I'm surprised Adam Boulton didn't slap Diane Abbott during his programme this morning. She had a case of verbal diarrhoea and would hardly let his other guest, Rachel Johnson, get a word in edgeways. Diane reckons "Boris is an accident waiting to happen". Well thanks for that remarkable political insight Diane. Still, it got you quoted on the BBC News website.
Why anyone takes this woman seriously is beyond me. She may carp at Boris but she's so unpopular among her own colleagues and so administratively wanting that her own party has never considered her competent enough to be Parliamentary Under Secretary for Paperclips. Can't think why.
Isn't it time to pension her and Portillo off, and find two new guests to sit beside Andrew Neil each Thursday? How about Alan Milburn and Nadine Dorries? Actually, it would be better IMHO to have a panel of a dozen or so and change the guests each week. But what do I know?!
52 comments:
It would be a shame to change any of the participants, Neil, Abbott or Portillo; they deserve each other.... and the rest of us know full well not to bother to watch them.If you change the guests you would still have Neil to put people off the programme.
What a nasty racist woman with her "You people" comments. Still she is well balanced; a chip on both shoulders.
What a contrast with Ms Johnson. Articulate, well-mannered, calm and able to serenely rise above that fish-wife of a politician.
Save Diane and Michael! Save Diane and Michael!
I can't imagine Iain, unless it's for shock value.
She's about at annoying as that Yasmin woman ,although at least the latter doesn't draw a salary at the tax payers' expense !
The guests on such programmes need to be outside the main party so that they can speak with freedom, but they also need to be able to have their finger on the pulse to know what's really going on.
Diane Abbott doesn't. Her analysis is frequently far from what the result is. But I'm not surprised - the BBC always seems to give a more prominent voice to those on the left (Short, Benn, Abbott) in these things than those who could give a more balanced view of the party.
At least the BBC described her as one of the Boris-bashing "Labour MPs" instead of one of the Boris-bashing "black MPs" (all of whom, they neglect to mention, were Labour) this time!!!
This would be the same Diane Abbot who recently said on BBC1 that the millions killed by Mao were a small price to pay for lifting the Chinese out of feudalism?
Just to clarify, I think Diane meant that the survivors were lifted out of feudalism, not the ones who died.
Here's a woman of conviction! Vote for me and my party to ensure that your children have an education equivalent to one you could get in the Congo whilst I'll send my child to a £10k a year fee-paying school.
And I have to take lectures from this arriongant, conceited windbag!
Nadine Dorrie? Dear oh dear. She is the Tory equivalent of Diane Abbott. She would be a vote lose fot the Conservatives.
Zeddy said...
"This would be the same Diane Abbot who recently said on BBC1 that the millions killed by Mao were a small price to pay for lifting the Chinese out of feudalism?
Just to clarify, I think Diane meant that the survivors were lifted out of feudalism, not the ones who died."
I think you were the only person to see any ambiguity in her assertion.
"Why Does the BBC Give Diane Abbott Airtime?"
People have asked the same thing about the use of certain bloggers.
...because she makes herself available Iain. Yes she was dreadful on Boulton. As I said the other day, I doubt Portillo will get his contract for This Week renewed after his election night performance. Does it really matter about Abbott? This Week is hardly a programme that makes much news. It is just late night chat that could happen anywhere. It just happens to be on TV. The best thing would be for the BBC to dump the show.
One other thing. I think Neil is totally under used by the BBC. He would be a great replacement for Dimbleby on Question Time and election nights. Can't think why it has not happened alraedy.
You're being a bit unfair- Diane Abbott has long held ambitions to be part of the establishment, hence why her son's godfather is Jonathan Aitken, why she sends him to a fee paying school, and why she is now one of the highest earning MPs, while representing one of the poorest constituencies.
Hackney Labour Party have never had the guts to deselect a lazy self serving MP, despite hating her guts.
Whilst I agree that Abbot & Portillo should be junked - whatever else they may be they are so far removed from the day-day stuff as to be irrelevant- I could not support the inviting of Nadine Dorries. She is NOT an electoral asset.
Bcause she went to school with Michael Portillo (Harrow Grammar) and starred opposite to him in some Shakespearean play?
Nadine Dorries?
Saints preserve us! She's bad enough on that 'blog'!
"Bcause she went to school with Michael Portillo (Harrow Grammar) and starred opposite to him in some Shakespearean play?"
Different schools in the same town. They both appeared in (but didn't star in) a combined school production of Romeo and Juliet.
Of course DA is not a PPS or whatever as she would never take such a role and lose her right to be indisciplined. She is a good value pundit Iain and so long as she gets up the noses of the likes of your good self she is doing her job.
Why Does the BBC Give Diane Abbott Airtime?
Because the BBC has a certain quota of airtime to fill with "Mommas."
If you publish this, then I'm a Dutchman.
Of course Dianne Abbot is vile. Her function on "This Week" is to represent the Left.
Of course Andrew Neil is wasted at the BBC, but since he despises the greed and stupidity of the Left they are hardly going to let him make programmes that make any difference.
As for Michael Portillo he seems to be a decent man whose heart is no longer in politics but does not seem to have the talent to do anything else.
I think the pride which you take in attacking him tells us more about you than it tells us about him. After all you earn a good living (and good luck to you!) without making a substantive contribution to anything except your own ego.
Charming. I criticise Michael Portillo on behalf of the thousands of Tory activists who trudged the streets to help him get elected, supported him in his leadership campaign and now feel utterly betrayed by him.
Yes I do earn a good living and I work bloody hard. I also provide employment for nine other people. Not substantive? A funny definition.
On the Adam Boulton programme this morning - in the midst of sharing her stream of (un)consciousness about the vileness of Boris in general - she did actually say that Boris wasn't fit to be Mayor because he went to a public school.
No-one in the studio made the obvious reply to the ironic/emetic potential of this Abbotism. I'm sure this wasn't because it didn't occur to anyone; perhaps it was a sense of pity, a sense of decency, which led everyone to look away in embarrassment. Look away from Diane Abbot: if only one could, for ever.
Unlike some, Iain, Diane is elected and therefore has somewhat greater right than you to represent the views of her party and constituents. You only dislike her because the Tories have never been able to produce that kind of politician - unswervingly committed to their values, articulate and feisty. Only Labour women can pull that off.
Chris Goodman - what a stupid little bob's worth.
Go out an earn a living! This means, get income you have earned.
Entrepreneurs have absolutely no safety net, despite the huge contribution they make to the British (or any other) economy. Go out and get a job, or find a way of financing a company you think would fill a gap in the market. It's up to you. Not the taxpayers.
As long as Labourite Diane Abbot is funding her own kid in private education because the socialists are disgorging illiterate psychopaths into the public sector, I think we would all agree that the public sector has to go and vouchers have to buy education.
I look forward to Ms Abbott espousing this course for everyone, not just her own child who was at terrible risk in the public sector. She recognised this risk for her own child but hasn't bothered with the children, equally disadvantaged by socialist policies, of hundreds of thousands of other people.
Diane - socialised education is going the same way as socialised medicine. Down the tubes.
What an disgraceful showing by Abbott. A timely reminder why we have deserted Labour.
By 'you people' did she mean those who send their children to fee-paying school?
I really wanted to hear what Boris' sister had to say but she was drowned out. That's Labour democracy for you.
Diane Abbott. A fat useless hypocrite always ready to use the race card at the slightest hint of any criticsm, and she's done very well out of it too. Why does the BBC etc? Why do they use Alibaba-Broon, Portillo blah blah blah? As someone else said, whenever these people are on, I switch over. Waste of airtime, but I bet it ticks some quota boxes somewhere.
As I understand it Michael Portillo is not an MP and so (it being a free country) can say whatever he damm well likes! As it happens whenever I have heard him he has been very supportive of project Cameron. Maybe he ought to read a script prepared by you before collecting his BBC fee next time.
I am not aware that I have said you do not work hard, or that you do not deserve your success. It is evident that you are one of the leading political blog commentators in this country, hardly an insignificant achievement. If you have created employment for others even better.
By substantive contribution I mean (assuming you have never held any political office) a well researched original contribution that has significantly changed (for the better) the ideas of those exercising political power. It is vanity that makes you believe that pointing out that you have not (so far as I am aware) made any such contribution is insufficiently appreciative of your achievements.
"Boris is an accident waiting to happen".
Hmm. As opposed to Ken Livingstone being a criminal lawsuit waiting to happen? A misfeasance in public office action waiting to happen? An accessory to misuse of public funds action waiting to happen?
Why do you continue to batter Diane Abbott? It's weird!
Batter Gordon Brown and Ed Balls instead. They actually deserve your mean spirited attacks.
When is David Milliband taking over as PM anyway?
I think there's a certain "chemistry" between the cuddly Diane and the suave and sophisticated Portillo...... if you know what I mean.
Chris, I would respond to that last sentence if only I cold understand it.
@ Chris Goodman
Are you some sort of 'public servant' or an 'academic'? They seem to make a speciality of opacity of thought.
Give us an example of "a well researched original contribution that has significantly changed (for the better) the ideas of those exercising political power", and then we can begin to understand what you are on about.
She developed a fan-base after appearing on HIGNFY. A factor in this was the quantity of visible cleavage. Apart from this she didn't contribute much, but she did laugh well at other peoples' jokes.
Chris G. waffles on like Baldrick asking how WWI started. I think he meant 'Portillo has influenced politics. I don't think you have, so what gives you the right to criticise him?'
Textbook ad hominem. I suppose only a former US president has the right to criticise Dubya.
Come to think of it, non-MPs cannot judge Diane Abbott. Please delete this entire posting at once!
All I am trying to say is that I have not been a “fan” of Michael Portillo but he seems to be a decent enough fellow at the receiving end of a great deal of Leftist hate as well as jealousy from his colleagues. This is bound to have had some psychological effect.
I find his thoughts about British politics at least as interesting as your reflections. Of course it is a big ego trip being paid to supply your “thought for the day” on the politics of the day, and his newspaper column was rather tedious, but those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
To be fair to you I did not see the interview that got you so incensed, but the way you have crowed over the last few days about the fact that you attacked him during a live election broadcast does leave a bad taste in my mouth. You seem to be under the impression it is your finest hour, and yet to me it is quite the opposite.
Iain,
Always watch 'This Week' but Abbott & Portillo must go to keep it fresh.
I quite fancy a night in with Nadine but she needs a little more time to bed in (IYKWIM).
What about a blog or survey asking for suggestions. I think a rolling cast would be good - Charlie Kennedy did all right the other week!
BTW, prior to taking part in your chat last night I played your Portillo clip. On Saturday a friend lent me Tory Wars. Subliminal or what!!
ST
P.S. still dreaming about E.M.!!
JB said
You only dislike her because the Tories have never been able to produce that kind of politician - unswervingly committed to their values, articulate and feisty. Only Labour women can pull that off.
JB, are you off your trolley?
Please explain how Diane Abbott's breathtaking hypocrisy in sending her child to an elitist private school shows anything other than total non-commitment to the anti- elitist, social justice orientated values she falsely claims to live by.
I think the BBC want the combination of opposites plus people somewhat 'semi-detached from their parties. Man - woman. Black - white. Posh - working class. You never know your luck they might want to throw straight - gay into the mix (and of course Portillo was subject to 'wink wink nudge nudge roumours).
Although since Abbott sent her children to private school I am having difficulty working out the posh one.
While I am at it Mr Dale may I ask you to use your immense influence in the Tory party to suggest the following questions for Cameron to ask Brown at next PMQs.
"May I offer sympathies to the PM in his present difficulties, I want to assure him that I wake up every morning worrying about the problems he faces. I share his pain - like him I was ONCE a new and inexperienced party leader. Given the fact that he was nominated for the leadership of his party virtually unanimously will he agree with me that it would be quite ridiculous for Labour MPs to change their minds on the back of a few by election defeats?"
and maybe ...
"Following the PMs round of long overdue 'mea culpas' on TV over the weekend, will the PM 'listen' to the myriad of complaints and 'lead' the need for 'change' to his over complex discredited means tested tax credit system, which as the 10p tax fiasco has shown simply is not working - and only targets the people the PM can make statistical use of?"
Chris, I explained on the original post why I did what I did. I have never claimed it to be my finest hour, but it had to be said.
I also made clear in my post that I think Portillo is a very good writer and a superb documentary maker.
I am also happy to say he is a far better writer than I will ever be!
"This would be the same Diane Abbot who recently said on BBC1 that the millions killed by Mao were a small price to pay for lifting the Chinese out of feudalism? "
I read recently the cumulative number of deaths at the hands of the Communist state are upwards of 160 million over the years to 1980 so not including the one child policy , forced abortions and the ongoing oppression of recent years.
Doubtless Eric Hobsbawm would join Miss Abbott and the BBC in applauding all this but I think its going a bit far.
Chris Goodman said:
"I think the pride which you take in attacking him tells us more about you than it tells us about him. After all you earn a good living (and good luck to you!) without making a substantive contribution to anything except your own ego."
Chris, this absurdly myopic comment of yours beautifully illustrates one of the main reasons why nulab has made such an almighty mess of UK's economy - their appalling ignorance of economic and business matters.
Iain runs one of the vital FOUR MILLION SMEs that comprise a crucial 99.97% of UK businesses.
SMEs like Iain's are the heart and soul of the UK economy. They provide employment for well over 50% of UK's workforce.
Our corporate giants would fall apart without their SME suppliers which do 99% of their donkey work and which form the real and sole basis of alleged big business efficiency.
Any reduction in those four million SMEs and our economy and workforce are in big trouble.
And what is nulab's and the Lib Dems' response to SMEs? To tax and regulate us out of business because the ignorant fools haven't a clue about the realities of economic life - or any other kind of life - outside their over-privileged and myopic political bubble.
Chris,
Before you ask what vital service Iain and his staff perform, I'll tell you.
I imagine you've heard of information and leisure services? And political services?
And advertising services?
And democracy?
And free speech?
And holding government to account?
That's the service Iain and his staff provide - and they do it brilliantly.
Iain is vital daily reading for me and countless others - right across the social/ socio-economic spectrum - who believe it is crucial to keep well informed and to have the democratic right to have our say.
You and nulab apparently believe that we, the great, 'stupid' unwashed with our noses pressed against the elitist political power bubble, should be excluded from having our say.
Well you're wrong.
Bloggers like Iain, Guido, Devil's Kitchen, newmania and so many others are heroes of the photosphere. They have changed the nature of our democracy into a more participative one - and thank God for them.
Only an elitist idiot would suggest that bloggers and bogging are unimportant.
I do wonder whether all those who say education is going down the pan ever spend any time in schools. As someone who was at primary school up til 1999, and who's recently spent a lot of time in primaries, I can assure you that standards have improved immeasureably. I remember people in my GCSE English class not knowing what a verb was; kids in primaries now are well-versed in grammar and looked at me as if I was stupid when I asked if they could describe a verb to me. I was also astonished to see the word 'notwithstanding' in a year 5 spelling test - but they all got it. We will see in a few years that the literacy hour has made a big difference; all is not well, but it's considerably improved, and not just based on my anecdotal evidence.
Andrew Neil should demand a new duo on the sofa, Nadine would be a great move, along with Labour's Bob Marshall-Andrews. Together they would offer a contemporary view of their respective parliamentary parties, free from the political hang ups of the current incumbents who are so clearly yesterday's people. Is this the start of a new campaign Iain?
john said...
"As someone who was at primary school up til 1999 ..."
Does that mean you are aged no more than 17 now?
They tried Milburn on this Week. He was terrible. It's about how good you are on TV, not some quota system.
Most of the Labour MPs I can think of who could do that are definitely, even defiantly, not in the government! e.g. Marshall-Andrews.
You don't think it but Dianne represents a strand of the British public, left wing. The rare presence of that voice always seems to you much more than it actually is because you hate it so much.
I just hope this little anti-Dianne campaign doesn't scare the BBC, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
It's also not irrelevant (to me) that Dianne was the earliest and most consistent supporter of gay people - we're talking during the dark ages in the 80s. That's one big reason why I love her. I saw her work to get resolutions through conference against the wishes of Kinnock et al. I saw her work to win over reluctant black colleagues. I've seen her since be a consistent ally.
It seems to be an ongoing gay tory meme to forget this real support or ignore it - plus 'throw the elders under the bus' like Alan Duncan did to Elton John and John Inman. To me, it's indefensible and needs to be pointed at and shamed.
You shouldn't forget this history with Dianne as you judge her, it's as relevant to you as it is to me Iain.
Anonymous: no, I'm twenty - it is now nine years since 1999, when I was 11. I presume you learnt addition under Margaret Thatcher? The fact that I left relatively recently surely gives me a fairly good idea of recent improvements.
Bloggers like Iain, Guido, Devil's Kitchen, newmania and so many others are heroes of the **photosphere**.
...or even blogosphere if I'd looked what I'd clicked on courtesy of my user spell.
I'm not even going to mention my reference to 'bogging' :)
Paul Canning said:
It's also not irrelevant (to me) that Dianne was the earliest and most consistent supporter of gay people
Paul, the Kray brothers were good to their mother but you wouldn't advocate overlooking their rotten traits because of that one good one, would you?
I don't care if Diane Abbott behaves like Mother Theresa in some areas of her life. She is a politician and a member of a party which seeks to restrict my family's education choices while exempting herself from these restrictions. That's typical nulab hypocrisy and Abbott deserves all the criticism that comes her way for it.
I agree with Iain that Portillo was pathetic on election night - but not that he and Abbott should be junked from This Week.
On election night he was there as some sort of representative of the right, "balancing" Polly Toynbee. But he performed no such function. It would be interesting to know, although I doubt we ever will, if the BBC had checked out the line he would take before they brought him on.
This Week on the other hand is an amusing cult programme featuring two people who are good on TV, are both equally semi-detached from their parties (and therefore sort of balance each other) and, as been alluded above, have a genuine sexual chemistry which is amusing to witness. I enjoy the programme a lot - whilst perhaps a few weeks with others on the sofa could be tried, I vote for them to continue most weeks. And as for Diane spending the cash on her son's education - that just shows her good sense surely? I find it a lot more annoying when people with very large incomes spunge their children's education off the State frankly.
Auntie Flo':
Dianne's history is not irrelevant to me, being "a member of a party which seeks to restrict my family's education choices" is obviously more important to you.
comparing her to the Kray Twins is a bit much.
Chris Goodman said...
"Michael Portillo ...seems to be a decent enough fellow at the receiving end of a great deal of Leftist hate as well as jealousy from his colleagues. This is bound to have had some psychological effect."
A decent enough fellow now that he does not have a government department with which to attack the defenceless. Currently he receives a sympathetic hearing from the Left as he spends most of his time attacking his ex-colleagues for walking the same roads he used to frequent. I suspect you'd have trouble demonstrating that anyone is jealous of him. I suppose it is possible he may have gone mad.
Londoner: `And as for Diane spending the cash on her son's education - that just shows her good sense surely?' Indeed. Her son's school will nurture his development as a well-rounded, discerning individual and provide him with a full traditional academic curriculum including Classics and traditional English Literature (I understand that particular school is very hot on Shakespeare...). Meanwhile, in inner city comps, pupils are considered more as members of the masses distinguishable by the broadest of social indicators: gender/skin colour/parental income. The curriculum is devoid of Classics and `English' has a strong focus on the poisonously race-obsessed USA of yesteryear. Meanwhile Ms Abbott seems to believe that institutional racism is rampant in the state system, though mysteriously it is not a significant inhibiting factor in her son's (probably far less `diverse') school environment. I would say that old-fashioned left-wing mindsets that thrive on the notion of racial division and nurturing group mentalities are alive and well in parts of the state sector and that Ms Abbott is wise not to practise what she preaches when it comes to the education of her own offspring.
If the BBC must persist with her at least she should be put on the spot about these issues.
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