This is our rather wonderful Smeg fridge at 18DoughtyStreet. Sadly, not all our guests seem to like it. We've currently got former CND head Monsigneur Bruce Kent in the building recording an episode of World View on Iran (being shown at 8.30pm tonight). Upon seeing this fridge he spluttered: "Is this the national front headquarters, or something?"Nice to know his sense of patriotism hasn't changed since the 1980s when he seemed to spend most of his time defending the Soviet Union.
UPDATE: Tune in to 18DoughtyStreet from 9pm for three hours of live political discussion with, among others, SNP MP Angus Robertson, Greg Smith from Conservative Way Forward, Alex Sinbgleton from the Globalisation Institute, former Tory MP Nick Bennett and several others.
Burn it!
ReplyDeleteGiven that BK abandoned the cloth almost 20 years ago rather than comply with Hume's order to desist from politicking, I think you should dispense with the Monsignor.
ReplyDeleteah yes, a mobile mortuary. Perhaps you could interview Lord Drayson
ReplyDeleteBruce Kent should like refrigerators - I thought he was in cryogenic suspension
ReplyDeleteYeah, but did the dangerous extremist try to burn your fridge?
ReplyDeleteBruce Kent is more that welcome to move to Russia - the little hypocrite won't because he's made a career out of being a little hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but did the dangerous extremist try to burn your fridge?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, didn't he "resign his commission" so to speak?
When I saw it I just thought it was a bit Red Dwarf!
ReplyDeleteYou should show your fridge with pride.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with it, its good fun.
I wondered where British identity had gone. Now we know. It's deep frozen, awaiting release - sitting in 18 Doughty Street. If only Farage had turned up, he could have stepped out of there - our national identity personified. Has UKIP missed its moment(again)?
ReplyDeleteYou invite a guest and then slag him off for what what obviously a light hearted comment. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI met Bruce Kent once, when I was 13. Myself and a friend had just be trained as projectionists at school and were on the rota to show 'War Games' for a after school meeting. (We were too young to see the film - but allowed to show it !) We had trouble threading the film and a rather cross Bruce Kent stromed up to find out what the problem was.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you he didn't look like a pacifist from where we were standing!
This deeply dippy man has been out of touch with things for some time. A recent foray into la-la land was defending another nitwit, Norman Kember, who went to Iraq and got himself kidnapped, causing much time and energy to be expended on his behalf to get the hapless old twit freed.
ReplyDeleteBruce Kent has many adversaries, but I suspect his friends don't like him either, and objecting to the Union flag is merely a succinct illustration of his loopyness.
Did you get Tim Brooke-Taylor to autograph your fridge ? It looks like something from The Goodies
ReplyDeleteThe Italian have SUCH a way with acronyms, don't they? I peed myself laughing when I first heard Smeg.
ReplyDelete"What did you say the make was Son?"
"Smeg,ma"
There was aconpany in Milan called SPIT, and I did some work for an agency called SPIN - just found a copy the other day.
"I can tell you he didn't look like a pacifist from where we were standing!"
ReplyDeleteIn my experience many "pacifists" are actually rather violent. When I was a child we visited friends who lived near Greenham Common. What type of people, in a large crowds, will surround a car, shouting and screaming, and physically rock it from side to side, when it contains 3 children from about 10 to 13 years old? They were completely unprovoked, there was no indication that we didn't agree with their views, and that my Dad would later call the police to report some of their fellows scaling the fence. That would of course be CND demonstrators.
oh dear... I wonder what he'd have to say about the wonderful Union Jack Club? Something a la John Kerry perhaps?
ReplyDeleteWe do all long for the day went people will stop apologising for this country existing.
One of these days ......
ReplyDeleteIt seems it's perfectly acceptable to fly (in any manner) any number of flags that fit the left's agenda. Any other is instantly subjected to a constant stream of black propaganda.
So, the Union Flag & St.George's Cross are reviled as emblems of modern day nazism? How dare they, these lickspittle followers, these fifth-columnists! How dare they?
Good for you & all at Doughty St.
How about a flag or two on the web-site?
We should all be thankfull for Bruce Kent. He's living proof of what's wrong with our society. He enjoys our freedoms and privalages whilst doing nothing to earn them , and in fact despising those who provide him with these things.
ReplyDeletecroydonian, perhaps my memory is faulty, but wasn't there a woman involved in the background to his chucking in the priest lark?
Yep, lovely chaps those pacifists:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6077926.stm
Shame SMEG are Italian - true patriots might prefer a more patriotic provider
ReplyDeleteInteresting that it's the Union Flag, rather than the English, given the current thrust of the debate.
ReplyDeleteConsidering who we are talking about I wouldn't worry. His performance was made Yasmin sound sane and reasonable. He probably would have reacted even worse if he had found anything with a star of David on it.
ReplyDelete>Shame SMEG are Italian - true patriots might prefer a more patriotic provider
ReplyDeleteTrue patriotism is not incompatible with knowing something about economics.
Anon 9.33:
ReplyDelete"Shame SMEG are Italian - true patriots might prefer a more patriotic provider".
OK, name one.
We don't make 'white goods' and have not done so for decades. Nor do we manufacture most things. Car industry, motorcycles, buses, trucks, trains, planes, all electronics, etc etc. Almost everything is now made abroad, be it Europe, Asia and now increasingly China and India.
More's the pity...
Chuck
ReplyDeleteHow about GDA (known to you and I as Hotpoint). They make their fridges in er, Peterborough
About 65% of our economy is service industry (led by Finanical Services), but 35% of our economy is manufacturing. Our manufacturing base contrary to throw-away comments like yours is still very significant. For example you list planes as something we don't make. Well BAE Systems is the worlds 3rd largest defence contractor and makes military aircraft around Preston. It makes the wings for all Airbuses in Farnborough and Smiths makes the avoinics packs for both Boeing and Airbus
Careful Iain, you'll have all your English Democrats mates accusing you of being an anti-English racist for daring to show the union flag.
ReplyDeleteI'd asssumed it meant you were all members of The Jam fan club. Doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteUtterly OT, but don't you think you'd better expain your appearance in this? On the one hand, best Halloween costume ever! On the other hand, why were you tormenting that poor woman?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think you should use a different makeup artist for your television appearances.
It's worse than that.I just heard that the EU, while in the process of banning the red ensign and replacing it with the EU flag, is now making all of Britain's seas EU waters, and under its control.
ReplyDeleteThis “common European maritime space” will mean crossing the English Channel will no longer be considered an international trip, since passengers would never leave EU waters. Besides sacrificing our legal heritage and air space, now Britain has to forfeit all claim to her most dear possession. What Napoleon and Hitler couldn't take, Britain's leaders will no doubt willingly handover. We saw it with the attempted betrayal of Gibraltar, afterall.
I was a memeber of CND at school . I always think of this when I begin to pontificate about the feckless and irresponsible behaviour of the young .I `ve chnaged my views considerabubbly since.
ReplyDeleteIt seems typical of most of the far left who even refuse to wear poppies. They don't seem to realise the contradiction between this and spending most of their time battling fascists and Nazis.
ReplyDeleteWe don't make 'white goods' and have not done so for decades
ReplyDeleteHaving made a fortune out of destroying British Industry, The City has turned its attentions to the public sector and PFI
Quite typical comments, and the most likely explanation why a lot of people would find this fridge idiotic.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot even see the irony of a British flag on an italian product !
Anonymous 3.22. We still make white goods (Hotpoint - see my earlier post), although I accept that most are made outside the UK (primarly Italy & Germany). Good to get our facts right though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the city ever destroyed british industry, only in the swivel eyed ravings of trade unionists ranting on about "short term investment decisions". Er, wasn't it our high cost base, poor productivity, low education and skills and high pound making our exports uneconomic. The legacy of crappy, statist government. Basically the same issues as the EU is grappling with now about 20years after we did.
The city turning it's attention to the public sector and PFI. The public sector - no not quite sure how the city is interested in this. Are you not confusing the city with McKinsey (and other consultancies) who certainly make bucket loads from the public sector. PFI er yes. This is a major scandal, and basically we have all been ripped off to line the pockets of banks, private equity houses and accountants. The scale of money, you would not believe. We have basically securitised future tax revenues for Brown to balance his books. Prudent?
This is much funnier:
ReplyDeleteIF STELLA McCARTNEY WERE TO REWRITE 'YESTERDAY'...
http://stella.cf.huffingtonpost.com/
I will believe you Iain when I hear that Monsigneur Kent has put a fridge up a pole!
ReplyDeleteAnyonebutblair
ReplyDeleteShould read "anything but socialism," but a cool name anyway,
You are right manufacturing industry still happens here and much more of it then the British public seem to realise.
I am a British manufactuer and have a very overfull order book. This mainly because my domestic competition has almost died and the Chinese are getting more expensive and already going onto more high margin products.
Although I produce compleat finished goods, many British manufacturers in this modern day globle market only produce a small part of the evential product. This therefore has no brand name so the public are unaware that many bitts of foreign products are made in Britain. This also applies to British brand names that are marketed and financed all over the world.
Financing and marketing the worlds commerce is highly profitable, and the British are still very good at it. We could in theory make enough national wealth to support the whole of the British econemy just from the city of London. That is if the likes of Bruce Kent stopped doing their best to bugger it all up.
One very good thing about modern manufacturing is that WHEN a recession is happening here it does not mean that you can suddenly end up with virtualy no demand.
Globleisation works, has always worked and for the benifit of everyone. Which is why it is still expanding, and has been doing so on and off for over 3.5 thousand years.
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteCould you explane on what you base your claim that the City has made a fortune destroying British industry. It is clear to me that the only infomation you base your idears on are socialist workers propergander leaflets. You obviously dont have the slightest idear what you are talking about. People that do would just laugh at you, if your ignorence was not responsible for most of the still exsisting death producing poverty in the world.
BTW if PFIs are such a good idear try putting your own money where your mouth is. I suspect that anyone with your understanding of capitalism does not have any cash left to invest in anything anyway.
Anyonebutblair 11:07:
ReplyDeleteWell if you take a closer look at (for example) Hotpoint's 'manufacturing' you'll understand that it is actually 'assembling' components sourced from all over the world. So maybe we should define what is meant by 'manufacturing'.
What it means to me is carrying out the whole process - including production of all components and the R & D necessary so to do.
Actually BAE mostly assembles and does litle real manufacturing. Smiths sources most of its components from outside the UK. And it seems fairly unlikely that wings will be able to fly without the rest of the aircraft, including fuselage, engines, avionics etc etc.
Let's also recognise the dramatic shift away from manufacturing (35% and falling rapidly) to 'service' industries, which themselves are rapidly being 'outsourced' to India etc. Look at the call-centre phenomenon. The problem with these industries is that they do not even have capital assets. Cheap labour can be applied to even the most sophisticated operations. Where does that leave our children?
Try as I might it seems that some just dont get this globleisation thingy.
ReplyDeletePerhaps some would be happier if we did everything here.
So you want to pay on top of your 400% council tax rises enviromental taxes and duties on just about everything you also want to pay £25 for a tin opener £4000 for a crap car stereo £100000 for a small even more crap car etc, do you?
There is nothing wrong with producing anything goods or service, small or large, complicated or simple as long as you can pay competitive wages your overheads and still make a profit.
Making the whole product is normaly only good for government strategic reasons it makes no sense in business unless you have megleomatic tendancies and want to go bust.
Also business neads customers if the rest of the world dont have any money because you dont allow them something to do they cant buy your products. Why sell to only 60 million when you could potentialy sell to the whole world?
From an american Who's a little puzzled by the references to a 'Union Flag' And a 'British Flag'. I thought they were pretty much one and the same.
ReplyDeleteRespecfully,
Puzzled in Nebraska
Loads of bitchy remarks here. Is "Iain Dale" losing it's status as a respected Blog?
ReplyDeleteLadies and Gentlemen, we are all here to have a swipe at Bruce Kent.
Chuck - yes absolutely right. That's called globalisation as Gary Powell refers to. So what if GDA source components globally, so does everyone else! Another example Apple iPods are designed in Califonia by a Brit, maufactured in China containing software written in California, a hard (of flash) disk sourced from either Japan or Korea (dependant on model) and glossy casing maufactured in Japan (again dependant on model). My bank is one of Apple's financiers.
ReplyDeleteThe maufacturing value chain you refer to from R&D to finished goods inc. components barely exists anymore. Your general point is a valid one about the reduction in our manufacturing base. Thats a consequence of glabalisation where commoditised maufacturing moves to lower cost locations. Exactly the same process is now happening in services e.g. cost centres, IT development, Banking back offices etc. Surely that's good for the economy. It's why our economic growth and growth in employment have been far greater than that of Europe. Nothing to do with Brown.
'Monsigneur'? Actually it's Monsignor. And actually: he's not, having jumped/been pushed by that well known supporter of the Soviets, the Catholic Church, some 16 or more years ago.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Blair should have sent Kent as an envoy to Korea instead of Prescott.
ReplyDeleteWhat a kick ass fridge.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we've got a cultural disconnect here, but I cannot help wondering what you fellows keep in your Smeg fridge? And why you need one so large?
ReplyDeletedracula lives
ReplyDelete