The Blame Game

A comment from a favourite BBC pundit (Anand Menon) this morning...

Quentin Letts (The Times): Jaded old hack though I be, am haunted by footage of Jacob Rees-Mogg and his young son being so menaced by protestors that he needed a police phalanx. This is the most polite of men, with his kid, for God's sake. Weird, bad days. And still that idiot Letwin wants delay.

Anand Menon (UK in A Changing Europe): This is the problem. Trying to blame Letwin for the behaviour of a few idiots in the street.

....reminds me that Emily Mailis tried to blamed Boris Johnson for the behaviour of a few idiots in the street.

Taking flight

Is it a 'good news story for the BBC' or a 'bad news story for the BBC' that Quentin Letts of The Daily Mail has fled BBC Radio's 4 Today for BBC Radio 3's Breakfast? Or does the 'good news for the BBC' balance out the 'bad news for the BBC' here? After all, Quentin may be fed up with Today but, instead of fleeing the BBC altogether, has merely taken refuge with yet another part of the BBC, and now feels very happy there?

Quentin's piece in the Mail, which I learned about via Alan at Biased-BBC, struck a strong chord with me because I've also recently stopped listening to Radio 4 whilst driving to and from work and switched to Radio 3 instead - and, like Quentin, I've felt much the better for it.

In fact, instead of blogging about BBC bias, I've spent what little time I've not been at work this week catching up with Radio 3's Breakfast (and other BBC Radio 3 programmes) on the iPlayer, playing the game of clicking on each piece and trying to guess what it is. And, like Quentin, I've found gem after gem after gem after gem. And, also like Quentin, I've especially enjoyed Georgia Mann's presentation (though I'm not sure what Canada's answer to Lord Adonis, Justin Trudeau, would make of her surname, especially if he merely heard it spoken. Would he be reaching for the smelling salts?). 

Arnold Schoenberg walks into a bar. "I'll have a gin please, but no tonic".

Why couldn't the string quartet find their composer? He was Haydn. 

Why did J. S. Bach have so many children? Because he didn't have any stops on his organ. 

Have I (Not) Got Poppies For You?

It may have been a mere parenthetical aside, but Quentin Letts of OMG The Daily Mail has certainly piqued many people's interest today: 

Has the very unfortunate culture war over Remembrance Day poppies spread to HIGNFY, with HIGNFY taking sides against the traditional red poppy and making Mr Letts remove his poppy? 

It certainly sounds like it. 

We'll have to see if this Friday's HIGNFY guests have the same rule imposed upon them. 

It's to be hoped not.

Nobody can deny?

I forgot to watch Robert Peston’s new Sunday morning show. It’s hard to break the habit of watching Nicky Campbell’s low-brow, tabloid style, down-market antidote to those decorous political one-to-ones. It’s like an indecorous filling sandwiched between Two Andys.

The funniest article I’ve seen concerning Peston’s debut isn’t a review of the show itself, it’s Roy Greenslade accusing Quentin Letts of cruelty to Andrew Marr. The offending opening paragraph: 

Sunday mornings just became a little madder and more metropolitan. Not only do we have Andrew ‘Captain Hop-Along’ Marr growling away on BBC1, throwing his arm about like a tipsy conductor.

Mocking the afflicted is a bit ‘Frankie Boyle, but the arm-throwing gesture is certainly worth a mention. I see it as olden-day, music-hall semaphore for ‘mark my words’ and it’s spookily reminiscent of Arthur Askey. 

Come to think of it Marr is very like Arthur Askey. I bet he’d make a great job of “Busy Bee” 

“Sting who you like but don’t sting me!”

Roy Greenslade said:

“I was full of admiration for Marr (and for the BBC) when he returned to presenting his show some eight months after his stroke. And no-one can deny that he remains a first-class interviewer.”

Hmm. No-one? 

Nobody can deny? All together now: “For he’s a Jolly Good fellow.”