• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

UK Political Era |OT1| Dis United Kingdom

Tygre

Tygre

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,095
Chesire, UK
The BBC is no longer worth saving.

I've always been a strong advocate for it in the past, believing that a publicly funded broadcaster was a good and necessary counterweight to the press barons on Fleet Street, but it's become abundantly clear that the BBC is no longer fit for purpose.

It's like "regulatory capture" but for the news media. The BBC is so infested at every level with former or aspiring SPADs, political advisers, press officers, communications directors, etc that it is, more than ever, simply another mouthpiece for government propaganda.

This was true in the past of course, the BBC has always kowtowed to the establishment, but it now does so with gusto and relish rather than weary resignation.

Scrap the BBC, scrap the license fee. It's unsustainable and unjustifiable to force people to pay for propaganda designed to make their lives worse.
 
Moosichu

Moosichu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
898
The BBC is *far* more than BBC news though, and the effect it has on the quality of UK telivision isn't insignificant and extends beyond BBC programming itself - commercial broadcasters having to compete with the BBC naturally change their programming as a result of this.

Just because one particular department is substandard doesn't mean you can ignore the incredibly positive and effective part of the entire organisation.
 
JediTimeBoy

JediTimeBoy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,810
Moosichu said:
The BBC is *far* more than BBC news though, and the effect it has on the quality of UK telivision isn't insignificant and extends beyond BBC programming itself - commercial broadcasters having to compete with the BBC naturally change their programming as a result of this.

Just because one particular department is substandard doesn't mean you can ignore the incredibly positive and effective part of the entire organisation.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The problem is that the higher ups have an agenda, and that agenda affects the public in a negative way. That agenda trickles down to the relevant sections of the BBC, which in turn influences programming etc.

When the foundations are beyond straightening, it's better to knock the whole house down, before it comes tumbling down and hurts everything and everyone in it's range.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
How do they calculate that rich areas get more, because they earn more, another metric or have they just went fuck it, more for us just because?

I'm sure they'll be all talk and may even get a bone if their lucky, that is if people actually care.
 
Teddy

Teddy

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,288
jelly said:
How do they calculate that rich areas get more, because they earn more, another metric or have they just went fuck it, more for us just because?

I'm sure they'll be all talk and may even get a bone if their lucky, that is if people actually care.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Any number of ways really.

Probably area they need to cover or that they want each council in the UK to get a 'fairer' amount. That last part being that the councils receive a more equal distribution of costs from central government (with the problem that's certain areas in the UK are poorer thus they need more cash to boost the local economy, the Tories know this but don't care).
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Good news. EU are playing nice.

Leo Varadkar "
I think we'll have to be comprehensive. You could have a bare bones interim agreement, but whatever final future economic partnership we come up with, I think it will have to be quite detailed.
Because what happens in these things is trade-offs. For example, the United Kingdom has a very strong position on fisheries. The UK has a lot of waters, and a lot of fish is taken out of your waters by boats from other countries, but bear in mind 70% of the fish you sell, you sell into Europe. So unless British people are going to start eating an awful lot more fish, you have a problem there.
But that's an area where you're in a strong position. An area where you're in a very weak position is one of the most valuable parts of the British economy which is financial services. It's such a crucial part of the of the British economy. And areas like the entertainment industry. And if financial services and entertainment, audio visual, are cut off from the single market, the European market, that will be a very severe blow to the British economy and the south-east, in particular in London.
So, you know, you may have to make concessions in areas like fishing in order to get concessions from us in areas like financial services, and that's why things tend to be all in the one package."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

A lot of people, unfortunately, in Westminster, and in Britain, don't understand Ireland, or know much about Ireland. And that's one thing that we actually find hard to understand because if you grow up in Ireland, you know, we speak English as our first language, most of us do anyway. We watch the BBC, we watch Graham Norton, we watch your television, your news. We really understand a lot about Britain.
But I think a lot of British people don't understand a lot about Ireland, including your politicians. And that's what was very badly exposed I think during the whole Brexit process …
I think that a lot of people in Britain underestimated the fact that European partners will stay by us. You know, Britain has a very powerful history, a very colonial history. And I think there were people in Britain who thought that France, Germany and Britain would get together at a big summit and tell the small countries what's what. That's not the way the 21st century works. That's certainly not the way the European Union works.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Gloves off.
 

Deleted member 34788

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 29, 2017
3,545
jelly said:
Good news. EU are playing nice.





Gloves off.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


They are playing the long game too. First part says it all. UK thinks it has its bare bones fta and won until it realises the extent of damage and runs towards a closer deal after a few years and taking the already brain dead uk populace for fools. Smart cookies.

SNP are being smart bastards too. Asked for more devolution today for immigration. I completely get the Indy ref argument, but the path for it lies through more devolution for it, a Johnson gov will reject anything to do with Indy but is much more likely to give scots further devolution powers. Bojo and his gov are short sighted enough to give the scots almost everything they want to shut them up, without realising they are effectively building Scotland to be an independent country. SNP are right to exploit it.
 
Last edited:
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
This was an interesting thread read on fishing history.



'Taking back control' of our waters has become a totemic rallying cry for Brexiteers, but what really lies behind the decline of coastal fishing communities, and is the EU just a convenient scapegoat?
 
DeadJoshWalking

DeadJoshWalking

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,427
Also worth remembering that we will totally give away our fisheries if it means we can even slightly better access to industries central london needs like financial services.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Why has nobody but the Chinese come up with 5G to sell?

Isn't it all bollocks anyway, are the boffins really not going to know one way or another that the Chinese have sabotaged the hardware for their own gain? They would be really stupid to do such a thing, we might as well not buy any tech made in China ever.

I don't get it. Political play, fair enough but still seems rather stupid considering everything else, if it's technology issues then why don't we make it ourselves or buy from elsewhere like Ericsson, aren't they specialists for decades.
 
cabot

cabot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,775
Glasgow, Scotland
jelly said:
I don't get it. Political play, fair enough but still seems rather stupid considering everything else, if it's technology issues then why don't we make it ourselves or buy from elsewhere like Ericsson, aren't they specialists for decades.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...



Ericsson are operating as a company in a capitalist society. Huawei are not.

They're basically offering better tech cheaper than the alternatives. Fits with the Cummings/Johnson mantra.
 
Koukalaka

Koukalaka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,279
Scotland
Interesting tidbit I've seen within all the discussions about the "reversing the Beeching cuts" announcement. While most of the conversation has been around how little funding has been allocated for such a big announcement, a few folks have pointed out that a huge amount of the land with railway infrastructure on it was sold off by government after the closures and subsequently built on.

That would no doubt be a huge headache for any large scale projects - just look at how complex this has been for HS2.
 
cabot

cabot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,775
Glasgow, Scotland
Koukalaka said:
It's interesting to see Huawei's massive role in the UK's fixed line broadband infrastructure has passed under the radar as part of this story. If you walk past a green Openreach cabinet, particularly a newer one, there's a pretty good chance that it's Huawei equipment.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The fibre optic modem in my new house is Huawei also. I can see the arguments for and against but it's not like they've just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
 
Cocolina

Cocolina

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,974
Johnson got a GREAT DEAL, Americans should be in awe of his bare chested packed jockstrap negotiating prowess
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
It's interesting in that thread that being backed heavily by the Chinese government and countries choosing them over others you're possibly kneecapping Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung etc. that will lead to Huawei being too dominant, might get even worse when new tech comes out, they automatically lead the pack and it's a slow death for everyone else.

Pretty shocking that they flogged ARM too after being bought out.
 
cabot

cabot

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,775
Glasgow, Scotland
jelly said:
It's interesting in that thread that being backed heavily by the Chinese government and countries choosing them over others you're possibly kneecapping Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung etc. that will lead to Huawei being too dominant, might get even worse when new tech comes out, they automatically lead the pack and it's a slow death for everyone else.

Pretty shocking that they flogged ARM too after being bought out.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's not really that surprising. It's state aid.


Don't worry, we can now do it ourselves after glorious Brexit.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-27/chicken-chemicals-eu-trade

Good luck UK.

The U.S. will push hard to include politically sensitive subjects such as chemical-washed chicken in a transatlantic trade deal with the EU, President Trump's secretary of Agriculture has insisted.

Sonny Perdue said Brussels should accept food production methods banned in Europe to secure the deal recently promised by Trump and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president.
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,676
London
https://www.theguardian.com/society...arved-to-death-after-dwp-stopped-his-benefits

The findings of an inquest into Graham's death in June 2019 were brought to light by Turner via the independent website Disability News Service. The inquest found that DWP and NHS staff had missed opportunities to save Graham. "The safety net that should surround vulnerable people like Errol in our society had holes within it," said the coroner, Elizabeth Didcock.



What can you say to shit like that, 28kg, I bet the bailiffs would have thrown him on the street if he was still alive.
 

Ravensmash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,797
Let's just say that the meeting between Raab and Pompeo tomorrow is going to be interesting...what with this and the US "diplomat" situation that Raab is apparently very annoyed about.

Oh to be a fly on the wall...
 
Garfield

Garfield

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 31, 2018
2,772
Koukalaka said:
Interesting tidbit I've seen within all the discussions about the "reversing the Beeching cuts" announcement. While most of the conversation has been around how little funding has been allocated for such a big announcement, a few folks have pointed out that a huge amount of the land with railway infrastructure on it was sold off by government after the closures and subsequently built on.

That would no doubt be a huge headache for any large scale projects - just look at how complex this has been for HS2.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

you can falsely ignore it, 500 million will give you roughly 25 miles of track, with over 2000 stations closed under Beechway it won't cover 1 let alone the other 1999


on Radio 4 today they was saying the Gov is trying to avoid scrutiny. No one will come on the radio.
 
Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Member
Oct 31, 2017
10,036
PJV3 said:
https://www.theguardian.com/society...arved-to-death-after-dwp-stopped-his-benefits

The findings of an inquest into Graham's death in June 2019 were brought to light by Turner via the independent website Disability News Service. The inquest found that DWP and NHS staff had missed opportunities to save Graham. "The safety net that should surround vulnerable people like Errol in our society had holes within it," said the coroner, Elizabeth Didcock.



What can you say to shit like that, 28kg, I bet the bailiffs would have thrown him on the street if he was still alive.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Beyond vile. But that's what we are now.
 

Garjon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,987
Garfield said:
you can falsely ignore it, 500 million will give you roughly 25 miles of track, with over 2000 stations closed under Beechway it won't cover 1 let alone the other 1999


on Radio 4 today they was saying the Gov is trying to avoid scrutiny. No one will come on the radio.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Literally everything that comes out of Downing Street is BS and it's starting to get annoying how educated journalists are continuing to just parrot everything uncritically, particularly after the last election. There are very real shades of what went on in US journalism right after Trump got elected.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if that 500 million is all kickbacks in the form of consultancy contracts
 
Koukalaka

Koukalaka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,279
Scotland
Garfield said:
you can falsely ignore it, 500 million will give you roughly 25 miles of track, with over 2000 stations closed under Beechway it won't cover 1 let alone the other 1999


on Radio 4 today they was saying the Gov is trying to avoid scrutiny. No one will come on the radio.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Oh, I understood that, this just seemed to point out yet another flaw of this "policy by soundbite" approach.
 
FliX

FliX

Master of the Reality Stone
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
9,859
Metro Detroit
So it seems like a lot of the UK's political system is also built on gentleman's agreements and convention, rather than hard rules that can be enforced...
Lucky you.
Turns out codifying things is hard work but really worth it.
 
Koukalaka

Koukalaka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,279
Scotland
FliXFantatier said:
So it seems like a lot of the UK's political system is also built on gentleman's agreements and convention, rather than hard rules that can be enforced...
Lucky you.
Turns out codifying things is hard work but really worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I mean, this is one of the big takeaways of this whole process - there are fucking massive problems with having an uncodified constitution. Combine that with a ridiculously power Executive with no real limitations (provided they have a stable majority in the Legislature) and you have all the ingredients for a shit-show.
 
RellikSK

RellikSK

Member
Nov 1, 2017
2,470
Lisa Nandy was on LBC with James O'Brien was actually pretty good, really nice to have a potential Labour Leader who can go through an interview and not put their foot in their mouth.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
When do UK MEPs leave?

Only silver lining those Brexit scum don't get a salary anymore, pension aside for Farage which is blood boiling, hope he disappears into obscurity now but I imagine he will be griftinh if we try to rejoin and would probably get idiots to vote him in again.
 
MouldyK

MouldyK

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
10,118
So how's everyone feeling about Friday?

This place seems dead even with a PMQs on right now?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.