Luvvies always have a voice but who on TV dares speak up for the rest of us?
Following the swarm of support surrounding Gary Lineker it would seem those with a common-sense view of immigration are denied a chance to air their thoughts
THE BBC luvvies (and Jeremy Corbyn) came out in force to support Gary Lineker who branded anybody questioning the age of the children/ pensioners arriving from Calais as “hideously racist”.
Even allowing for him being a prominent and highly paid face for the state-funded broadcaster I accept he is a freelance and made his comments on his private Twitter account so there is no question of him being sacked as Match Of The Day presenter.
If, however, you were a similar freelancer — say a Graham Norton, Fiona Bruce — and had publicly made the opposite argument, ie that these “children” are in fact in their twenties and should not be allowed in our country, what would have happened? You know the answer.
Firstly the BBC or the twerps at Channel Four would distance or disagree with the remarks and then as the row grew, the star (after advice!) would develop a diplomatic illness before finally discovering they were being replaced in the next series.
That is the reality of TV land.
The liberal view is fine and will not only keep you in a job but earn you a pay hike as well.
If you have a common-sense position on either Calais or uncontrolled migration keep your mouth shut or expect your career to take a nasty turn.
That’s why you never hear anything else but the Left’s view from the mouths of TV types.
With the newspaper business in sharp decline who is going to speak for the majority of the nation in the future? I suggested to Mrs May’s people at No10 the other day that radio should follow the US example and scrap the absurd idea of “balance” in broadcast.
If Corbyn wants a radio station that follows his ideas, great (love to see the ratings!), if I want one that follows mine, great, if you want alleged “neutrality” you would still be able to go to the BBC.
At the moment only the Lineker voice is heard but it denies a Brexit-plus size majority of having anybody speaking for them in the important broadcast world.
I would be grateful if the new Secretary of State for Culture would do something about it.
Omran will never be forgotten
It's an image I couldn’t get out of my head. That of a stunned and bewildered little boy called Omran waiting for treatment to his injuries in the back of an ambulance in Aleppo.
As you might imagine if a bomb had fallen on your house killing your brother, the three-year-old had no idea where he was, what had befallen him or what his future might hold.
I remember the TV footage more than the stills as Omran sat in the ambulance quite stunned and touching the side of his head and then looking at his hand now covered in blood.
The bomb blew his life apart on August 18 this year. I didn’t want to let this image go so I commissioned the artist Jolyon Madden for his take.
I was so taken with his work I thought I’d share it with you.
We should never forget we live such lucky lives.
Lookalike
IN Friday’s column I suggested one of the Calais “children”, looked like Sixties star Rock Hudson.
A heap of Specsavers gags followed with many readers saying he looked more like the bistro owner out of Coronation Street.
Any other suggestions to [email protected]
RELATED STORIES
ITV weak for Ched apology
I have no idea why ITV felt pressured into making an apology for comments made by the thoughtful Gloria Hunniford about Ched Evans, the footballer cleared of rape.
During Loose Women she gave a resume of the case and finished by saying, “I can’t comprehend all that” before adding Evans was “the last person she would send her grandchildren to for sex education”.
A good if uncontroversial point.
The Evans camp didn’t enjoy her analysis and were particularly exercised over the issue of the victim’s consent to sex which led to the Evans acquittal.
So his legal people fired off a letter threatening to sue unless an on-air apology was forthcoming.
Unbelievably presenter Ruth Langsford was wheeled out to say sorry. Personally I would have told his lawyers to go forth and multiply.
Why Evans doesn’t crawl back from under the stone whence he came is quite beyond me.
There was a suggestion, hastily denied, that Miss Hunniford was so upset at the apology that she came close to quitting the show.
It’s a shame she didn’t. Miss Hunniford doesn’t need work so badly that she has to hang around with producers who had their backbone removed at birth.
I'm with Paul
According to new Twitter analysis, Paul Hollywood is now the nation’s No1 hate figure for ditching the BBC and going to Channel Four with The Great British Bake Off.
I don’t blame him.
Not only does his pay rise from £100,000 a series with the Beeb to £400,000 with C4 but he has the added bonus of not working with the unfunny, sanctimonious Sue Perkins.
For what its worth I reckon Candice Brown, will win on Wednesday. Then she can be the new face of Rimmel.
AT the end of a six-hour banquet and at one in the morning Mrs May was given just five minutes to make her speech to EU leaders.
Isn’t it time she told them to stick Europe up their Juncker.
Justice for female customers
Pleased to report the crooks who run the home insurance division of Lloyds Bank have come a cropper.
Last month Colin Parkes received an unsolicited quote through the post from Lloyds Bank of £182.94 to insure his house in Reading.
On the SAME day his wife Brigid received an unsolicited quote of £273.45 for the SAME house from the SAME bank. Clearly Lloyds is as sexist as Donald Trump.
Lloyds deny this, telling The Sunday Times some old tosh about the premium being based on average house prices for Colin but for Brigid the number came as she had an insurance in her own name some years back.
It’s all cobblers. My bet is there’s somebody in the bowels of Lloyds making up these numbers.
I am equally suspicious about energy firms.
Readers David Brown of Epping, Essex (saved £1,069) and Heather Vinten from Selsey, West Sussex (saved £638) were loyal for years until they finally realised it didn’t pay and switched their suppliers through .
Only 38 per cent of you switch energy suppliers. That’s good news for the big energy companies but poor news for you. With the emphasis on poor.
WRONG NOT IN MY POST
To mark being officially ancient a long-time friend of mine emailed me a singing birthday card.
It was dreadful. Only send it to somebody you don’t like.
In Fifties America there was a similar idea called the singing telegram. A chap would turn up at your door and then sing the content .
The idea ran into trouble when a woman in Texas demanded the telegram was sung to her although the post boy thought the idea was quite wrong.
She insisted. So still protesting he cleared his throat and sang: “Your sister Rose is dead.”
Unsurprisingly the commercial possibilities for that venture died that day.
Punnies
Fish shop in Metheringham, Lincs – Codskitchen
Laundry van on the A404 in Bucks – Full Steam Ahead
Coffee shop in Roath, Cardiff – Field Of Beans
Gardener’s van in Southend, Essex – Mown And Grown
Chimney sweep in Ottery St Mary, Devon – Soot And Sweep
Tattoo shop in Durham – Insane Inc
Punnies are a bit thin today. I blame half-term! Please send more to [email protected]