'I have had e mails from what I would call Christian, decent, honest, honourable types of conservative voters who say they feel embarrassed about voting conservative with Boris Johnson'
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    HYUFD said:

    It does, there should be a month of national mourning for the death of Her Majesty, one of our greatest ever monarchs.

    I want to see wall to wall solemn music and black on every TV channel and radio station before the funeral and the funeral itself must be broadcast on all the main channels too.

    Anyone who complains gets sent to the Tower until the period of mourning is over
    Is there planning permission for the sizeable extension?
    Folk won't wear that.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,281

    I may have temper my legendary modesty.
    I see you still can't tell the difference between "legendary" and "mythical"....
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    dixiedean said:

    Is there planning permission for the sizeable extension?
    Folk won't wear that.
    They will have to wear it if the government tells them to do it, it is supposed to be a Tory government after all and was elected as such (though hopefully Her Majesty has many years left)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    MaxPB said:

    Yes, but produced by a UK company. Starz are a bit like Netflix, they just pay the bill. The production houses that make these great quality shows are the value, not the show. The BBC is simply unable to purchase them because they don't have the financial firepower that Sony or Disney do ($150bn and $250bn corporations). All of our great production companies are being bought up.
    We’ve had a Conservative government in power for over a decade.
    I thought they were supposed to get this stuff ?
    They starved the BBC for funding while vetoing the few proposals to do anything constructive about putting it a position to compete in the market.

    Our creative sector is going to go the same way as much of our manufacturing.
  • MJWMJW Posts: 1,999
    Leon said:

    I can easily see a big American company making Call The Midwife. They love British talent (to the extent American actors and creatives complain Brits get too many jobs), they like filming in Britain (cheaper, interesting, London), they like British stories (which sell well around the world)

    Call The Midwife’s central premise is very strong, and made for TV dramatization. Peaky Blinders is a massive hit in America so there’s no aversion to working class UK narratives

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/sep/20/brad-pitt-snoop-dogg-asap-rocky-peaky-blinders-steven-knight-gangster-series?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    This is not an argument for demolishing the Beeb, but the idea our stories would not get told without it is silly.

    Now, the Archers, there you have me. I doubt Netflix would make that. But it must cost about £30 a year to make so if it’s threatened you could probably make it yourself, in a shed
    The thing is though with the odd exception they largely wouldn't or would do it badly - as what they tend to do is buy up the talent once they've cut their teeth and proven there's an audience, critical and commercial, for their work. Peaky Blinders is an interesting example. Despite a pretty star-studded cast for a UK show and Steven Knight having Hollywood connections, when it first debuted it wasn't to huge promotional fanfare as it wasn't a familiar backdrop and was pretty quirky in its style - a seemingly niche gritty drama set in a part of Britain rarely seen that used more mainstream stylistic devices. Now, Knight could probably get anything he wanted made now because of Peaky Blinders (he just wrote Spencer), and was fairly established when he made it, having cut his teeth on BBC comedy - but not sure the next person with the next slightly offbeat idea is likely to get it made by Netflix, Amazon or Hollywood over writers, directors and stars a proven track record. They'd chuck loads of money at Julian Fellowes rather than giving a well-regarded playwright best known for her work in the '80s a chance to write period dramas before pitching her Call the Midwife adaptation. Whereas the BBC can and has to take that risk as it both fulfills its public service remit and is cost-effective - because they can't afford to tie-down Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Armando Iannucci, or Charlie Brooker once they become in demand, or offer someone £90m to do The Crown - so have to look for the next big thing and new idea that might be a hit. They may take a risk on occasion, but in general we'd have a lot more impoverished British cultural landscape without the BBC.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,130

    Guardiola didn't let him go, Sancho walked out. They offered him a big contract, he wouldn't sign it and then went AWOL and refused to turn up to training until they transferred him.

    Pep Guardiola has accused Jadon Sancho of reneging on a verbal agreement to sign a professional contract with Manchester City, but admitted the England Under-17 winger will have more chance of playing first team football at Borussia Dortmund this season. Sancho rejected an eye-watering £30,000 a week offer from City.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/08/pep-guardiola-left-puzzled-jadon-sanchos-decision-leave-manchester/
    That ISN'T the full and accurate story.
  • I don't watch much YouTube anymore - too many adverts.
    There do seem to be more adverts than used to be the case, though you (we) could pay for an ad-free experience.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,347

    Before you go, if you think acting someone of a different ethnicity is "cultural appropriation" and implicitly wrong, might you be able to answer my Tiger Woods questions?
    I don't think that. Even the suggestion degrades the term.
    @noneoftheabove
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,347
    edited January 2022
    kle4 said:

    Really? There seems to have been some pretty measured commentary including a point that labelling all things woke is taken way too far, and that there are industries in the creative issues around representation and some surprising figures being clear there is no issue with things like black actors playing what would in the past have been white roles, and I haven't noticed anything about takeover of the West.

    Perhaps we are reading different threads, as otherwise that seems like a dismissive and inaccurate piece of strawmanning which imports motivations not written which would be rightly objected to in the other direction.

    And at 70,000 I'd say that was time for a break.
    Ah, that was because by the time I wrote and posted it - I'm slow - the thread had developed for the better. Enjoy your break anyway. Might join you soon.
    @kle4
This discussion has been closed.