Breaking up the Beeb

So the Tories are suggesting that the TV licence fee should be split between the BBC, ITV & C4. This is either a half-baked idea, or the starting point for a real shake up of how we run public sector broadcasting.


If this is the only suggestion from the Cameroons, then it ain't very good. Michael Grade said that ITV didn't want a share of the licence fee (too much hassle with extra govt targets). And this ignores the real problem - which is the dominance of the BBC in communications.


Just take regional news. The BBC website pretty much precludes any local sites being set up to service local news needs. A local business just couldn't compete with the bbc web site.


Similarly children's TV - few independent producers can compete or even try to nowadays.


What we need is the BBC slimming down to its core remit, with the add-ons being sold off. They get £1bn a year from the public in a compulsory tax (i.e. licence fee). In the digital age with multi-channel platforms, this is an anachronism.


Wow - I've written about the Beeb without once mentioning that they are also a bunch of leftie bollinger Bolsheviks.

Boris or Ken or Camp Copper

Nominations are due today for the London Mayoral elections on 1st May. Ken is looking like he is going to be kicked out by bumbling Boris. Which is a good thing in itself - Livingstone is a great self-publicist but an incompetent socialist who thinks that Chavez and Castro are great role models for democracy and human rights (!!!!!!!).

Being the Mayor is a strange job. Not enough power to attract really serious heavyweight politicians (just look at the choices on offer for 2008!), but enough power to be a real menace to London boroughs & Londoners who pay the Mayor's council tax precept.

Livingstone's charge has gone up 150% over the past few years - so much for a streamlined Mayoralty & GLA.

Mr Rover will definitely be drinking a bottle of the good stuff when Ken loses on 1st May. But I have a nagging feeling that Boris can't get away from being a joke politician. Maybe the joke is on us and he is supremely intelligent, tapping into the popular cynicism towards politicians to be the ultimate anti-politician..... hmmm

Capello and the false dawn?

Not the most pulsating international game last night between France & England, but I thought it was pretty important for the development of Capello's reign as England manager. England were pedestrian to say the least. Total lack of pace, Rooney isolated up front, little imagination and no cutting edge.

France were solid but not spectacular. Ribery showed England how to play international football. With pace on the counter-attack. Slowly build, keep possession, then hit the opponents quickly & hard.

This is exactly how Anelka got the penalty. Build the attack, draw the English defence which lost concentration (Terry is not having his best patch of form) and bang, Anelka showed great pace which James couldn't deal with - penalty, one-nil, au revoir.

I like Capello's formations but he lacks the players to get the best out of such a set up. Rooney needs a partner up front, or a Ronaldo type quick winger behind him as he has at ManUre. England have neither.

And when piss-poor mr. average Downing comes on and looks half decent, you know that the rest of the England team have had a 'mare.

Back to the drawing board for Fabio.

Oh my Darling.... barring is too good for you

very funny - Guido has linked to the story about banning The Chancellor from all his local pubs in retaliation for the tax rises on alcohol.

Personally I'd just hang him from the nearest lamppost for being a mono-browed socialist incompetent cock.


http://www.order-order.com/2008/03/barred-by-blogosphere-from-bars-and.html

oooooooo la la

Well done Nicolas! President Sarkozy starts his state visit to Britain today. And he is bringing his new wife the top totty, total fittie Carla Bruni.

Looking at this photo, you can see what attracted the wannabe Napoleon to Ms Bruni. I wonder what attracted Bruni to the President of France! I'm sure it was his sparkling conversation and had nothing to do with the extravagant trappings of power that goes with being President!

I can just imagine Prince Philip sleazing up to her calling her a damn fine filly.

You would though........

That Bloke's a nutter........... Oi NUTTER

Is this guy for real?!? Bill Greenshields, President of the National Union of Teachers - what a muppet.

First he takes an oh so boring student politics stereotypical lefty view on the armed forces & their attempts to recruit 16-18 yr olds in schools. At least the delinquent little shits won't be robbing old grannies if they are marching up and down Dartmoor.

Then he calls for the nationalisation of private & independent schools.

So governments of all colours since the 1960s with their incompetent educational advisers have ruined state education, helped create a society in which social mobility is happening less than 50yrs ago, and have cheated several generations of children.... so I know what, lets give them the private sector to ruin as well!!

Teachers & their militant unions are a sham stuck in the 70s. There is a good article by Charles Moore in the Speccie this week which touches on the militants of the 70s and 80s. They spouted all sorts of extreme drivel, but in reality had very little support among their members. How many teachers vote in union elections - I bet not very many. My brother & 2 sister-in-laws are teachers and they never vote in union ballots. They say it encourages the loonies. I say, it is the only way to take back the union from the quasi-communists.

Just shows - the real challenge of the next decade is root & branch reform & slimming back of our bloated public sector.

I suppose we should be grateful, at least the teachers aren't moaning about all their marking, or how hard done to they are with gold plated final salary pension schemes and 51 weeks a year holiday.

Up the revolution!

Fingers Crossed on Bents

Romped home vs Wigan yesterday. Bentley ran the show and destroyed them. Lets hope we tie him into a new extanded contract to ward off the big 4. And if Beckham plays instead of Bents for England - there is no justice!

Reforming the Lords

The BBC is reporting that a cross-party group of peers is proposing to slash the number of peers in the Lords by 400 as part of a package of reform. How about abolishing the lot?

We have the cheek to lecture the world on democracy, we invade Iraq to free the people & introduce democracy (plus get some oil!), we attack Putin for election fixing in Russia, while all along no one mentions the elephant in the room - the unelected House of Lords.

Having it full of inbred hereditary peers who got their titles after their ancestors were the mistresses of Kings was bad enough. But after Labour's half-arsed reforms, it is now stuffed with Tony & Dave's cronies! A banana republic would be ashamed! This is the upper chamber. The revising & reviewing chamber of parliament. But it is full of unelected cronies!!!!

A fully elected Lords is the only justifiable solution to the dogs dinner that Blair made of constitutional reform.

Re: Beckham - whhhhhhhhat

So goldenballs is back - at the behest of the FA's commercial department or of the new Boss? There is no way that Becks can be up to the fitness standard of his premier league colleagues when he is playing semi-pro US footy vs celebs.

MLS footy is rubbish.

There is a rumour going round that one MLS star is putting his tackle about with a Hollywood star - I'm sure Goldenballs would advise against such a thing

I am back

So I have been missing since December - I flounced off and was getting bummed at work so didn't think I had time for all this blogging malarky - well I've flounced right back in hurrah!