United Kingdom V: Son of a beach

[Dogg Thang]

The funding really is a big sticking point for the BBC when it comes to younger audiences. The concept that someone who buys a TV and watches non-BBC content is still required to pay a license fee

Well as I think we covered in a previous thread, the answer here is pretty simple - scrap the license fee (the concept of which was created in a different age) and just build in a tax. And as I also think we went through in another thread, often people miss what else comes from the BBC. Not only the amount of services that some people don't even know exist but things that it's not even fair to expect people to know, such as how much it feeds the commercial end of things by providing training and a stream of work between shows that commercial broadcasters can't support. If you went back in time and removed the BBC 20 years ago, you'd not only find we'd miss a massive amount of what the BBC has created but you'd also see a huge knock-on effect in the commercial broadcasters and secondary industries too. There would be more gone than just the obvious BBC content.

And making the BBC rely on its private arm would basically destroy it in terms of much of the value it provides. If it's just another commercial broadcaster then, well, it's just another commercial broadcaster with all that entails.

Edit: As others have pointed out, the BBC is the envy of the world. This is not (surprisingly enough, unlike the glorification of many British things) hyperbole. As someone in the industry and outside the UK, I can assure you that it's absolutely true and with very good reason. For generations, the BBC has provided all kinds of content that few other countries could ever hope to match. Not only because it has been well funded but because that funding has been incredibly well spent for the most part and that has in turn nurtured generations of talent, putting many people in the UK head and shoulders above their counterparts in the rest of the world. I don't expect everyone to understand what you've got with the BBC but I can tell you that it really is something special and losing it would be a huge shame no matter how much of it you actually think you watch - I'm willing to bet it has touched your life in many more ways than you know.

[Neon Ignition]

If it was funded through normal taxation the issue probably wouldn't come up as much as well, the license fee pretty much draws attention specifically to it. Lock it into normal taxation and mandate that Doctor Who airs for 13 episodes starting every April, if I'm paying then the least they can do is maintain a normal schedule for it

[Dogg Thang]

mandate that Doctor Who airs for 13 episodes starting every April

Damn Corbyn and his flip-flopping on core issues like this!

[Neon Ignition]

It probably would have won more votes too

[Lebowski]

So Borris has brought in enforced quarantine for the UK don't cough on the street or you will be put in a box and loaded on the the back of a truck and taken god knows where.

[vanpeebles]

Apparently one of the people with it was refusing to stay put, you can't muck about here.

[Lebowski]

Apparently one of the people with it was refusing to stay put, you can't muck about here.

GET IN THE BOX!!!

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/feb/11/hs2-boris-johnson-buses-brexit-eu-chief-gently-mocks-johnsons-backing-for-possible-australian-trade-model-live-news

Because Brexit means the UK has an endless amount of money to burn Johnson is committing to the £100m+ albatross that is HS2

[QualityChimp]

Boris Johnson is deadly serious about building a £20 billion bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, which one engineer described as being 'as feasible as building a bridge to the moon'

Basically, Johnson is thinking of building a bridge between Scotland and Northern Island, but there are a few issues:
- The bridge would be 22+ miles long, making the top ten of longest bridges.
- The deepest parts are 1400ft+ deep. Support towers taller than the Twin Towers would be needed.
- It crosses a munitions dump that has got MOD drops since 1945. It is not mapped out.
- 10% of ALL cars in NI would have to cross EVERY DAY to break even.
- It would cost £20 Billion.

Now, part of me thinks this is ridiculous, but I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to ask "By getting us talking about this, what are they getting us to NOT talk about?"

Maybe it's the plane the Home Office sent to Jamaica full of criminals?

On one-hand you could say that they are a selection of murderers, rapists and repeat offenders.
On the other, you could state that they had all served their sentences. One hadn't re-offended for 10 years, another did two tours of Afghanistan and didn't have his PTSD treated, another was arrested for defending his daughter from an attacker.

I think this is a very dangerous place to be, where if you're not born here, you can get deported.
It's creating a two-tier justice system.

I know Shamima Begum is a hot potato topic, but she was born and raised in Britain and had her British Citizenship revoked.

So, anyone who's not at least 2nd generation British, at present, is at risk of being deported, even if your crimes were committed as a minor or over a decade ago.

[Dogg Thang]

Did they have a court order to not deport those people? I haven't checked that - I just spotted it earlier on social media so it could be absolute nonsense.

[QualityChimp]

Did they have a court order to not deport those people?

Yes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51456387

[vanpeebles]

Needs to be expanded to cover eastern europe and the far east too.

[Dogg Thang]

Yes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51456387

That's kind of crazy. If a country won't respect its own laws, well, that's a problem. And if they get away with it, that will quickly become a very large problem.

[Asura]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...odel-live-news

Because Brexit means the UK has an endless amount of money to burn Johnson is committing to the £100m+ albatross that is HS2

To be fair, the only thing I can say is there's a sense of "**** or get off the pot" on this one.

Speaking personally I really want the rail network to be improved in any way; not a huge fan of HS2 but either way... It's been going back and forth for decades and I used to live in the path of it. Either get it done or don't.

[Hirst]

Whatever happens with HS2, I reckon I will be a rotten corpse in the ground before railways in the north get full electrification.