shurlock

Manager has to take some credit for that -whether in terms of coaching, recruitment or simple confidence- because they were one of the ugliest teams to watch under Hughton.

Kiss of death perhaps but Potter was always an interesting prospect.

The BBC is also in the paradoxical position in that it’s main audience is older and other things being equal more conservative all while it is haemorrhaging younger audiences who are more liberal but consume news and content in nontraditional ways.

It is an incredibly reactive organisation. It’s response to problems tends to be either too little too late or clumsy and excessive. In a similar vein, it struggles to know when to show contrition and when to come out fighting. It lets problems fester because admitting error would be seized upon by critics, not only outside the organisation but also within it -and the place is full of egos and cynics as you would expect of a journalist-driven organisation. Being a good producer, journalist, commissioner, creative etc also doesn’t necessarily make you a good manager which has led to issues in the middle ranks of the organisation. The BBC is expected to be a global news provider at time when more and more information is available and expertise is increasingly specialised but capabilities to filter that information are badly stretched. And it is aware of its unique funding position in a changing marketplace, especially as it is losing younger audiences and that it is existence is dependent on the good grace of politicians - an insecurity which tends to be more acute when the Conservatives are in power.

Have spent a bit of time around the BBC and the institution has some very serious flaws. And they’re getting worse, not better.

Gary ‘Woke’ Neville and Jamie ‘Woke’ Carragher = The Woke Brothers

No worries.

Eh? I almost certainly don’t want the country fail but I do want our elected leaders to be honest about the costs and trade-offs of their decisions - that applies as much to Brexit as it did to Labour’s economic agenda. Until they are confronted with reality, they will continue to make promises that cannot be met, fuelling cynicism, ensure that the perfect is enemy of the good and prevent this country from moving in a sensible, realistic direction.

I agree with a lot of this and many remainers voted for the conservatives for this reason. Many former Labour leavers too.

So a majority of the electorate voted for parties that either wanted to revoke Article 50 or hold a second referendum. Aintforever clearly said voted for parties too. To be clear, in my original post, I deliberately copied aintforever’s syntax word for word just to be sure (and ensure you walked into the trap). The same syntax that you got into a tizzy in one context (i.e. the 2019 GE results) even though you completely endorse it another (i.e. the 2017 GE results). There is no semantic or conceptual difference - other than the fact that you’re a hypocrite and what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander Oh dear Les - caught with your pants down again.

What like you consistently and unswervingly did with the 2017 GE results, claiming that 80% of the electorate voted for parties that would uphold the referendum result and go WTO if so required (never mind many remainers voted Labour and Conservative and you never read the Labour Manifesto that explicitly ruled out no deal). I lost count of the number of times you repeated that little soundbite. So it’s rather sweet and endearing to see you change your tune when the shoe is apparently on the other foot. Then again you’re not the sharpest or most logical fella.

As I say this sounds awfully like the politics of envy to me as if you’re holding his success against him - what should he have done instead? Turn out like you? Throw in the complete nonsequitur that only the poor are allowed to hold progressive views and I’m afraid you’ve lost me. You’re really channeling your inner Burgon today pal. Perhaps try and lay off the meaningless soundbites. You’ll get caught out less often.

As I say he’s achieved much more than your merry little band has ever done. And without an expensive education. I thought you boys celebrated hard work and success? Shall I take it as an admission that you were wrong in your dopey little caricature.

Head’s gone

Why Les. Because the Champagne Socialist label implies he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth (contrast with the scumbag Seumas Milne). In fact, he probably had fewer breaks than you. So all we have left is whining because he’s made a success of himself and is pretty well-off which sounds awfully like the politics of envy to me. Who da thunk it: Les and John getting envious

The son of a Cypriot postman who grew up in a care home till he was 11 and through the dint of his own graft and effort secured a scholarship and the rest is history. I suspect he knows a bit more about survival and hardship than you pal. Till he went off piste over Brexit (I find some of his positions are dubious), he was universally respected by all sides of the political divide for his policy impact and thinking on education and infrastructure, among other things.

The median, not the mean.

Spectacularly wrong Les. The EU was more than happy to reopen the withdrawal agreement since Johnson caved and accepted the EU’s original -and preferred- proposal for a border in the Irish Sea. You forget that UK-wide backstop was the UK’s idea - it certainly wasn’t the EU’s preference for economic and political reasons and only grudgingly went along with it because the UK would not accept a division between GB and NI. One of those supposedly inviolable red lines you and your fellow swivels have conveniently forgotten about. Let’s put it in simple, dumbed down terms you can understand pal. Let’s say I offer to sell my donkey to you for £100. You argue that it’s too expensive and after much haggling I say fine I’ll give to you for £80 but that’s my final offer and won’t be reopening things. Then unexpectedly the next day you come back to me and offer me £100 - what would you do if you were in my shoes pal. Tell you to f**k off, insisting that £80 was my final offer? Take a break and recharge pal - you’re going to need to do plenty more mental gymnastics in the coming year

Not spoken to him since the Euro elections in May. Suffice to say that’s he’s probably accomplished significantly more in his professional life and is far more of a self-made man than you pal. Champagne Socialist says the boarding school mediocrity

Poverty lines depend on what kind of household you live in -single or couple, with or without children. For a couple with two kids, in 2017/18, it was living in a family with about £400pw income before housing costs (that figure is post-tax and includes earnings from employment and any state benefits etc).

What’s a Champagne Socialist Les? Weren’t you privately educated?

What you miss is that Johnson didn’t even put up a fight pal. He had plenty of leeway to fight for his preferred option -alternative arrangements and a technological solution on the island of Ireland. Yet a ninety minute meeting with Varadkar in the Wirral was enough for him to fold quicker than a cheap suit. It was the most stunning and radical of compromises -and even now doesn’t provide the type of closure Johnson claims. It doesn’t surprise me that you and LD don’t know what it means to have a backbone https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2019/1213/1099064-tory-landslide-irish-sea/

You’d love a bit of Butler.

God help the Labour Party if Les’ kindred spirit, Richard Burgon, makes a run at the leadership.

Certainly agree with parts of this (on the balance between state and market and the role of aspiration) but some of it is facile caricature (as if John McDonnell is anything other than an union, industry man) and some of it is contradictory nonsense (see point 7 among others).