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  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Blue_rog said:

    Plato said:

    C4 Fact Check re Thatcher myths http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-the-thatcher-myths/13236

    Number One:

    Thatcher the milk snatcher

    From the same article. Manufacturing output declined from 25% - 23% GDP 1980 - 1990 (Thatcher) but collapsed from 17% - 11% 2000 - 2010 (Blair/Brown)
    Not to mention Mrs Thatcher's pro-Europe stance.
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    I don't think anyone believe Dan Hodges is a closet Tory. The belief is that he's a spoof
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    Interesting...

    The Premier League (football) will not be holding any sign of respect following Maggie's death, however Saracens and Exeter (rugby union) will. Now how does that adage about what type of person plays which sport go?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495

    GIN1138 said:

    Ugh, the mean spirited carping from the left about the cost of Baroness Thatchers funeral and recalling Parliament is doing them no favours at all.

    It's easy to forget just how chlidish, vindictive and silly lefties can be until something like this happens and your reminded again why you voted for Cameron in 2010 primarily to ensure Labour went into Opposition...

    It was Richard Nabavi who criticised the recall of Parliament here - I agree he's worryingly left-wing, but one must tolerate these Marxist types in the interest of free speech. :-)

    Generally speaking people on the left haven't reacted much to MT's death. It's sad when anyone dies, she was a very significant figure in recent British history, and we often disagreed with her but this isn't the moment to dwell on that. It's difficult to go much beyond that and with variations that's what we've nearly all said. There are always a few people who like to stir it, but when it gets down to George Galloway and some guys in Brixton it's obviously fringe stuff.
    There is far too much sycophantic gushing from the opposite corner however. It is way way beyond what is sensible.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,585
    malcolmg said:



    Yes , and unlike many other outlets they know which country and animal it came from.

    If its from the UK chances are they either own or buy all the output of the farm it came from.
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300



    I am not saying Hodges is a Tory. I am saying he is writing for a Tory audience. He delivers what they want to read.

    Does he? Surely Hodges is too one-note even for the Bufton Tuftons: X has happened; it's a disaster for Ed Miliband.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668

    Mr. Observer, could it be the baby-eating smearing from political opponents?

    I see very little difference between the oft-cited myths on the left on those from the right based on Labour hating Britian and its history, Labour importing immigrants so that they will vote Labour, Labour upping benefit spend just to create a client state that votes Labour, Labour increasing public sector employment only because it wanted to increase its votes, and so on.

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668



    I am not saying Hodges is a Tory. I am saying he is writing for a Tory audience. He delivers what they want to read.

    Does he? Surely Hodges is too one-note even for the Bufton Tuftons: X has happened; it's a disaster for Ed Miliband.

    Some clearly lap it up!

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Blue_rog said:

    Interesting...

    The Premier League (football) will not be holding any sign of respect following Maggie's death, however Saracens and Exeter (rugby union) will. Now how does that adage about what type of person plays which sport go?

    I wonder if there will be silences before rugby games played in Wales this weekend.

  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Hague puts Thatcher's funeral cost in context:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22086690

    "Mr Hague said Lady Thatcher had won a rebate from Europe in 1984 that had brought in £75bn so far."

    Of course, it would have been more had not Blair sacrificed some for reform of the CAP.....
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    I suppose Rosie Winterton won't try to move the SS writ in the middle of the tribute sitting, right?


  • I am not saying Hodges is a Tory. I am saying he is writing for a Tory audience. He delivers what they want to read.

    Does he? Surely Hodges is too one-note even for the Bufton Tuftons: X has happened; it's a disaster for Ed Miliband.
    SeanT had a theory about why Dan Hodges is so bad as a writer.

    He's one of the very few people in the world who after the age of three, has seen his mother's "Gangsta Sporran" usually on TV
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited April 2013

    Anorak said:

    Hollande declares war on tax havens. "Look squirrel" or "tilting at windmills"?

    Neither, really.
    Hmm. Second para of the beeb article: He was speaking after presenting a draft law aimed at "moralising" French public life - a response to the tax scandal that has shaken his presidency.

    Seems a bit "look squirrel" to me, and to the BBC.
    All governments, including our own, are for international action against tax havens. There are summits but nothing ever happens.
    Seems a bit "tilting at windmills" to me. Maybe they just recognise that a sovereign nation has the right to set up a tax regime however it damn well pleases?
  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    carl said:

    Financier said:

    @malcolmg


    BTW I enjoy a slice of a genuine Melton Mowbray pie as much as the next person, but with salad and not chips.


    Unlike those grubby northern Morrisons-shopping chip guzzlers, you mean?

    Maggie would be proud of you today.
    @ carl

    No it is better for my waistline - or so I hope.

    The point I was trying to make is that if a product mix works in one part of the country (any country) then it is marketing and business folly to assume that the same product mix will work in another part of that country.

    I am still amazed that Morrisons did not appear to do the appropriate market research before the Safeway acquisition.

    Yes, Morrisons are now trying to catch up with their Market Street, but they are as expensive as my local butcher who has his own abattoir and hangs the meat for the right period of time and can tell me the name of the farm where and how it was bred.

    FYI, my politics are the politics of common sense and am not a member of any political party.
  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916

    Blue_rog said:

    Interesting...

    The Premier League (football) will not be holding any sign of respect following Maggie's death, however Saracens and Exeter (rugby union) will. Now how does that adage about what type of person plays which sport go?

    I wonder if there will be silences before rugby games played in Wales this weekend.

    Most probably in memory of three more of their key international players being lost to French and English clubs. The Welsh players are just following the money.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    Financier said:

    carl said:

    Financier said:

    @malcolmg


    BTW I enjoy a slice of a genuine Melton Mowbray pie as much as the next person, but with salad and not chips.


    Unlike those grubby northern Morrisons-shopping chip guzzlers, you mean?

    Maggie would be proud of you today.
    @ carl

    No it is better for my waistline - or so I hope.

    The point I was trying to make is that if a product mix works in one part of the country (any country) then it is marketing and business folly to assume that the same product mix will work in another part of that country.

    I am still amazed that Morrisons did not appear to do the appropriate market research before the Safeway acquisition.

    Yes, Morrisons are now trying to catch up with their Market Street, but they are as expensive as my local butcher who has his own abattoir and hangs the meat for the right period of time and can tell me the name of the farm where and how it was bred.

    FYI, my politics are the politics of common sense and am not a member of any political party.
    Are you really saying that ASDA , Tesco , M&S etc have different products across the country , apart from a few regional variations.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,433
    Plato said:

    OT The Julian Calendar?!

    RT @Cmdr_Hadfield: Good Morning, Earth! We use Julian dates onboard, and thus it is the 100th day of 2013. Time sure flies at 8 km/sec!

    The Julian Calender is used by astronomers and others to keep track of days, with none of the messy mucking around with months, years and leap years. Technically the tweeter is wrong, as he is referring to a Julian Day Number (an integer) and including a year, rather than a Julian Date (which is the Julian Day Number plus a fraction for the amount of day elapsed). He means Ordinal Date.

    For instance, at midnight the current Julian Day Number was 2456392, and the Julian Date was 245639.5. The Ordinal Date is (I think) 2013/100. The Julian Day starts at midday UTC, I think so that astronomers can get a full night using the same number. Although that falls down for astronomers in the Southern Hemisphere.

    Although the epoch of the JD is 4,713 BCE, it becomes difficult to convert between JD and calender date due to the various calender changes (e.g. Gregorian to Julian), which occurred at different times in different localities.

    And the reason I knew all this: many moons ago I was tasked with creating a calender application that would deal accurately with many different dates. I based it on some astronomical code, but it proved almost impossible to internationalise it accurately for all territories.

    "Give us our eleven days!"

    I'll get my coat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_day
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    The Telegraph blogs cover the full range of opinion, from those held by ordinary members of the public to the mildly obsessive to the eminently sectionable. Given the decline in newspaper sales in recent years, it's very sensible for the Telegraph to cover all bases in this way.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    This may not end well!

    But congratulations. You'll give Toby Young a run for his money.

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,956
    edited April 2013
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    I'm so glad I subscribed to the Telegraph yesterday.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    It's good to see the Telegraph blogs strengthened at the barking at the moon end of the spectrum. Congratulations, SeanT. Try to last longer than Kelvin McKenzie.
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    Caroline Lucas confirms she won't attend Parliament today.
  • @Malcolm

    " TSE, because mostly they are To**ers and usually silly oicks who think they are better than other people whilst in fact being Richard heads."

    Out of the mouths of babes and leftards.......
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    tim said:

    Market Street is Morrisons attetempt to catch up, as opposed to being their original selling point.
    The things we learn on PB

    :)
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    You may be a new ongoing challenge for their legal team. Good luck with your new venture.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,956
    edited April 2013
    I have to admit I'm slightly disappointed in SeanT signing up at the telegraph.

    If he had signed up for the Guardian/CiF, that would have been much much more interesting and entertaining.

    The entry about the bedroom tax is giving him the horn would have been fun.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,433
    Congrats Sean. I see you've started off in a middle, rather than low gear.

    (Actually, do you have a low gear?)
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    An Economist's view on Thatcher's economic legacy:

    http://www.voxeu.org/article/economic-legacy-mrs-thatcher

    In sum, Thatcherism was a partial solution to the problems which had led to earlier underperformance, in particular, those that had arisen from weak competition (Crafts 2012). The reforms encouraged the effective diffusion of new technology rather than greater invention and worked more through reducing inefficiency than promoting investment-led growth. They addressed relative economic decline through improving TFP and reducing the NAIRU. At the same time, the short-term implications were seriously adverse for many workers as unemployment rose and manufacturing rapidly shed two million jobs while income inequality surged, to no small extent as a result of benefit reforms.

    Indeed, any judgement on Thatcherism turns heavily on value judgements concerning the relative importance of income distribution and economic growth as policy objectives. The 1980s saw a very rapid increase in the Gini coefficient by about nine percentage points, which has turned out to be largely permanent. Ultimately, the Thatcher experiment was about making a liberal market economy work better. There will be those who think a German-style coordinated market economy is preferable. That was not really an option available to Mrs Thatcher but in any event it was hardly a vision of which she approved.
  • SeanT said:

    antifrank said:

    It's good to see the Telegraph blogs strengthened at the barking at the moon end of the spectrum. Congratulations, SeanT. Try to last longer than Kelvin McKenzie.

    lol. How long did Kelvin last?

    I already had to tone down my first blog because the editor said "this will get me sacked".

    I reckon I'll last 3-6 months before I either bore everyone to death, or I am thrown overboard when I blog drunk, with predictable consequences. I'm bad enough sober.
    Kelvin lasted one column.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/05/kelvin-mackenzie-dropped-daily-telegraph
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @Carlotta Vance

    'Hague puts Thatcher's funeral cost in contex'

    Or maybe the equivalent of the cost of a day's fighting in Iraq for fantasy WMD's.

  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    I think Mrs Thatcher herself wouldn't have liked Parliament being recalled or the cost of the funeral.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    Just read it Sean, great piece but you should go more risky. I look forward to some blogs more akin to your posts on here :-)
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    SeanT said:

    antifrank said:

    It's good to see the Telegraph blogs strengthened at the barking at the moon end of the spectrum. Congratulations, SeanT. Try to last longer than Kelvin McKenzie.

    I already had to tone down my first blog because the editor said "this will get me sacked".

    Be a nice chap and post the unexpurgated version here.
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    AndyJS said:

    I think Mrs Thatcher herself wouldn't have liked ... the cost of the funeral.

    I thought the plans were being carried out according to her wishes.

  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    edited April 2013
    @SeanT - Great article, and especially encouraging to see that you've charged the Telegraph for a rehash of an article you wrote a while back for another rag. That's real professionalism.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    And the first blog aimed right at their demographic too....

  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,141
    edited April 2013
    <blockquote class="Quote" rel="scampi">
    Out of the mouths of babes and leftards.......</blockquote>

    I'm sure Malcolm is flattered that you think he's a babe..
  • The big question, will the Telegraph allow Sean to called Cameroon, Ponceyboots Gaylord?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,141

    The big question, will the Telegraph allow Sean to called Cameroon, Ponceyboots Gaylord?

    In the contract I should imagine.

  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Financier said:

    hucks67 said:

    Look what happens after George Osborne visits a company !

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/10/morrisons-axes-700-more-jobs

    Does misfortune follow Osborne around ?

    When Morrisons bought Safeway (mainly southern UK), it changed the Safeway product mix to more of the northern Morrisons product mix - pies and more pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets etc. It is still struggling to recognise that the requirements of the southern UK shopper are often different to those of its northern stronghold.

    The redundancies mentioned in the Guardian are due to technology and cheaper employment costs outside the UK.
    Not much can be done about those until we reduce employment costs in the UK to be more competitive globally.


    I did not believe you could be any more condescending or write even more horse manure than normal, but that takes the biscuit. Having lived in the south you are obviously either having a laugh or are a sandwich short of a picnic ( no pun intended you can substitute a slice short of a pie if needed ).
    Financier is right though. The Leicester Safeway had a good range of products, now it is Morrisons it is definitly more down market. In Leicester it is quite busy, but not doing so well in more prosperous places. Margins are lower on low value products. I rarely shop there now.
    Fox, He may be correct in his facts around choice of products, but his pathetic sweeping dig that people in the south are superior to the people in the north who only eat pies and crap was way over the top. The man is an imbecile or not all there.
    Morrisons was a northern based chain gone national, but is more down market of Safeway, and plenty of sugar filled hydrogenated fat products in Leicester. Not my cup of tea ty but as I said is busy here. While geography affects diet, social class and income are probably more significant. It is not the balmy climate that means southerners live longer than those in the north or Scotland, it is more to do with diet, obesity and smoking. Grocers have to stock what their customers want.
    Fox, you follow Financier by making sweeping statements that all in the North die young. When you take off your southern blinkers you will find that many people in the north live long lives , that there are shops that stock healthy food and there are actually some affluent people.
    I will state once again having lived in the south , both you and Financier are talking bollocks. The supermarkets there stock mostly the exact same products as they do throughout the country apart from some regional variations. There are as many pies down south as up north and only up themselves tw*ts would state otherwise. I could safely bet that I have at least as good and healthy a diet as you or Financier. You do yourself no favour by quoting stereotypes.
    You might want to slow down and actually read what I wrote. I stated that mortality rates had more to do with class and income than geography. I am fully aware that there are wealthy people in the North as I was born in Wigan to parents from Manchester, and live in the East Midlands not the South. All the Financier and I have pointed out is that some marketing works better in North or South. As true of grocers as political parties.
  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    edited April 2013
    Those who think the security services should not have surveillance powers should read this, and ask themselves how these guys came to be noticed by MI5:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22091107
  • AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited April 2013

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    Financier said:

    hucks67 said:

    Look what happens after George Osborne visits a company !

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/10/morrisons-axes-700-more-jobs

    Does misfortune follow Osborne around ?

    When Morrisons bought Safeway (mainly southern UK), it changed the Safeway product mix to more of the northern Morrisons product mix - pies and more pies, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets etc. It is still struggling to recognise that the requirements of the southern UK shopper are often different to those of its northern stronghold.

    The redundancies mentioned in the Guardian are due to technology and cheaper employment costs outside the UK.
    Not much can be done about those until we reduce employment costs in the UK to be more competitive globally.


    I did not believe you could be any more condescending or write even more horse manure than normal, but that takes the biscuit. Having lived in the south you are obviously either having a laugh or are a sandwich short of a picnic ( no pun intended you can substitute a slice short of a pie if needed ).
    Financier is right though. The Leicester Safeway had a good range of products, now it is Morrisons it is definitly more down market. In Leicester it is quite busy, but not doing so well in more prosperous places. Margins are lower on low value products. I rarely shop there now.
    Fox, He may be correct in his facts around choice of products, but his pathetic sweeping dig that people in the south are superior to the people in the north who only eat pies and crap was way over the top. The man is an imbecile or not all there.
    Morrisons was a northern based chain gone national, but is more down market of Safeway, and plenty of sugar filled hydrogenated fat products in Leicester. Not my cup of tea ty but as I said is busy here. While geography affects diet, social class and income are probably more significant. It is not the balmy climate that means southerners live longer than those in the north or Scotland, it is more to do with diet, obesity and smoking. Grocers have to stock what their customers want.
    Fox, you follow Financier by making sweeping statements that all in the North die young. When you take off your southern blinkers you will find that many people in the north live long lives , that there are shops that stock healthy food and there are actually some affluent people.
    I will state once again having lived in the south , both you and Financier are talking bollocks. The supermarkets there stock mostly the exact same products as they do throughout the country apart from some regional variations. There are as many pies down south as up north and only up themselves tw*ts would state otherwise. I could safely bet that I have at least as good and healthy a diet as you or Financier. You do yourself no favour by quoting stereotypes.
    You might want to slow down and actually read what I wrote. I stated that mortality rates had more to do with class and income than geography. I am fully aware that there are wealthy people in the North as I was born in Wigan to parents from Manchester, and live in the East Midlands not the South. All the Financier and I have pointed out is that some marketing works better in North or South. As true of grocers as political parties.
    Difficult to get hold of either Irn Bru or Tizer in Kensington. And there's not a Tunnocks caramel wafer to be had between Birmingham and Penzance (more's the pity).
  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    Congrats to SeanT on his new appointment.
  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    The great thing about blogging for the Telegraph, as I did last year on the US election, is the range and ferocity of the comments. Some would make Sean's contribitions here seem timid.

    Well done the Telegraph as well for spotting Sean's talents.
  • The great thing about blogging for the Telegraph, as I did last year on the US election, is the range and ferocity of the comments. Some would make Sean's contribitions here seem timid.

    Well done the Telegraph as well for spotting Sean's talents.

    That was the Ron Paul fans though?
  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    Ed's mate and mentor François really has lost the plot:

    "French banks will have to publish every year the full list of their subsidiaries in the world, country by country."

    They already do.

    In any case, the problem which gave rise to this panic wasn't that a bank had a subsidiary abroad. The problem was that one of his ministers lied about a secret bank account.

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/french-banks-publish-subsidiaries-list-fraud-fight-102839544--business.html#xFipgb2
  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704
    edited April 2013
    Good blog SeanT, that is a nice niche to occupy, from which to throw lots of IEDs in various directions to unsettle many a complacent butt.

    Enjoy, and good luck with it.

    Are you either willing, keen, able or disinterested in responding to comments a la Norman Tebbit?
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,514

    Ed's mate and mentor François really has lost the plot:

    "French banks will have to publish every year the full list of their subsidiaries in the world, country by country."

    They already do.

    In any case, the problem which gave rise to this panic wasn't that a bank had a subsidiary abroad. The problem was that one of his ministers lied about a secret bank account.

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/french-banks-publish-subsidiaries-list-fraud-fight-102839544--business.html#xFipgb2

    I rather suspect he didn't have a plot to lose.
  • SeanT said:

    @SeanT - Great article, and especially encouraging to see that you've charged the Telegraph for a rehash of an article you wrote a while back for another rag. That's real professionalism.

    Ah, but did you notice the FOUR pop song references I put in, just to please pb-ers? Especially TSE?
    I noticed them, and more.

    Europe and Fade(s) to Grey were my favourite.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    No, it's not France, definitely not France:

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/10/uk-eu-imbalnaces-idUKBRE9390BH20130410

    Spanish, Slovenian economies at risk from imbalances - EU
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    @SeanT It's always fun putting pop references in (and I'd picked up on two of them on my first read-through). I managed to get "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next" into a very serious letter of advice.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Today is a day for momentous news all round:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22079232
  • JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,291
    Neil said:

    Blue_rog said:
    "It's difficult to imagine Conservative activists behaving like the people who celebrated Margaret Thatcher's death in Glasgow and Brixton."

    I remember one Conservative activist's behaviour after Edward Heath died very well. (It was shameful that someone used his post here against him but he was still clearly celebrating his death.)
    Oooh such painful memories...he surely already had a skinful....some of us pbTories beseeched him to stop, stop, stop and stagger off to bedski, but on and on he ploughed to catastrophe. Funny enough I was thinking about old 'pb' last week and wondered whether he still maintained his blog. He does. Maybe he lurks, like Earl Matlock of Beaconsfield, in which case, Hi, ***!
  • antifrank said:

    @SeanT It's always fun putting pop references in (and I'd picked up on two of them on my first read-through). I managed to get "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next" into a very serious letter of advice.

    I hope the letter was to a Mr Kevin Carter of Australia.

  • SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,779
    antifrank said:

    Today is a day for momentous news all round:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22079232

    I'm starting the 'John Barrowman for Blake' campaign right now.....

    Or maybe Avon :)
  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    New German opinion poll:

    Forsa:

    CDU/CSU: 41%
    SPD: 23%
    Green: 14%
    Linke: 9%
    FDP: 6%
    Pirates: 3%
    Others: 4%

    http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm
  • TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited April 2013
    Ding dong the witch is dead ,went to no 10 in the mid week charts,just been confirmed on radio 5,will radio 1 now have to play it ?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/22093181

    (The above article is out of date,I think)

    Never a fan of Thatcher but this is Just tasteless.
  • Brian Blessed should star in Blake 7 again.

    And he's doing Have I Got News For You this week as well
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,032
    AndyJS said:

    New German opinion poll:

    Forsa:

    CDU/CSU: 41%
    SPD: 23%
    Green: 14%
    Linke: 9%
    FDP: 6%
    Pirates: 3%
    Others: 4%

    http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm

    Merkel would be Chancellor again on these figures.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,945
    Mr. Eagles, that is great news!
  • TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362

    Brian Blessed should star in Blake 7 again.

    And he's doing Have I Got News For You this week as well

    Do you know if the new blake 7 will be British or American actors ?



  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    Interesting article by SeanT on old people.

    Doesn't really apply to my family. For example my dad just turned 70 and he's still working full time including Saturdays.

    Let's just say he isn't very impressed by people who give up on work at 50 or earlier.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,956
    edited April 2013

    Brian Blessed should star in Blake 7 again.

    And he's doing Have I Got News For You this week as well

    Do you know if the new blake 7 will be British or American actors ?



    It's being made by the American SyFy channel so possibly American actors.

    But the Americans do like British Actors in their shows.

    Hugh Laurie in House.

    Damian Lewis in Life and Homeland.

    Andrew Lincoln in the Walking Dead.

    And the wonderful Alan Cumming in the Good Wife

  • Oh Christ that's a horrendous autocorrect mistake.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    Do you know if the new blake 7 will be British or American actors ?


    Who is going to play the evil Servilan? phhhwwwooaarrr....
  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    @MaxPB

    Well, she'll be Chancellor whatever happens, but I know what you mean: she'll be able to carry on with her preferred coalition with the Free Democrats rather than resorting to a difficult grand coalition with the SPD.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,945
    Mr. Eagles, it's a general rule that US sci-fi needs a Briton to make it good.

    Scotty in TOS, Picard in TNG, Bashir/O'Brien in DS9, Peter Cushing in Star Wars, Amanda Tapping (Canadian/British citizen) in SG1, the lead in The Walking Dead, etc etc etc.

    Oh, and let's not forget Magneto *and* Professor X in X-Men.

    Incidentally, did you know the chief of the CIA in Homeland is also British?
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    The BBC have a photo of Blake in a sort of leather smock thing.

    Simply awesome
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668

    Brian Blessed should star in Blake 7 again.

    And he's doing Have I Got News For You this week as well

    An amazing fact for you: my uncle was in the first ever episode of Blake's 7 - he was Blake's lawyer. He was also one of the builders in The Builders episode of Fawlty Towers.

  • nigel4englandnigel4england Posts: 4,800
    tim said:

    How about a blog on why Alistair Darling is to blame for the Khmer Rouge while Thatchers role in arming them was irrelevant and her going on Blue Peter to tell the nations children about the nice wing was an elaborate spoof?

    How about a blog without you spouting the same old rubbish, whilst deliberately avoiding the honest truth? That would be a blessing for us all.

  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    New thread - Thatcher polling
  • Mr. Eagles, it's a general rule that US sci-fi needs a Briton to make it good.

    Scotty in TOS, Picard in TNG, Bashir/O'Brien in DS9, Peter Cushing in Star Wars, Amanda Tapping (Canadian/British citizen) in SG1, the lead in The Walking Dead, etc etc etc.

    Oh, and let's not forget Magneto *and* Professor X in X-Men.

    Incidentally, did you know the chief of the CIA in Homeland is also British?

    I did know that.

    Peter Cushing is the best and I've tweeted why

    http://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/321964738038882304/photo/1
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207

    tim said:

    @TGOHF

    After they left office

    It would be impossible for a sitting PM to survive this now

    MARK THATCHER made millions of pounds from Britain's huge Al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia, signed in 1985 by his mother, Margaret Thatcher, when prime minister, it is alleged today.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/mark-thatcher-accused-sources-say-he-got-12m-pounds-from-arms-deal-signed-by-his-mother-1441851.html

    Were the "allegations" ever proved ?

    12 years on, they were still only "allegations" in the Guardian:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/oct/28/bae.whitehall

    Smear the mother by proxy.....nice.....
    You think he is ever going to change?

    Smearing is what he does.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    It's hard to imagine a US version having the same bite as the original of Blakes Seven. Would a US audience stomach a dissident who is fitted up on charges of child sex abuse, imprisoned and becomes a successful terrorist being shown as a sympathetic character? It seems unlikely.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    edited April 2013
    scampi said:

    @Malcolm

    " TSE, because mostly they are To**ers and usually silly oicks who think they are better than other people whilst in fact being Richard heads."

    Out of the mouths of babes and leftards.......

    Been called many names but never a Babe. I would be really insulted if you were stupid enough to think I am a leftie however.

    Maggie was more left than me.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019

    Brian Blessed should star in Blake 7 again.

    And he's doing Have I Got News For You this week as well

    Do you know if the new blake 7 will be British or American actors ?



    It's being made by the American SyFy channel so possibly American actors.

    But the Americans do like British Actors in their shows.

    Hugh Laurie in House.

    Damian Lewis in Life and Homeland.

    Andrew Lincoln in the Walking Dead.

    And the wonderful Alan Cumming in the Good Wife

    Don't forget pretty much the whole cast of Game of Thrones :-)
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,112
    SeanT said:

    *cough*

    Damian Thompson ‏@holysmoke 34m
    I am *so* glad that Sean Thomas, aka @thomasknox, has joined the blogging team. Great, bold, risk-taking writer.

    http://tinyurl.com/dyeghvr

    "I see old people!"
This discussion has been closed.