UK General Discussion: Rishecession

[MayorCarcetti]

Gary Lineker given the chop apparently, at least for the time being.

The other presenters are saying they won’t appear in protest, and it does seem to be getting a lot of attention. Haven’t seen much criticism from the usual ‘free speech brigade’ though, presumably because Lineker holds the wrong sort of opinions.

Morgan tbf is supporting him, he is a close friend of Gary's though so that probably helps.

[MayorCarcetti]

The other presenters are saying they won’t appear in protest, and it does seem to be getting a lot of attention. Haven’t seen much criticism from the usual ‘free speech brigade’ though, presumably because Lineker holds the wrong sort of opinions.

Morgan tbf is supporting him, he is a close friend of Gary's though so that probably helps.

I was thinking more of political commentators rather than celebrities (Jeremy Clarkson is also backing him).

People might be surprised by Clarkson but as someone who's followed him for years (having been raised on a diet of Top Gear), it doesn't surprise me - he often mocked the BBC impartiality rules (if you watch the full infamous 'shot in front of their families line', he prefaces it saying 'we have to provide balance because this is the BBC', and he's written articles that have been pretty sympathetic towards refugees. Man of many contradictions is Jezza

[MayorCarcetti]

So, err, this doesn't seem great:

"Friday Night with Nadine"?  Indeed, it seems terrible.

Big downgrade from Friday Night with Jonathan Ross I got to say...

[MayorCarcetti]

Our PM went to watch "his" club Southampton FC yesterday, to say that he looked like a fish out of water is maybe understating it. Not to mention that they lost and were formally relegated.

I'm amazed out of all the games he could have gone to, his advisors let him got to this one. It was obvious this was a match that could see Southampton go down, surely they knew the optics of a beleaguered PM seeing 'his team' being relegated are not good.

[MayorCarcetti]

Just for anyone wondering the allegiances of the other recent prime ministers:

Wilson: Huddersfield Town (his hometown club)

Callaghan: not a big football fan, but his native club Portsmouth once asked him for digout when they were on hard times

Thatcher: her dislike of football and it's fans is well known but she was rather incredibly made Honorary Vice President of Blackburn Rovers by owner Jack Walker in the 90s.

Major: huge Chelsea fan, frequently seen at Stamford Bridge

Blair: famously a Newcastle fan, it was once claimed a young Tony sat in the Gallowgate end and saw Jackie Milburn play, something that was impossible as the Gallowgate didn't have seats until many years after Wor Jackie left. Campbell later admitted he made it up

Brown: a Raith Rovers fan, he handed programmes at Starks Park as a child.

Cameron: infamously said he was a West Ham fan when he previously had claimed to be a Villa fan. His support for the other team in claret and blue comes from his uncle Sir William Dudgale being the chairman in their early 80s glory days.

May: Not a big football fan but reportedly has a soft spot for AFC Wimbledon (and the original club) due to her time as a councillor in Merton.

Johnson: typically Boris claimed to be a fan of all the London clubs.

Truss: a Norwich fan - although a Leeds native, she supports the team of her constituency.

[MayorCarcetti]

It's Tory corruption that she really seems to be focused on, especially the misdeeds of her former friend Michelle Mone.

[MayorCarcetti]

As well as that, and while it may have not being their intention, they helped pushed someone who's known to have mental health issues almost over the edge.

[MayorCarcetti]

The Sun should have the living financial daylights beaten out of them for this, but is it actually something they can be sued over if they didn't mention anyone by name?

It'll be a legal minefield probably, but the argument could be made they were pointing people in the direction of it being him - they were saying he was a BBC presenter and the bit about the 35k for photos made it obvious it was one of the high earners, and with him being off-air and the others denying it, it soon became obvious it was him. Also you had their notorious ex-editor Kelvin MacKenzie straight out say it was him on twitter this morning before his wife made the statement (while not a current employee, he's still heavily associated with the paper and would have likely heard directly from current employees about this). And his identity being revealed was always endgame - they may not legally have been able to name him but they helped created such buzz around this that he (or rather his wife) basically had to come out and say it because everyone knew (bit like they did with Schofield).

[MayorCarcetti]

Now the hunter has become the hunted - the fighter of woke Dan Wootton of GB News, not averse to hounding people himself, is in a spot of trouble. Unsurprisingly he's called it a witch-hunt, hit out at 'dark forces'  and said it's because GB News is the biggest threat to the establishment in decades

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jul/18/sun-and-mail-publishers-examine-claims-against-journalist-dan-wootton

[MayorCarcetti]

Mohamed Al Fayed has died, aged 94.

Reports indicate that he has already punched Prince Philip immediately upon entering the afterlife.

Almost 26 years to the day that his son was killed which is bound to get conspiracy theorists talking.

Also never knew until now that Dodi's mother was a Khashoggi

[MayorCarcetti]

A Special Dispatches episode is to air on Channel 4 tonight and rumours are abound that it will be about the inappropriate sexual behaviour of a certain 'A-List' comedian.

Incidentally, cut-price Che Guevara Russell Brand has denied 'serious criminal allegations' he claims are being made against him

[MayorCarcetti]

https://twitter.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1718701646425759983

Week before the US election - thought they were explicitly warned by U.S intelligence not to do this?

[MayorCarcetti]

Kissinger, MacGowan and now Darling in one day, quite the day for celebrity deaths. There'll be an interesting chat between the last two at least in the queue outside the pearly gates

[MayorCarcetti]

King Brian has a very distinct form of politics; a mix of old school liberalism but talks in a way we haven’t really seen since Rowan Williams.

All indications are that his views are strikingly similar to Mountbatten's, which makes sense given everything.

Yes it’s weird that MB is written up as labour friendly in both histories of the 1940s and the 60s; despite the errrr long running rumours.

A fun game is to guess how members or the firm would have voted- believe Thatcher said the problem with the Queen was she was the type of person who votes SDP

I've heard that the Queen Mother (then the Queen) said "oh bother!" when she heard that Labour had won in 1945. She also said that the ideal form of government was "a good old-fashioned Tory one with a strong Labour opposition".

While I agree that the Queen Mum was quite likely right-wing, her disappointment could also stem from the royals famous closeness to Churchill.

TBF whatever she thought of his politics, she was reportedly on good terms with Michael Foot. Famously she commended him for his infamous donkey jacket the 1981 Remembrance Day ceremony saying it was a wise choice for the chilly conditions (Foot meanwhile was accused in the press of being disrespectful for wearing it for such an occasion)

[MayorCarcetti]

As it happens I think Starmer will be a one-term Prime Minister, but Labour won't necessarily be a one-term government.

Let's not forget his age, after all.

(he would be the oldest PM to come to power after winning an election since when?)

For the first time, after winning an election? Atlee in 1945, who was 62 years and 6 months (if it's an October or November election, Starmer will still fall short of Atlee's age, turns 62 in September).

Honorable mentions: Churchill returned to power at 75 and 3 months in 1950 via an election. Jim Callaghan became PM in 1976 just a week or so after he turned 64.

[MayorCarcetti]

Theresa May has announced that she will not stand for Parliament at the next election.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-mp-constituency-election-2024-b2509217.html

She stayed on an extra election after been deposed but long gone are the days of ex PM's staying in parliament long after they were in office. Easy to forget for instance that Heath was still in there until 2001 (27 years after his premiership ended). Truss tbf is keeping going for the moment at least, can't see Rishi staying on too long though

[MayorCarcetti]

https://twitter.com/TUVonline/status/1776526536134279202
Nightmare blunt rotation.

At an Orange Hall, no less!

On that note, it's also quite interesting that Ann Widdecombe, a Catholic will be there too. Might be the first one to ever step inside those doors!

[MayorCarcetti]

https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1790477309729751510
It'll probably be some awkward celebrity endorsement, but given its a Essex-based event, on the other side of PMQs, I'd imagine local MPs like Will Quince and John Baron will wake up tomorrow to about ten missed calls from the chief whip.

What Essex celebrity?! Gemma Collins? Stacey Solomon?

Genuine question - who'd be a celebrity endorsement who'd make headlines. Lot of big names (Adele, Dua Lipa etc) are already known to be Labour so wouldn't be too shocking. One that came to mind would be Clarkson, since it would be so against the grain of what you'd expect from him, but he did previously admit he'd consider voting Labour under Starmer, even before the Tories really went down the tubes. But even so, I doubt Starmer would openly court him or brag too much an endorsement from that Jeremy C.