Human case of bird flu detected in the UK, tentatively called Crowvid-19.
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| Simon Evans, funny and sartorially sharp |
For fans of Twitter chats, here's an interesting one this afternoon featuring Simon Evans - one of the few right-leaning comedians (along with Geoff Norcott) to retain a toehold in BBC comedy.
It was sparked by an impartiality-free non-joke from the HIGNFY Twitter feed.
The thread also features arch-Corbynista Aaron Bastani telling it straight!
And if you're wondering, Marcus is also a comedian:
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Have I Got News For You: So that’s 30 years then, but if Paul Dacre and Charles Moore take those jobs we’re unlikely to see another five, and nor is the BBC.
Aaron Bastani: As some of my favourite left wing comedians appear on your show I really hope it isn’t cut, as some argue it should have been 15 years ago. It’s a very left wing show, and I’m worried that’s why the Tories want it gone!
Zulu_Alpha: You don't think there's an issue with the BBC only producing left wing comedy?
Marcus James: No. This is a tired manufactured dichotomy. Most comedy is anti-Establishment. The Venn diagram between AE and left-wing is a big overlap, but they have a number of AE figures from the Right too (JHB, Henning When {sic}, Simon Evans, etc). Trump is AE - but he is definitely not left.
Simon Evans: Forgive my untagged intrusion, but as a matter of friendly interest, how often do you think I might have been on HIGNFY? Just a rough guess, over the last 25 years that I've been a professional comedian.
Marcus James: No apology needed, I did namecheck you after all. Guessing by this intervention, the answer is going to be not many / none; although to be fair I watch / listen to both HIGNFY and The News Quiz regularly, so there might be a bit of mental cross-pollination on my part. To be fair to the wider argument being made though, the accusation is being levelled at the BBC generally, of which The News Quiz is part, and you have to concede you are a regular on that show. incidentally, I think it would be helpful if people were more specific by what they mean as a "right wing comedian". Do they want right-of-centre such as yourself and Henning, or do they just mean you can't tell jokes about mother-in-laws and minorities? Because I would hope we can all agree that certain types of humour associated with the "right" are probably never coming back to mainstream TV / radio; and, to be fair, with probable good reason!
Simon Evans: I think it's fair to distinguish between a high profile TV show and a popular radio comedy. You have of course guessed correctly - I have never been on the show. I don't know how often Henning has but if he is the representative of half the British electorate, that's a bit odd? As a conceded regular on The News Quiz, btw, how often do you think I have been on this year, so far?
Marcus James: Not many? Genuine questions back though, in good faith, Do you feel you are invited on less because of your political position? Do you not think this is largely self-selecting? (simply more people who get into stand-up / comedy, are left leaning / liberal generally?)
Simon Evans: I think in the last few years, and it being a topical show, they mean comedians who find the likes of Corbyn, Joe Biden and indeed AC Grayling, Change UK and Femi Sorry as at least as deserving of mockery as anyone on the right.
Marcus James: No argument from me there.
Simon Evans: Anyway, it would be unseemly to over do it, good chat, and I hope to see you from the other side of the screen one of these days!
Simon Evans: Sorry, missed this... [reacting to Marcus's "genuine questions" reply] ...I have been on once. But it will be twice, soon! I don't resent or complain about frequency, only occasionally take issue when I am presented as proof that the few RW comedians there are, like me, get invited on all the time.
Money Box presenter Paul Lewis isn't happy with people criticising the BBC's comedy output:
When will these numbnuts realise that comedy and satire mocks people in power. It is not about left or right it is about power. Similarly as a journalist I criticise and hold to account the Govt not because it is Conservative but because it is the Govt.
Maybe he should take it up with Tim Davie?
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P.S. I think Paul Lewis is wrong, by the way.
My memory of BBC comedy programmes like Have I Got News For You in the thirteen years of Labour rule was that they mocked the firmly out-of-power Tory opposition more than they went after the Labour government.
I thought I'd just test that though.
There aren't many full episodes on YouTube, but the first one I found - first broadcast in 1999, two years into Tony Blair's first government - strongly suggests that my memory hasn't been playing tricks on me.
I rest my case frankly:
At the height of New Labour's early pomp, Paul, Ian and Angus went in hard against (a) Conservative Geoffrey Archer, (b) Conservative Lord Ashcroft, and (c) Conservative Jonathan Aitken. There also had digs at (d) Conservative Michael Portillo.
The Labour Government of the day got off scot free, with no savage satire about it whatsoever.
I kid you not here, as you'll see if you watch it for yourself. (It features Anna Ford and Alex Salmond as guests).The main Labour 'bit' was about the announcement of Cherie Blair's pregnancy, and the only mockery of Tony Blair was over a terrible poem he read out at the TUC conference!
So Paul Lewis is talking rubbish.
Britain left embarrassed by juvenile behaviour of Saga Holidays group on coach-trip to Brussels: pic.twitter.com/2fsLYCr1JD— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) January 30, 2020
Wow. You’re even less funny than my This Week monologues. And you have scriptwriters. Maybe time to pack it in?
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| "No, no, no, by the hair on my chinny, chin, chins" |
Charlotte Gill: Ooh, it's Have I Got News for You. Have I Got News for Them...Brits are sick of smug liberals clogging up the airwaves! You're not funny. You are, however, incredibly helpful for Conservative wins.
I can't believe HIGNFY is laying into the Tories. Even now! Have they learnt nothing? The majority of voters identify with Tories now. You are insulting them by association. Gosh we really do need to drain the swamp of these woke automatons dominating the airwaves.
The annoying thing is that liberals are going to continue on their woke trajectory. There'll be more celebrities crying fascism and preaching to us plebbies. This time I will remember that it's just noise, though. We've learnt too many times they are "the few" in their opinions.
Mic Wright: (replying) We’re going to get a lot of these demands to sit down and shut up now.
Charlotte Gill: (replying) Like "liberals" have been doing to their political opponents for the last decade?
#HIGNFY A racist trope why? because black people throughout history have been depicted as lacking in intelligence #BBCRacism pic.twitter.com/flTFlcFZu9— Leftin #GTTO #JC4PM ❌VOTE LABOUR (@logical4ever) November 22, 2019
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| Waxwork Paul |
The Tory MP Mark Francois was delighted — if a little surprised — to be approached by BBC1’s Have I Got News For You. “He would be a great guest,” a researcher gushed. Not that great, obviously. He was replaced at short notice last week by the Liberal Democrat Layla Moran.
“I presume the BBC invited me because of my relatively high profile as a Brexiteer,” says Francois. “It dropped me without explanation for one of the most pro-EU MPs in parliament.” It could have been worse. At least he wasn’t replaced by the infamous tub of lard.
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| Ian, laughing as much as I did last night |
Britain Elects: Preference for Prime Minister: B. Johnson: 41% (+1). J. Corbyn: 21% (-1) via @YouGov, 08 - 09 Oct.
Allison Pearson: You wouldn’t know this from the media would you? Huge disconnect between Boris bashing pundits and swelling public support.
Phillip Hodson: Had the identical thought when watching tonight’s exceptionally dull episode of “Have I Got News For You”. The entire panel & the presenter were drawn from the bien pensant, London-centric Left. They all appeared to loathe Boris whereas the country clearly does not.
Allison Pearson: I also think the BBC may be Brexit’s biggest casualty. All pretence of impartiality gone. I give the licence fee a decade.
Steven Richards: It's a substantial point. The BBC's flagship comedy prog, with all the talent available, and also it's flagship political prog, QT, aim at a minority. I think a decade will be pushing it unless there's a hung parliament or narrow majority.We'll see.
"The BBC has specific editorial guidelines that apply during election periods. Because of this it would be inappropriate to feature political party leaders on entertainment programmes during this short election period, which does not allow for equal representation to be achieved."BBC statement
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| Henning Wehn |
Well, things will certainly have changed by the time this show is broadcast. It is probably safe to say that people you didn't know existed will have resigned.Still at least the wonderful Henning Wehn was on:
Ian Hislop: They've no idea what's going on.
Stacey Dooley: No one has any idea what's going on.
Henning Wehn: And that makes it so exciting! Because usually you feel like, oh they know so much more than I do, and you feel left behind, but, no, we are all on a level playing field! No one knows anything. I mean, a man who is tired of Brexit is tired of life!
David Dimbleby: Who will be the next leader [of the Conservative Party]?And long may that continue, Henning! You stay with us, and Ian, Paul and Stacey can go live in Germany.
Ian Hislop: I think it's going to be Jeremy Corbyn.
Stacey Dooley: [to Henning] If it's Jacob, I'm going to...leave and come and live with you in Germany.
Henning Wehn: [pointing to the ground] And I'm still here.
DAVID MITCHELL: And how has the BBC upset people this week by censoring something?
PAUL MERTON: There was a documentary, I'm not quite sure about the details, a documentary that was being shown in Africa and there was a bit of pixelating going on?
DAVID MITCHELL: Yes, producers of a BBC Africa documentary decided to blur out the cleavage of a female interviewee. Let's have a look at what we can. Yeah.
DIDDY ANDY HAMILTON: Is that because the cleavage was involved in a court case?
DAVID MITCHELL: BBC bosses said they felt the need to cover up because they were worried it would offend audiences in some conservative African countries. According to an internal BBC e-mail, "The decision to deal with Pam's cleavage was made at senior editorial level".
DIDDY ANDY HAMILTON: And that would be the Head of Cleavage. HOC, as it's known. Can I just say, the other lady's cleavage is quite low. I don't understand quite what the parameters were there.
IAN HISLOP: Are you pitching to be HOC?
DIDDY ANDY HAMILTON: In that opening sequence, where Michael Gove was running, you could quite clearly see his man-boobs. And I think they should have been pixelated.
Simon Pinsa: I would be happy if the BBC were just impartial. When was the last time they had a right wing comedian on the BBC?legalclaret: Geoff Norcott on the Mash Report last Friday.Andrew Neil: For three minutes out of thirty minutes of self satisfied, self adulatory, unchallenged left wing propaganda. It’s hardly balance. Could never happen on a politics show. Except this has become a politics show.Marchal: Like HIGNFY and The Last Leg the show exists so that audiences can applaud themselves at how clever and progressive they are.Dave P: HIGNFY is on its last legs. Never heard of The Last Leg.jeff: I've only managed to watch some moments of each but, incredibly, I'd say it was more left wing. It's hard to imagine how broadcasters get away with the continuous overt propaganda.Andrew Neil: When it comes to so called comedy the BBC has long given up on balance, on radio and tv. Nobody seems to care. And I don’t want right wing comedy, whatever that is. I’d just like comedy. Which is in really short supply. On tv and radio.Louise Rowntree: Or is it just that liberals are wittier than... illiberals?Andrew Neil: If you think Mash or The Now Show is funny as opposed to contrived ideological commentary then we have a different sense of humour. Jon Stewart in US was left wing but also intelligent and so funny. Loved it. Mash a pathetic imitation.Stuart Baggs: You simply do not look hard enough for comedy. In fact it’s clear you don’t look at all. You should look at BBC Sounds. There are absolute amazing non political comedies on there. It’s a shame you make such ignorant comments from within the BBC to be honest. Shocking in fact.Andrew Neil: I have BBC Sounds. Interesting you don’t name a single show. Give me one. That will make me laugh out loud. I use BBC Sounds to listen to the Goon show and Round the Horne. Brilliant. Anything more a la mode.
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| Donald and Steph |
I think the BBC must be giving out vouchers to all the people who have a go at DT. One snide remark = a free meal, two snide remarks = a chance to be on another programme, three = regular employment.I do like this passage from the BBC report though:
In the interview McGovern grilled Mr Trump about his status as a business tycoon, his previous bid for the US presidency in 2012, and whether his wealth made him happy.
Ian Hislop: This is a physicist at CERN who said that the history of physics was largely created by men. He implied that women weren't very good at physics, but nowadays there are so many women getting jobs in physics that men couldn't get a job. I didn't really follow his argument.Alexander Armstrong: Do you remember what his name was, the professor?Naga Munchetty: Idiot.Alexander Armstrong: He was Professor Alessandro Strumia from the CERN laboratory project. That's part of the Large Hadron Collider, isn't it? He's upset female scientists and womenkind. One of his claims is that Oxford University has lengthened its science exams by 15 minutes specifically to help women. Why is this so shocking?Josh Widdecombe: Because it's not true?Alexander Armstrong: No. Because it is true. According to the Telegraph: "Students taking maths and computer science examinations in the summer of 2017 were given an extra 15 minutes to complete their papers, after dons ruled that 'female candidates might be more likely to be adversely affected by time pressure.'"Naga Munchetty: Have we got much longer? I'm feeling a bit faint.Ian Hislop: I'm going up to get more paper.Alexander Armstrong: This is the Italian scientist who told a group of female physicists that physics was invented by men. Professor Anne-Christine Davis, a physicist at Cambridge University said, "I just don't know what planet he lives on." I'm afraid you've rather played right into his hands.
How can I say it? ..a con woman. Yeah! Ye... No, it's nothing to be proud of. I've been called worse. Well, why not try to prove them wrong by boosting the local economy, providing employment during these tough Brexit times, eh? I can get you your money, Mas. All of it. In a week.
Questions about the competence of the Home Office and this morning. Also questions from Brussels about what all this says about how the Government will handle the registration of EU citizens who will be staying here after Brexit.
British firm De La Rue has said it will not appeal against the Government's controversial decision to choose a Franco-Dutch company to make the new blue UK passports after Brexit. De La Rue, the current passport provider, said that it had "considered all the options", but would not challenge the move, which will see the half a billion pound contract handed to Gemalto, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam.
In Brussels, officials are watching with concern. The government's handling of the Windrush fiasco has not filled them with confidence about how EU nationals will be treated in the UK after Brexit.
- "Brexit threatens to cut down the number of people available to work on the land"
- "There are fears about the availability of migrant workers post Brexit".
He said why this is a big year for Brexit and that would weigh heavily on their decision-making. The big picture, for people watching, is that, yes, prepare for a few interest rate rises over the next few years.
It would be nice if it was cold during the week and hot at the weekend. We should make that a condition of the Brexit deal .
The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has told the BBC that a rise in interest rates this year is still likely, but that any increases will be gradual and will depend on progress in the Brexit negotiations.
Theresa May had hoped to use this summit to highlight Britain's global ambitions after Brexit. But the row over Caribbean immigration has made that harder.
Newsreader: The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned there is still a chance that talks on Britain's withdrawal deal from the bloc could fail. Mr Barnier said that while three-quarters of the deal had been agreed, the Irish border issue remained a key stumbling block. Our correspondent Gavin Lee is in Brussels for us with the latest. Tell us more.Gavin Lee: This is the EU's chief negotiator for the EU making crystal clear that whilst three quarters they are pretty much in agreement on what the Brexit deal or the withdrawal agreement of both the UK and the European Parliament have to ratify by March next year, the last 25% come because of the series issues involved, said could be problematic and risks failure, he said.
Newsreader: The meeting of the Commonwealth leaders was supposed to be a chance for Theresa May to talk about matters such as trade but instead it ended up being overshadowed by the row over the Windrush migrants.
John Pienaar: That's right. This week, the Commonwealth Summit was supposed to be a show of Britain's weight in the world. Instead, we saw the Prime Minister saying sorry for the mistreatment of Commonwealth migrants and their families by a country once known as the mother country. And not just the government, the Home Office, which Theresa May lead for years, reflecting her own unyielding approach to immigration control in a way that her successor Amber Rudd described as appalling. Mrs May was meant to be standing tall among Commonwealth leaders but we saw her saying sorry again and again to leaders of countries Britain wants to have as friends and needs as trading partners in the world beyond Brexit.
Downing Street clearly wanting to be seen to be making amends. Climbing out of that hole. Maintaining Britain's influence and standing and its weight in the world with Brexit approaching, that was always a challenge, and there will be many more challenges as time draws by. But I think the Windrush scandal may just have made that mission that much harder.
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| Jared O'Mara, 2006 (band website - as per HIGNFY) |
In his comments, Jared O'Mara has been homophobic, xenophobic and sexist. Worst of all, in the eyes of the Labour Party, he doesn't have a bad word to say about Jews.
