Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

Just looked at what were Autumn Highlights on Channel 4 in 2019 (so before our new era). Not exactly inspiring content:

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-reveals-autumn-2019-highlights

Christ - "the British Tribe" in the year of our Lord 2019

Skimming through that, the only show that seems to really meet Channel 4's purpose is The End of the Fucking World.

Did channel 4 do many celebrity contests? Always saw that as more an ITV and slightly BBC thing.

All the panel shows. Basically all their normal shows but celebrity: Celebrity Big Brother/Come Dine With Me/Bake Off/Coach Trip etc. Splash (celebrities diving), The Jump (celebrity ski-jumping until the insurance bill came in) etc. I'd say the opposite - Channel 4 if anything pioneered x standard format reality show, but celebrity.

Good stuff by Channel 4 though- every decent comedy this side of Blackadder pretty much, Dispatches, 24 Hours in Police Custody, This is England, Black Mirror, Fresh Meat, lots of Film 4 stuff; they've really contributed a huge amount to the resurgence of British cinema.

But again this sort of makes the point - with the exception of Dispatches which they've always done and 24 Hours in Policy Custody - all of those shows date from about ten years ago.

I totally agree on Film 4 and I think it's similar to them being crucial in building up British TV productions. I think they were essential (because they couldn't make anything themselves) in launching the modern British film and TV industry - that bit is definitely worth trying to keep.

BBC used to be the place for documentaries but Louis Theroux's rare appearances accepted Channel 4 holds that crown today.

I'm not sure on documentaries - can't think of any I've recently watched on Channel 4. But I stream everything so use All 4 for that - there is a separate complaint I have about the BBC documentaries but that's another issue

I think the big positive innovation from Channel 4 in the last decade is probably investing in foreign language drama - but even there it was BBC4 that did it first. They got The Killing, Montelbano and Borgen which kicked that whole trend off, Channel 4 just created the Walter Presents and bought job lots of foreign dramas (of mixed quality).

[Tamas]

You guys are cute still expecting some level of competence from this government.

[Sheilbh]

Reminder of a large part of the reason why we are where we are. One of Corbyn's team when he was leader out there sharing an article "Questions Abound About Bucha Massacre" concluding:

The Bucha incident is a critical moment in the war. An impartial investigation is warranted, which probably only the U.N. could conduct. The Azov Battalion may have perpetrated revenge killings against Russian collaborators, or the Russians carried out this massacre. (Once again the Pentagon is dampening the war hysteria, saying it can't confirm or deny Russia was responsible.)

A rush to judgment is dangerous, with irresponsible talk of the U.S. directly fighting Russia. But it is a rush to judgment that we are getting.

Corbyn himself has said the massacre needs to be investigated and those responsible held to account - and linked to the Morning Star's coverage. Sample other headlines: "If Putin is to be tried as a war criminal, why not Gordon Brown?", "the nuclear option - why Poland's call for deterrence spells danger for Europe", "peace and de-escalation are possible. We have to keep pressing this case".

As RH said I can't stand Boris Johnson, but I find it very hard to blame voters who looked at Corbyn and decided they couldn't vote Labour.

[Jacob]

Disgraceful

[Josquius]

I mean, we know what they'll find but a neutral investigation would be nice.
Not going to happen though.

And no good comedy in 10 years - Derry Girls is still going. Friday night dinner just finished 2 or 3 years ago iirc

[Admiral Yi]

"If Putin is to be tried as a war criminal, why not Gordon Brown?"

What is this referring to?

[Barrister]

"If Putin is to be tried as a war criminal, why not Gordon Brown?"

What is this referring to?

Supported the Iraq War I'm sure.

[Admiral Yi]

Supported the Iraq War I'm sure.

Why Brown and not Blair?

[Sheilbh]

Why Brown and not Blair?

That sort of high-grade crankery is what marks out the Morning Star from the Guardian But also Brown signed an open letter condemning Putin for war crimes.

But yes, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Disgraceful

I genuinely think that 2019 was probably the worst options an electorate has ever been presented with

Edit: Also as someone on the left who's been to lefty events and things, no-one pisses me off as much as the "just asking questions" guy

[Sheilbh]

You guys are cute still expecting some level of competence from this government.

Maybe - it's not a point about their competence as a government though, it's a question of political competence.

They're not doing well in the polls, their leader and his most likely successor are very unpopular, cost of living increases are coming and there's limited bandwidth in government. It's also incredible to me how much discipline within the Tory party has broken down - there are regular rebellions, it is more or less standard for Tory backbencher backlash on every area of policy. As someone who grew up in the New Labour era it's incredible, but even comparing with the Scottish parliament where the SNP have basically never lost a parliamentary vote and have almost no rebellions.

In that context what you want are quick, easy, popular wins/policies that are likely to cut through. If I were them I'd frankly not do anything domestically except for cost of living - one off cash payments to the elderly and people on benefits, windfall taxes on energy companies, look at price controls/caps on energy etc. It seems an odd political decision to me to decide you're going to spend time on a really complicated bill that's going to face lots of opposition and political hurdles (especially in the House of Lords) and that incredibly few people care about.

As I say my suspicion is that it's a sign of a government and party that's run out of ideas and, to the extent they have any, can't agree them politically. For example there's regular briefing wars now between Number 10 and Number 11 that basically Johnson wants to do x expensive thing for cost of living and Sunak/the Treasury is blocking it - I'm not sure it actually helps anyone because it just reveals that Johnson's a weak PM who can't even push his own policies in government and Sunak's blocking help on cost of living. Presumably they're thinking it shows Johnson cares but is stymied or Sunak wants to help but takes the public finances seriously, I'm not sure those are the messages they're actually sending out. It also just flags the point that every popular decision Sunak's taken has been because he's been forced into it and whenever he's followed his own instincts/views it's not gone great.

And on that Sunak's numbers have plummeted and there's increasing rumours that Johnson is now in a strong enough position v him to re-shuffle Sunak. One rumour that's doing the rounds which sounds sensible is to fire Patel and replace her with Sunak - either he's a better Home Secretary (not difficult) which is good for everyone, or he'll be as bad as Patel and put the final nail in his own coffin.

[The Larch]

Rishi Sunak's millionaire wife 'avoided tax through non-dom status'

 

[Sheilbh]

When it rains it pours

As well as that, there's been loads of stuff about his wife's family's company still operating in Russia (they've now shut down their Russian operations) and reports that he was going to be flying to his Santa Monica home for an Easter holiday. Edit: There were even loads of snide stuff about a picture of him having a barbeque

It's a very helpful run of stories if you're on the ropes and Sunak's your most likely opponent, or a rival in a future leadership contest.

[Josquius]

Sunaks wife has been a ticking time bomb for a while. Its amazing how unknown she has managed to remain. It was at the stage where somebody mentions a tory MP with a millionaire tax cheat wife and 99% of people, even those slightly interested in politics, goes "which mp is that then?"

[Sheilbh]

I mean frankly before the war in Ukraine, billionaire wife whose family started one of India's most successful IT companies was probably a positive thing.

Spouses shouldn't really be brought into politics, that doesn't work if they're avoiding tax (especially if you're Chancellor) or if you, as Chancellor, are telling companies they should stop operating in Russia and her company still is.

[garbon]

My husband left the tv on and I gotta say it would be a big shame if Channel 4 was privatised and this sort of groundbreaking content was lost:

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-simpler-life