Friday, June 13, 2008

Kelvin MacKenzie Gaffe: "Hull is an Absolute Shocker"

After doing a recording at the BBC this morning, Kelvin MacKenzie told a BBC producer, off camera but unaware he was being recorded:

"Have you ever been to Hull? It's a shocker, an absolute shocker."
I'm told the BBC are going through some editorial policy hoops before deciding if they can broadcast it.

What a great way to get votes - insult the people of the area you wish to represent. Kelvin's got a lot to learn.

UPDATE: A commenter has just seen the report broadcast on the BBC News Channel.

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having been to Hull (once and never again), I can report that Kelvin is factually acurate.

I would think all the voters of the H&H constituency agree with Kelvin and that is why they do not live in Hull.

Chris Paul said...

Er, the people of Goole and Howden and beyond may well concur with this appraisal actually. South of the River Goole, North of the River Howden may both identify more with York. Like saying Felixstowe or Harwich is a shithole when you're campaigning for frinton on Sea. Get Iain an Atlas someone. Better get one for Kelvin too.

niconoclast said...

Maybe it will be a breath of fresh air to hear someone speak their mind.Politicians never do.Perhaps he will promise to bring back hanging,take us out of the EU,get rid of the welfare state etc.(You know, things the tories used to believe in before their Faustian pact with Cameron..)

Anonymous said...

True, but when it once won the No.1 slot in 'Crap Towns' it is tricky to polish the t**d so to speak...

Laurence Boyce said...

Iain, be honest. This isn't quite working out the way you hoped, is it?

Anonymous said...

Publish and be damned !

If they could go truffling around Tina Haynes' social networking sites for 'news', then they can show this..

Anonymous said...

Hmmm seem to remember someone called Boris Johnson said the same sort of thing, didn't stop you supporting him Iain!!

Will Conhome be throwing their weight behind Kelvin, have you asked Iain?

Iain Dale said...

Laurence, not sure what you mean by that. This time yesterday I didn't know he was going to do it. I haven't a clue how this is going to end. Nor does anyone.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Hmmm seem to remember someone called Boris Johnson said the same sort of thing, didn't stop you supporting him Iain!!"

Boris said that about Liverpool but he wasn't touting for votes.

Also, he was forced by his party leader to make a humilaiting apolgy on television which got wider coverage than his original comments.

Anonymous said...

The BBC just broadcast it.

Anonymous said...

I support 42 day terror detention. We need to fight terrorism. Not give in to it. MacKenzie is an English nationalist I hate his views of bigotry against Scotland. But i think he might do well against tht tory. It may be a messy campaign. It is tough to run against the sun.

Anonymous said...

Geographic nicities aside, there is a golden rule which aspiring politicians have to learn:

Don't call any part of the UK sh*te. (Unless you've been beamed in from the planet BoJo)

Really you have to be more Estate Agent-esque and say the place in question 'has potential'.

I feel I have to say that I'd be happy to have DD or Kelvin as an MP rather than the hopeless Labour Robot that I have where I am, and the place I lived before.

Anonymous said...

Hull? I heard the road there is pathed with good intentions. Not sure Davis' good intentions will help the Tories though.

Chris Paul said...

I think Laurence was referring to the reaction to the KM "gaffe" rather than the whole DD circus?

p smith said...

The one factor that seems to have been ignored in the assessment of Davis' so called 'brave' decision is that whoever contests the by election, it can neither be a referendum on the 42 day issue (people will vote on party issues unless Labour keep out of it and let the Sun run) and that Davis' constituency is hardly representative of the UK.

If in 1996, Jack Straw had stood down in Blackburn and called a by election on the issue of the Major government's refusal to sign up to the European Charter of Human Rights, would it prove that he was right just because he won? Of course not. He would have won because the government was unpopular and because it was a Labour constituency.

The fact remains that if Davis' principal concern was to hold the government to account on this issue, what better way to do that than as Shadow Home Secretary and potentially Home Secretary in two years time.

It is abundantly clear that his reason for acting in this way and forgoing his position within the party is that he does not have faith in Cameron to repeal this law (and indeed other laws) and that he feels better placed to express his views outside the shadow cabinet.

This is about internal party politics and I see no reason why Labour should participate no matter how much that infuriates the Tory blogosphere.

Anonymous said...

The BNP the UKIP and the tories are now all weaker on terror than labour.
So it seems Sinnful Fein, the UKIP, the BNP and the tories stand together when it comes to terror.
That is something for us to be proud of. Stalin showed the left can be far tougher and more successful on national security than the right. Why did hitler lose to Stalin. The values of sticking together and punsihing evil and social insjustice are strong in socialism, and can be equally used on a strong desire to kill terrorism stone dead. How many islamic NAZIs try to kill the commies in China not many.

Anonymous said...

Come on Ian, spill the beans. What did Davis mean by "I am just a piece in this chess game"?

Anonymous said...

I live within a mile or so both of Hull and the HH constituency boundary.

A few will agree but bitterly resent the suggestion that it has anything to do with them, as no part of Hull is within the constituency.

Others might agree, but will not appreciate the criticism being made by a Southern rent-a-gob and Murdoch stooge.

However, since Hull City qualified for the premiership, there is a closer identification of those living outside the boundary with Hull and this will not yet have been destroyed by miserable results by the time of the election.

I don't believe Kelvin will come, but he'll be sorry if he does.

DD is just the sort of guy people up here respect and Kelvin what we despise. Even Labour and Liberals will prefer DD every time.

jaybs said...

Murdock and his stupid side kick McKenzie must be stopped at all costs! - no way can we allow the UK to be rules this way, it is bad enough with The Sun and Sky News as well as Fox TV News in the US.

Anonymous said...

This is a FARCE. A complete and utter (expensive) FARCE.

Anonymous said...

I think Mr Laurence meant that the deluge of comments against Mr Kelvin did not quite materialise in the way you seemed to hope.

Sense of humour failure for Mr Dale.

Boom! Bust!

Anonymous said...

Good job Hull is not in Haltemprice and Howden then!

Hopefully, Kelvin will win and Mr D will pay for this ridiculous publicity stunt.

the orange party said...

Oh dear Iain I think you are becoming overwhelmed by your forthcoming nuptials and losing the political plot.

Hull, you see is NOT part of Davis's constituency. He's in the leafy Conservative suburbs of Haltemprice and Howden.

Hull is home to fish and chips and John Prescott.

Anonymous said...

If you think about it, 42 days, CCVT, bans on groups , ASBO’s etc are all down to a failure in society. Cameron would say it is the “Broken Society”, in this sense all Davis has done is sharpen the focus on this attention. I believe the Tories need to commit to Davis unequivically to reinforce this message.

Anonymous said...

He was right...

Anonymous said...

It's a grand spot.

Anonymous said...

Oh Iain, you've made a right pig's ear of this.

Do try harder next time.

Anonymous said...

Actually it is Kingston Upon Hull.
Still a shytehole though!

Anonymous said...

dear dirty european

you mention bnp under political parties as if they are a genuine outfit

bar griffin they are bereft of intellectual capacity. lest you count deporting darkies as a marker of policy enlightenment

as for advocating 42 days. i am at loss. you mention the word nazi yet support such draconian law

you are either very conflicted. or very stupid

Dick the Prick said...

I went to University in Hull and it's only idiots who judge books by their cover that express views like that. He obviously never talked to the people, went round the old town or got hammered in the Mainbrace. I had the best night of my life in the Tower Ballroom. What an odious runt.
"Why are you standing against DD?" "Smeeeeeeg, because Wooopert ordered me too and I've got no backbone".

Guess the boys from Hull spotted him a mile off. What a loser.

Anonymous said...

If Labour haven't the balls to stand i think David should welcome Kelvin doing so.

He should invite him to join him in a series of debates at public meetings across the constituency.

After all the point is to air what he is standing for. Kelvin is no idiot & the whole issue, for there are legitimate reasons on both sides, could get publicly aired.

So long as they shared a sandwich beforehand & a coffee afterwards, rather than entering & leaving by separate doors, a grown up relationship & discussion should ensue.

I don't think either party need be too worried about Kelvin winning & I'm not sure which party would dislike him doing so most.

Anonymous said...

Hull may have some ugly patches, but the restoration of the city centre and the docks area is enhancing its historic character. The cost of living is low, shopping is cheap and varied, and the people are friendly - in contrast to York which has become snotty and expensive during the past ten years. And unlike Leeds you don't get pushed off the pavement by yuppies yelling into mobile phones.

Anonymous said...

Anon - 2:35pm

You suggest that dirty european socialist is either very conflicted or very stupid. He may be conflicted, and if you read his other posts you'd know he was certainly very stupid. But that's the trouble with schoolkids these days.

Anonymous said...

A lot of people are calling for a "Dave Davis money-bomb." I think its a great idea.
Does anyone know how we can donate to the Dave Davis campaign fund? Not being Tories, or one of the Westminster slugs, we have no idea how to give our hard earned cash to this wonderful and noble cause.

God bless David Davis. The Englishman we've all been praying for.

Anonymous said...

And I'd like to point out that whilst Howden and Goole are not in Hull - they are completely separate places - Hull itself kicked off the Civil War, which ousted the totalitarian Scottish King.
The Plotting Parlour is still there and still open for use by members of the public.
People of Hull are very proud to have freed the English from the Scottish King who invented the national debt in order to spend it on his Scottish "doggies" (as he called his close male friends. Check the history books if you don't believe me.)
Furthermore, the last man to destroy Parliament was also a Yorkshireman - Guy Fawkes - who said, "I wished to send you Scots back to your Scottish mountains."
I always knew it would be a Yorkshireman with the backbone to stand up to our Scottish ruler.

Anonymous said...

Hull,like many towns in England, is the victim of decades of sneering discrimination by the British state which takes great care to pour money (ie English money) into any comparable celtic town but refuses to allow anything but the bare minimum for anything English.

I suspect Hull would be an altogether more swish, prosperous and popular town if it had had even a small part of the British largesse drenched onto, say, Glasgow over the years .
As it is, Hull has a great morale to sustain it through the present. When England rules regains self rule we will look after the many areas of deprivation left over from the years of British occupation.

Anonymous said...

I am greatly irritated by media coverage of David Davis' resignation, and am very disappointed by the Daily Telegraph in particular. Instead of doing the patriotic thing and backing someone who wants to end the erosions of individual freedom, an end to the ID card scheme, an end to the surveillance society and the right to be free without charge, they seem hell-bent on twisting everything to Labour's advantage and trumping up a non-existant Tory fued.

Kevin McKenzie is the epitomy of everything that is wrong with the British press. Let him stand and face a crushing defeat by David Davis.

Anonymous said...

it is a shocker! didn't you catch Sarah Ferguson on the telly with the fat family in Hull? what a dump.

Anonymous said...

Keep on knocking our great City, we love it here and have great pride in the place and surrounding countryside.

It rarely seems to be anyone who has actually lived here that knocks it.

Nothing wrong with Kelvin Mackenzie speaking his mind just remember his is not located between his ears! Would you want a fool like that representing you?

Anonymous said...

How come morons think that Labour is harder on terrorism? could this be the same party that introduced the Human rights act and uses any opportunity to leave intelligence breifings on trains. It is no wonder they want to lock people up without charge it is the only solution they can think of.
Also, someone please tell me why the 42 day law will make me safer from a suicide bomber.

Anonymous said...

Chris Paul.

You are so out of touch with our area. Firstly, the vast mass of this constituency is the Hull suburbs of Cottingham, Willerby, Anlaby Common etc. That is where the population is.

Don't write the people of Goole and Howden off either. Those of us who live in the Goole area are quite proud of Goole lad Nicky Featherstone who is Hull City's 'local' player.

It is you who does not understand geography fella. There is a lot of fun poked at Hull, not least of all by those living in the Hull area. It's different when it come from a southerner who aint ever been here!

Anonymous said...

My constituency is Hull West and Hessle, neighbouring Haltemprice and Howden where many of my friends live. I admire Davis for making a stand on 42 days, although I feel that he should have waited until the Bill had been through the Lords.

Regardless, if MacKenzie stands I will protest him and the worthless "newspaper" supporting him. He has repeatedly shown contempt for the North and its people, I would love to see him fail

Anonymous said...

Spine-chilling:

"off camera but unaware he was being recorded"

Exactly how O'Brien trapped Winston Smith.

Seriously, why was he still being recorded after being assured he was off camera???

Anonymous said...

After London, Hull was the most bombed place in the whole of the UK during WW2. As a child, I played in bombed out houses and shops - in the 1970s!! My parents lost close family members and schoolfriends during the contant bombing raids. The locals from that time still feel bitter about the way they were contantly ignored both vocalling and financially.
All the cash for rebuilding went elsewhere.
It was also bombed during WW1 and did not get the funding then, either.
Hull was not served well by any British government. The Humber Bridge has the highest tolls in the UK, which prevents cash flow into the city.
The hospital is dropping to pieces. A couple of years ago, a ceiling collapsed and some ops had to be cancelled.
The schools suffered too, by underfunding by all the Parties.
Sneer at Hull if you will, but it is the legacy of neglect by both Labour and Conservatives.
However, it is only the Tories who sneer openly at the poverty they created there, as if the people were scum themselves.
The wonder is that the people of East Yorkshire as a whole bothered to vote for anyone after the way they've been treated, let alone the sneering Tories and now the Labour Party, who have been corrupted by their long stint in government.
But David Davis is seen as different.

Anonymous said...

So the by-election wont in fact be about 42 days but about whether the candidate likes hull?

This gets more farcical by the day im afraid.

I dont think Iain has really understood what David has to do. He doesnt just have to win Iain - he has to actively refuse to promote any other message. If he wins on an issue like this it was all a total waste of time

Anonymous said...

I think a few people are getting themselves in a pretty pathtic lather trying to defend Mackenzie.

Its clear that Dales point is that Makenzie was slagging off his potential electorate. To him DDs constituency is 'Hull' - the whole area is 'Hull'.

And I have taken advice and can see quite clearly how close Hull is. Haltemprice is clearly a Hull suburb - use your pea sized brains for once you anti DD morons (and thanks again for showing how little you know Mr Paul) - or try Google, the Conservative Association building is probably less than 10k from Hull centre.

If you are really desperate you could try Wikipedia - and realise why the libdems are not fussed at fielding a candidate. The likelihood of a loudmouthed cockney joker getting anywhere seems a bit slim to me.

MacKenzie is wrong on 42 days and his sneering attitudes about various parts of England he can stuff up his jacksy.

And well said Anonymous 7.59 ...

Anonymous said...

BTW - unlike some people on this thread I HAVE been to Hull - a number of times.

It has on its outskirts an ASDA so big you need sat-nav to find your way around in - it also helps you get out of the car park as well.

I cannot support Mr Mackenzies crude comments because even though I hail from Lancashire - I have to say that after a long absence I drove from Bolton to my home town Wigan - it was a miserable and depressing experience. A sad indictment for an area that regularly gives its allegiance to Labour.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:59 is on the money - isn't he always?

Most people in the H&H constituency identify closely with Hull - it's the largest city for miles around. H&H is basically a Hull suburb.

As for being a shocker, yep it's been neglected for years, it's had a rotten Labour council until recently, but it has character and culture coming out it's ears.

Compare this with say Bracknell, Harlow, Basildon, Basingstoke - concrete hell holes you could demolish without upsetting anyone.

I'd imagine Kelvin will be persona non grata in Hull (or H&H) now - they're fiercely proud in those parts. I think he's bitten off more than he can chew - even with that big gob...

Anonymous said...

Gordon Brown talks about how divided the Conservatives are when 36 of his own MPs voted against the 42 day detention limit, compared with just 1 Tory voting in favour.
Typical of Gordon Brown to be as distorting as the Mackenziite media.

Anonymous said...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7453035.stm

clip of kelvin's hands plus voice saying shocker

Anonymous said...

Hull is so crap that hardly anyone goes there voluntarily.

It has just about the lowest proportion of foreign-born residents of any city in England.

Anonymous said...

Do many people actually read The Sun in Haltemprice & Howden ?

For those without access to an atlas

www.renaissance.ukf.net/images/haltemprice.gif

Is Solihull in Birmingham or is Watford London ? Yes/No/Maybe

Anonymous said...

Simon Heffer says David Davis is "following in Oliver Cromwell's footsteps." - Which is either very funny or very tragic.

But then in the same piece he also says that Kelvin Mackenzie is "the thinking man's Boris Johnson".

Therefore managing to create two jokes in the one sentence.

Heffer. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/14/do1402.xml

Anonymous said...

"It has just about the lowest proportion of foreign-born residents of any city in England."

It can't even attract illegal immigrants and asylum seekers.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree with Kelvin.

Hull is a shocker. Underfunded and neglected for years but now on the way up.

Despite this neglect, the Hullsters, or maybe the Kingstonians, are a people to whom this country owes an immeasurable debt.

It was correctly stated that Hull is the home of fish and chips. Has anyone given a thought to how the fish arrived there?

My wife, who is from Hull, had twelve uncles who all went trawling in unimaginably harsh conditions. Of those twelve, six died at sea before the age of twenty one.

Their sacrifice, and that of many others, was how Britain's national dish was delivered. Further heavy sacrifice was made during the War by those doughty seamen.

Shocking? Yes, but the Kingstonian Hullsters endured this and are still amongst the most friendly and welcoming people that I have ever met.

Lest we forget.

Anonymous said...

Kelvin MacKenzie is about as sensitive as Harlequins back row.

Anonymous said...

Kelvin MacKenzie is one of those few people who make me want to hurl knives at the TV screen. I hope he and his Sun paymasters get humiliated. Utterly.

Anonymous said...

It's emabarassing when a man hides behind a skirt; but when the Prime Minister of Great Britain hides behind a Rupert Murdoch stooge, it's downright shameful. How the hell do we get rid of him?

Anonymous said...

Today I wish to offer my full and earnest support to David Davis and his campaign against the 42 day detention debacle.

Whilst I am fully supportive of the war on terror and my political hero, George W Bush it has to be said that the 42 day detention bill the government has just passed, courtesy of a few Northern Irish backwoodsmen, is as hollow as they come from Labour which is why I believe that enough is enough.

With a CCTV camera for every 14 people and the notorious DNA data base I believe that Britain is now so state controlled it is enough to make any left wing dictator envious.

Yet despite having a CCTV camera for every 14 people crime is still out of control and criminals are still getting away with it.

For example, in 1997 despite pin-pointing the name and address of a thus who tried to use my building society pass book in Newbury thanks to CCTV all I was told by Thames Valley Police was that "we are the ones who do the investigating" and despite pressing charges for deception against a well known criminal no action was taken and more recently it was uncovered that Poole Council in Dorset were using the government's very own terror laws to spy on someone to try and find out if they lived inside a school catchment area.

This is nothing short of authoritarianism in a democratic society and is also I believe why David Davis will be returned to Westminster and why the House of Lords should return this disgraceful bill back to its original sender!

neil craig said...

Anon 10.08 is right. It must be fought on the issue - anything else blunts the effect.

Anonymous said...

Honestly...why is anyone shocked at Kelvin "gob on him like the mersey tunnel" MacKenzie? It's a typical comment from a sneering arrogant, but foolish Southerner who no doubt hasn't spent more than 10 minutes in Hull - ever. The man is nothing more than a rent a gob for Murdock...and it shows, as his brains are clearly in his backside when it comes to geography...I don't think any of the Tory contingency will be worried about him throwing his hat into the ring. ;-)

www.freyasykes.com

Anonymous said...

I see this blog is as boring as usual...Food crisis, hyper-inflatuion etc but oh gues what Ian is getting married. No one cares, get a life and do your job properly.

Anonymous said...

Freya Sykes said...
"...foolish Southerner who no doubt hasn't spent more than 10 minutes in Hull"

Not even 10 minutes. He admits that he has never been to Hull.

Anonymous said...

Lived her all my 35 years of life.

A complete **** hole is Hull.

Chavs outnumber decent folk.

Bring back Hitler's bombs.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone got the web address of Kelvin McKenzie's blog?

Cant find it anywhere. He did put in once in his column when once he was allowed to.

But I think once is enough.

Vishal Patel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.