tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post7261449700757381383..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Boris is Wrong on BBC Licence FeeIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-66855995036951895342008-09-17T18:59:00.000+01:002008-09-17T18:59:00.000+01:00...and of course, there was absolutely no music in......and of course, there was absolutely no music in this country before the BBC. <BR/><BR/>None. <BR/><BR/>Nada. <BR/><BR/>Yeah.Hilary Jane Margaret Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03771332473693479830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-26944174050758754322008-09-17T18:57:00.000+01:002008-09-17T18:57:00.000+01:00Let me get this straight. We have to have the exec...Let me get this straight. <BR/><BR/>We have to have the execrable tripe the BBC puts on the television because that pays for the good stuff. <BR/><BR/>Does anyone remember that there was a time when the BBC was just the radio? Did it occur to Boris that the Proms are, well, music. And that music lends itself particularly well to <I>radio</I>? And that the Radio 3 carried the entire Proms lineup all summer? And that the BBC radio is, to put it mildly, a great deal less expensive than is the crap-machine that is nearly the entire output of BBC television? <BR/><BR/>Did they teach logic at the very expensive schools Boris attended? <BR/><BR/>Here's a proposal. <BR/><BR/>Reduce the license fee to, say, 50 pounds a year and use it to pay only for Radio 3 and the Proms. Then make the BBC produce television programmes the way the rest of the world does; on the basis of the market demand.<BR/><BR/>In other words, let them <I> compete</I>.Hilary Jane Margaret Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03771332473693479830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-13222254772633627422008-09-17T17:58:00.000+01:002008-09-17T17:58:00.000+01:00You'd really want England to have only as many gov...You'd really want England to have only as many governors as Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, Newmania?<BR/><BR/>Of course, when Tories say "England", they only ever mean the South East.David Lindsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06839882674758833524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-72036757496307600212008-09-17T10:21:00.000+01:002008-09-17T10:21:00.000+01:00It's difficult to express how profoundly disappoin...It's difficult to express how profoundly disappointing Boris has been as Mayor.<BR/><BR/>I didn't canvass, leaflet and tell outside polling stations in order to help a lefty become Mayor.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that Boris' desire to be liked vastly outweighs any vague conservative principles he might once have had.<BR/><BR/>All we've seen from him is left wing populism and the rapid disappearance of flagship policies on TFL,especially bendy buses, half price travel for shirkers, and the departure of Tim Parker.<BR/><BR/>He's had a pop at the central theme of the Tory renewal - the broken society and continues not only to write his columns but to use them to defend bastions of the left.<BR/><BR/>At least I could despise Ken Livingstone with a clear conscience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-90037474891412597912008-09-17T09:44:00.000+01:002008-09-17T09:44:00.000+01:00Dave 17/9/08 7:51 AM@Twig. Go on then. Name a bett...<I>Dave 17/9/08 7:51 AM<BR/>@Twig. Go on then. Name a better way to finance The Proms.</I><BR/><BR/>The lottery<BR/>The Arts Council<BR/>Ticket sales<BR/>TV Broadcasting rights<BR/> take your pick.<BR/><BR/>Justifying a £3.6 billion tax on the basis of a £6m festival is clutching at straws.Twighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16698620636313191152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-60053572999819064792008-09-17T07:51:00.000+01:002008-09-17T07:51:00.000+01:00@Twig. Go on then. Name a better way to finance Th...@Twig. Go on then. Name a better way to finance The Proms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-87087784598554500262008-09-16T22:32:00.000+01:002008-09-16T22:32:00.000+01:00The BBC's political agenda directly contravenes th...The BBC's political agenda directly contravenes the terms of the Trust under which it is supposed to be governed. Who are the Trustees accountable to?<BR/>I don't see any evidence of public accountability.<BR/>Apart from that, there is no justification for a heavy handed licence fee system in the digital age. As Jeremy Paxman said, "should Persil charge a licence fee to all washing machine owners?"<BR/><BR/>TV Licensing takes £300m out of the £3.6bn and employs thugs to enforce the system.<BR/><BR/>I think we could find a better way to pay for the Proms. I can't think of a worse way.<BR/>Get a grip Boris.Twighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16698620636313191152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-13086544123619125122008-09-16T22:29:00.000+01:002008-09-16T22:29:00.000+01:00mb: "The Scots might be too narrow minded to enjoy...<B>mb:</B> <I>"The Scots might be too narrow minded to enjoy Jerusalem but at least the audience in the Royal Albert Hall managed to sing a Scottish song at the end without any objections that it was not English."</I><BR/><BR/>Pathetic. Pathetic that you should try to make such a tenuous point. Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish song, but not in the way that, say, Flower of Scotland is a Scottish song or Jerusalem is an English song! It's nothing to do with narrowmindedness (other than your own). As pointed out above, you won't get an English crowd in England singing Flower of Scotland, nor should any aspersions be cast upon them for that, so take your anti-Scots prejudice and stick it up your proverbial. You (and Anonymoron at 12.56 if you're not one and the same) are quite pathetic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-77677192478728065132008-09-16T21:49:00.000+01:002008-09-16T21:49:00.000+01:00"Why not nationalise our entire cultural heritage ..."Why not nationalise our entire cultural heritage on the basis that it MIGHT not be funded by anyone else?"<BR/>Would that cultural heritage include all those museums, galleries, theatres, opera houses, orchestras, historic buildings and local arts projects that already depend on taxpayer or lottery subsidy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-27656005282901386062008-09-16T21:25:00.000+01:002008-09-16T21:25:00.000+01:00I'm a 100% behind Boris on this. Good old Boz!Well...I'm a 100% behind Boris on this. Good old Boz!<BR/><BR/>Well said, newmania too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-67206600390050671952008-09-16T20:50:00.000+01:002008-09-16T20:50:00.000+01:00David Lindsay has a good idea but the more I tink...David Lindsay has a good idea but the more I tinker with it the more it seems to me a range of subscription services is a far better one.England is of course, not "regions" ,it is a country.Newmaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922161971821380803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-15748661748478167302008-09-16T20:26:00.000+01:002008-09-16T20:26:00.000+01:00The Scots might be too narrow minded to enjoy Jeru...The Scots might be too narrow minded to enjoy Jerusalem but at least the audience in the Royal Albert Hall managed to sing a Scottish song at the end without any objections that it was not English.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-1025181607847544572008-09-16T18:39:00.000+01:002008-09-16T18:39:00.000+01:00I sampled the Last Night of the Proms, and turned ...I sampled the Last Night of the Proms, and turned it off. Anyone who thinks Lesley Garratt is a serious singer needs their ears syringed, and the director who thought it was a good idea to do close-ups of Terfel sweating (and uncharacteristically bellowing) should be shot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-46357751778567333722008-09-16T18:31:00.000+01:002008-09-16T18:31:00.000+01:00BoJo (BoZo?) is just trying to make some cash. He ...BoJo (BoZo?) is just trying to make some cash. He doesn't know or care about the answer one way or the other.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-23139160226200423912008-09-16T18:10:00.000+01:002008-09-16T18:10:00.000+01:00"emotional twaddle...rubbish...utter codswallop......"emotional twaddle...rubbish...utter codswallop...rubbish...lazy and muddled thinking...<BR/><BR/>Iain (sigh), Boris was writing a light-hearted piece about the Proms and how we should think that at least it's one thing the BBC gets right.<BR/>Why don't you ask him to do a piece on that other venerable institution, Cliff Richard?<BR/>Ah, now you're talkin!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-31450739147385287362008-09-16T18:03:00.000+01:002008-09-16T18:03:00.000+01:00"choir, their silvery hair like magnesium bal..."choir, their silvery hair like magnesium balls of fire in the TV lights"<BR/><BR/>I feel an attack of diabetes coming on.<BR/><BR/>The argument for getting rid of the BBC is that it is the propaganda arm of the civil service. I don't say it is left or right wing but that it is certainly biased towards bureaucracy & big state solutions to everything & that this is not a matter of individuals, else it could be changed, but is inherent in its position as a state funded institution.<BR/><BR/>One can see this in its enthusiasm for catastrophic warming, its support for an ever larger EU, for bans on smoking, being fat & eating salt & for its willingness to lie to support attacking Yugoslavia, Iraq & Russia.<BR/><BR/>Its domination of British media is a serious, not overwhelming but serious, attack on our freedom.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-55658267172871663672008-09-16T17:58:00.000+01:002008-09-16T17:58:00.000+01:00Boris is right. And most people love last night of...Boris is right. And most people love last night of the proms. It was lovely this year, with Maestro shown just before it. We tuned over briefly to X-factor and it seemed like a zoo. <BR/>X-factor, big brother and other forms of human debris on the box is the reason the BBC must remain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-19862998265228369322008-09-16T17:44:00.000+01:002008-09-16T17:44:00.000+01:00The BBC can live off its archive on pay-per-view. ...The BBC can live off its archive on pay-per-view. Most of it is a damn sight better than current output.<BR/><BR/>As for providing what the market will not, has Newmedia scrolled thorugh the hundreds of channels available on sky/virgin? <BR/><BR/>I guess there could be a furious tussle over who gets the rights to the world bog-snorkelling championships - oh no, wait, the organisers filmed that themselves and stuck it on You Tube for free!<BR/><BR/>Axe the TV tax - £180 tax cut for every household!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-46853315996557973072008-09-16T16:44:00.000+01:002008-09-16T16:44:00.000+01:00Let the license fee be made voluntary, with those ...Let the license fee be made voluntary, with those who chose to pay it enrolled as members of the BBC Trust.<BR/><BR/>The Trustees would be elected by and from among the members in each of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the nine English regions (with their boundaries adjusted to reflect those of the historic counties). Members would vote for one candidate by means of an X, and the top two would be declared elected at the end. A Chairman would be appointed by the relevant Secretary of State with the approval of the relevant Select Committee.<BR/><BR/>All would hold office for a fixed term of four years, and would have to be sufficiently independent that they could, in principle, serve on local authority remuneration committees.<BR/><BR/>The National Trust and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution not only survive, but thrive. So would the BBC.David Lindsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06839882674758833524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-6489046408496924232008-09-16T16:27:00.000+01:002008-09-16T16:27:00.000+01:00Boris is absolutely right. The Proms would never h...Boris is absolutely right. The Proms would never have been created in 1895 if it hadn't been for the BBC funding it. Err!<BR/><BR/>I presume they were waiting for Marconi.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-80678694459552484352008-09-16T15:44:00.000+01:002008-09-16T15:44:00.000+01:00"The BBC ‘should’ act where the market will not ( ..."The BBC ‘should’ act where the market will not ( and it is unreliable )as a guardian of cultural continuity and heritage."<BR/>Newmania.<BR/><BR/> What a load of complete and unctuous cr-p.<BR/> The bloody BBC has been getting away with this sort of defense for years ( it is in fact no guardian of our culture and heritage whartsoever) so it can pursue its highly political programme.<BR/><BR/>Just kill the disgusting thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-21564244921014571112008-09-16T15:35:00.000+01:002008-09-16T15:35:00.000+01:00newmania- did you know that coleridge was black?newmania- did you know that coleridge was black?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-86831648018842423852008-09-16T15:34:00.000+01:002008-09-16T15:34:00.000+01:00Bloody 'ell Tories are fighting amongs each other,...Bloody 'ell Tories are fighting amongs each other, and they're not even in government yet!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-25649005089196055012008-09-16T15:28:00.000+01:002008-09-16T15:28:00.000+01:00For me the jury is out on the license fee. One thi...For me the jury is out on the license fee. <BR/><BR/>One thing I'm sure of though, is that I'm with Noel Edmonds when he complains about the bullying tactics used in relation to license fee collection.<BR/><BR/>I'm in the process of renovating a house in Yorkshire. The place is a building site and has been since I bought it 9 months ago. The last thing I would have in the house right now is a TV. However, that hasn't stopped the agents of the BBC from bombarding me with some of the most vicious, legal sounding correspondence I have ever, personally seen.<BR/><BR/>What really f*%ks me off, is that nowhere in any of the poison hate mail they've sent does it bother to ask if I even have a TV. They, like all sinister, authoritarian organisations just assume that if I haven't coughed up, I'm a criminal. The content of these letters is very, very intimidating. I even had some muppet, bitch at the door, trying to threaten the builder, to gain entry to my building site of a home, by pretending to have a warrant.<BR/><BR/>They only backed off after I paid £255 to have my solicitor threaten them with litigation in relation to harassment. <BR/><BR/>This needs to be looked at urgently and Noel is spot on.Colinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16949877777934292635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17264056978351229832008-09-16T15:11:00.000+01:002008-09-16T15:11:00.000+01:00Purnell to challange Brown?http://news.sky.com/sky...Purnell to challange Brown?<BR/><BR/>http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Cabinet-Minister-Cant-Condemn-Rebels-Motives-In-Calling-For-Leadership-Contest/Article/200809315100152?lpos=Politics_First_Poilitics_Article_Teaser_Regi_0&lid=ARTICLE_15100152_Cabinet_Minister%3A_Cant_Condemn_Rebels_Motives_In_Calling_For_Leadership_Contest<BR/><BR/>That is a bit like the John Redwood line in 1995!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com