question time last night

[oconnors_strip]

did anyone see that racist historian dr david starkey on last night's show?

i just seen it on reporting scotland and im shocked. if it had been about ethnic people he would have been punished.

"To boos from the audience, Dr Starkey said: "If we decide to go down this route of having an English national day, that means we become a feeble little country, just like the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish" :grr:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8016440.stm

[Barney McGrew]

"To boos from the audience"

I didn't see it, but from the clip I heard on the radio news bulletin earlier on it sounded like the audience were laughing along with it :bitchy:

[ancienthibby]

did anyone see that racist historian dr david starkey on last night's show?

i just seen it on reporting scotland and im shocked. if it had been about ethnic people he would have been punished.

"To boos from the audience, Dr Starkey said: "If we decide to go down this route of having an English national day, that means we become a feeble little country, just like the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish" :grr:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8016440.stm

I'd recommend paying little, if any, attention to anything David Starkey says.

The man has demonstrated time and again that he is ignorant, biased and quite ill-behoven to anything other than the mighty English. In his world, there is no alternative!

[hibsbollah]

Starkey is an absolute cock:agree:

[--------]

did anyone see that racist historian dr david starkey on last night's show?

i just seen it on reporting scotland and im shocked. if it had been about ethnic people he would have been punished.

"To boos from the audience, Dr Starkey said: "If we decide to go down this route of having an English national day, that means we become a feeble little country, just like the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish" :grr:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8016440.stm


They didn't boo - they laughed.

Just as they laughed when he said that Darling was a nobody and that MPs had brought democracy into disrepute by their financial dishonesty, and that people were deeply disillusioned by politicians who were only out for themselves and bereft of vision and ideals.

I don't think he's a racist - he's an aggressive Unionist who sees the Union from an English point of view.

He's also a controversialist with a waspish temper and he was by far the most entertaining member of that panel last night.

He'll have been delighted that his comments got onto Reporting Scotland.

BTW - I'm not for a moment suggesting he's a nice person - he's a total pain in the tonsils - an arrogant wee pillock, but an arrogant wee pillock who knows his stuff as regards Tudor history and one with the ability to communicate it.

But an arrogant wee pillock nevertheless.

But he's right about Burns, IMO.

[Betty Boop]

They didn't boo - they laughed.

Just as they laughed when he said that Darling was a nobody and that MPs had brought democracy into disrepute by their financial dishonesty, and that people were deeply disillusioned by politicians who were only out for themselves and bereft of vision and ideals.

I don't think he's a racist - he's an aggressive Unionist who sees the Union from an English point of view.

He's also a controversialist with a waspish temper and he was by far the most entertaining member of that panel last night.

He'll have been delighted that his comments got onto Reporting Scotland.

BTW - I'm not for a moment suggesting he's a nice person - he's a total pain in the tonsils - an arrogant wee pillock, but an arrogant wee pillock who knows his stuff as regards Tudor history and one with the ability to communicate it.

But an arrogant wee pillock nevertheless.

But he's right about Burns, IMO. His series on Henry V111 is superb. :agree:

[Jonnyboy]

I didn't see it, but from the clip I heard on the radio news bulletin earlier on it sounded like the audience were laughing along with it :bitchy:

There was an initial burst of surprised giggling but that soon gave way to boo's and woo's

Man courts controversy and is getting exactly the kind of response he thrives on.

I agree with him and Doddie though - about Burns :wink:

[Sir David Gray]

If he had made a similar jibe about the Pakistani community, he would have been arrested by now. David Dimbleby would also have forced him to apologise (which he didn't do last night).

His comments are pathetic and are beneath contempt.

The amount of things that have been invented by Scots over the centuries, would suggest that Scotland is anything but a "feeble little country".

I wouldn't demand an apology because he is entitled to his opinion (no matter how ludicrous the opinion might be) and he has made comments like that about Scotland in the past so any apology would not be sincere.

In a way, I'm glad he has said that on mainstream TV so that everyone can see just how pathetic the man is.

[--------]

There was an initial burst of surprised giggling but that soon gave way to boo's and woo's

Man courts controversy and is getting exactly the kind of response he thrives on.

I agree with him and Doddie though - about Burns :wink:


Glad someone else agrees with me about the Ayrshire scribbler. A moderate minor late-Augustan writing at the level of Goldsmith or Gray.

If the whole panel had been like Starkey, there'd have been murder done before the end of the program, but I would say that without him the entire audience would have died of boredom.

The Labour minister (for what, for crying out loud?) was utterly without form and void, a complete and utter black hole sucking the life out of everyone he spoke to. A BORE of Olympian proportions. Looked like an unsuccessful clone of Gordon Brown.

(BTW - are they still "NEW Labour", or are they back to being "Just Labour", or are they now "Gordie's Improved High-Action Super-Labour" or something? I think we should be told.)

The Liberal Guy was a lot more intelligent (not difficult), and earnest with it.

The woman was IMO the most intelligent of the five, and was the only one who actually put Starkey in his place in the course of the discussion. It was noticeable that he didn't take her on directly...

The Tory was a Central Office clone.

And Starkey's an arrogant wee pillock, but an arrogant wee pillock who knows his stuff as regards Tudor history and one with the ability to communicate it. But an arrogant wee pillock nevertheless.

Oh yes, and his name's not "Starsky" as some Numpty MSP called him on the Scottish News last night. :faf:

[sauzee_4]

ignorant *******

[Hibs Class]

I'd recommend paying little, if any, attention to anything David Starkey says.

The man has demonstrated time and again that he is ignorant, biased and quite ill-behoven to anything other than the mighty English. In his world, there is no alternative!


Starkey is an absolute cock:agree:

Those two replies sum up what I love about this board - the measured, calculated response and the short, sharp gut reaction (and I agree with both).

[hibsbollah]

Those two replies sum up what I love about this board - the measured, calculated response and the short, sharp gut reaction (and I agree with both).

I like to think it was a measured gut reaction:wink:

It wasnt just last nights programme, Ive never liked what he says about Tudor history either; he's a massive cheerleader for Elizabeth as the great bringer of civilisation to the Western world, while Mary is portrayed by him as a mad old witch who held the Protestant future back. Very simplistic- he's a bit of a zealot IMO. For a more balanced pop historian i'd go for Simon Schama everytime:agree:

Plus he's a total cock:greengrin

[Calvin]

He just seems to be revelling in the fact that England has little national identity. I pity him.

[Hainan Hibs]

I saw the clip today, reaked of jealousy for me.

A very bitter man also.

[Tomsk]

This alliance between the BBC and Starkey is beneath contempt. Starkey isn't a historian. He's a Daily Mail columnist who uses historical matter to present his highly politicised agenda.

Starkey and the BBC have got books and DVDs to sell and TV programmes to punt. How are they going to maximise earnings without publicity? And where better to start than on BBC programmes such as Question Time.

It's extremely dishonest of the BBC to present Starkey as a historian and to use its own programmes to promote him.

But this kind of activity is rife throughout BBC programming at the moment. I can't turn on the radio in the morning without hearing programmes such as The Apprentice being promoted, usually disguised as a news piece or a phone-in topic.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Who knows, Starkey could be right. How do you take someone seriously though when they attack another countries culture. So we have music that English people don't like? Their problem not ours.

But then he is a representative of a nation that thinks eveyone else in the world is stupid, that their music is silly, and that they eat strange foods. Quite sad that a man of such learning and education should resort to childish, ill thought arguments. He's acting like a graduate of Murdoch University.

[steakbake]

It's not an uncommon opinion to be honest. There would be plenty of folks who have the same opinion who fail to see how this could offend. I hear this sort of jibberjabber quite frequently.

Still, people like this probably do far more for independence than for unionism.

For my own political ends, that's great and we should give the guy his own channel for all I care.

[Future17]

I don't really get it to be honest.

DS is claiming England don't have distinctive national dress, music, poetry or anything of that nature......and he thinks this is a good thing?

Like I say, I don't really get it?

[Dashing Bob S]

Interesting times. As someone who regularly works with clients south of the border, I've long considered English nationalism to be in the ascendancy, particularly amoungst Middle-England bores; the Clarksons, Paxman's and Starkey's of this world are never shy in denigrating the other nationalities of the UK.

It seems Scots, Welsh and Irish are increasingly seen as fair game for this kind of condesending chauvinism.

England and English consciousness seem to be increasingly dominating the UK. Not good news for the rest of us, who are in danger of becoming de facto second-class citizens.

Am I being too paranoid and over sensitive here?

[hibsbollah]

Interesting times. As someone who regularly works with clients south of the border, I've long considered English nationalism to be in the ascendancy, particularly amoungst Middle-England bores; the Clarksons, Paxman's and Starkey's of this world are never shy in denigrating the other nationalities of the UK.

It seems Scots, Welsh and Irish are increasingly seen as fair game for this kind of condesending chauvinism.

England and English consciousness seem to be increasingly dominating the UK. Not good news for the rest of us, who are in danger of becoming de facto second-class citizens.

Am I being too paranoid and over sensitive here?

:agree:
I can't find the link at the moment but there was some interesting research about the English feeling less 'British' than most of rest of the UK, which is a big change in the last 20 years or so. Theres a strong feeling of 'if the ungrateful scots/welsh want to break away, let them' sentiment around. This is exaccerbated by the West Lothian question (Scottish MPS allowed to vote on English matters but not viice versa) and the perceived better financial deal Scotland gets from Whitehall than the English regions get. When it comes to the relationship with Brittania, John Bull is definitely revolting these days.

In fact, maybe the SNP might want to think about running some candidates down South:wink:

[steakbake]

Interesting times. As someone who regularly works with clients south of the border, I've long considered English nationalism to be in the ascendancy, particularly amoungst Middle-England bores; the Clarksons, Paxman's and Starkey's of this world are never shy in denigrating the other nationalities of the UK.

It seems Scots, Welsh and Irish are increasingly seen as fair game for this kind of condesending chauvinism.

England and English consciousness seem to be increasingly dominating the UK. Not good news for the rest of us, who are in danger of becoming de facto second-class citizens.

Am I being too paranoid and over sensitive here?

A chippy jock? :wink:

Yes, I think this is fair comment. There is considerable resentment that Brown is a Scot and PM, as if Scots should automatically be discounted from being PM. Not that I am sticking up for Brown here, not at all. The man is pathologically socially awkward and a General Buffoon of the first order, to boot.

I think that the Tories like to pretend they are the party of the Union, but they have a considerable English nationalist element to them. Cameron likes to come out with soundbites when he's up here, but there's nowt behind it, I reckon.

[ancient hibee]

He's entitled to his opinion just as others are entitled to disagree with him.Some of the comments(not on here)demonstrate the well balanced Scot-a chip on each shoulder.I've always admired him as a person-disabled and coming from a very tough housing estate in Kendal-must have been hard going.

[--------]

A chippy jock? :wink:

Yes, I think this is fair comment. There is considerable resentment that Brown is a Scot and PM, as if Scots should automatically be discounted from being PM. Not that I am sticking up for Brown here, not at all. The man is pathologically socially awkward and a General Buffoon of the first order, to boot.

I think that the Tories like to pretend they are the party of the Union, but they have a considerable English nationalist element to them. Cameron likes to come out with soundbites when he's up here, but there's nowt behind it, I reckon.


:agree: English chauvinism is what will eventually break up the Union, IMO.






:music:" Always look on the bright side of life...." :music:

:partyhibb :partyhibb :partyhibb :partyhibb :partyhibb

[Phil D. Rolls]

:agree: English chauvinism is what will eventually break up the Union, IMO.

I think that is pretty much accepted wisdom these days. IMO if they'd tried harder to make the union work it might have, but they chose to see the rest of the nations as comedy characters who existed for their entertainment - especially if there was a war to be fought.

[--------]

I think that is pretty much accepted wisdom these days. IMO if they'd tried harder to make the union work it might have, but they chose to see the rest of the nations as comedy characters who existed for their entertainment - especially if there was a war to be fought.

:agree: According to them, we're all Jocks, the Irish are Paddies and the Welsh are Taffs.

So what are they? :cool2:

Try to keep it printable. :devil:

[Jonnyboy]

:agree: According to them, we're all Jocks, the Irish are Paddies and the Welsh are Taffs.

So what are they? :cool2:

Try to keep it printable. :devil:

Morris Dancers that believe Dragon's once existed?

:greengrin