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New 'Gay Marriage No Thanks' group launches with 'ten good reasons' to oppose equal marriage
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Lord Tebbit: I wouldn't have been surprised if Jimmy Savile was homosexual
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Archbishop of York: Would the Church of England rather bless 'sheep and trees' than gay couples?
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Barry Cryer brands ITV's Vicious 'homophobic' television
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Lib Dems' Baroness Williams to support anti-equal marriage 'union' amendment
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Mixed martial arts fighter: 'Equal marriage could lead to incest, bestiality and child marriages'
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Maria Miller tables Public Order Act amendment protecting critics of equal marriage
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Labour MSP Elaine Smith: 'I'm against equal marriage but don't call me homophobic'
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Tory Lord Mawhinney tables 'traditional marriage' amendment for equal marriage bill
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Lord Hylton tables new wrecking amendment for the equal marriage bill
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Taxpayer 388
Robert in S. Kensington 341
That There Other David 311
Eddy 292
twitless 268
D.McCabe 260
Rehan 256
Pavlos 244
Jock S. Trap 240
bobbleobble 219
Politically speaking – for the reason of the severe cuts I agree. I can’t see people voting for them at the next general election. Cuts are needed – but this is too much too soon.
Cuts at the level shown are very obviously a bad thing – they will destroy some of the infrastructure which we have enjoyed for years, and which have been responsible for creating the wealth that gives us good lives here. All this destoyed for tax cuts for a few greedy idiots, who will actually beggar themselves and us with thier small minded nonesense. I follow economics a little, it is one of my O levels, and already the bank of England are talking about more quantitative easing, this clearly shows the complete small minded ignorant stupidity of what the Conservatives have done. In a worl of economies we are becoming even more of a clapped out morris minor, and the rest of the world is roaring past us.
The treasury’s figures show that they are spending in cash terms more money each year for the next five years. There are no actual cash cuts in the total level of government spending.
Politicians flim flam. No rise to keep place with inflation. Enormous costs of beaurocratic changes being deducted from budget. NHS waiting list have apparently already doubled.
“They’ll freeze the licence fee and persuade Daily Mail readers it’s the right thing to do”
We shouldn’t have to pay a licence fee anyway, if the Beeb needs to raise more money then scrap the licence and let the multi million pound businesses advertise like they do on every other TV channel. That way the tax payers are happy, the advertisers are happy and the BBC still gets paid!
Who are you? Murdoch’s fluffer?
adverts were the reason i kicked the box out the window. all i wanna do is watch something without being bombarded with “buy crap!!!” every 5 minutes.
iPlayer and TV Torrents FTW :)
Oh sure, more dramas and films constantly interrupted by toothpaste ads at inopportune moments. And now its 20 mins out of the hour instead of 5 as it used to be. Some of the digital channels cut to ads in the middle of a sentence as presumably it’s on a timer.
Programming without ads is a blessing we should fight to preserve.
There are important political reasons as well for the BBC, and well the Conservatives know it – that’s what makes them so downright bloody evil. The BBC is a media organisation not paid for by big business, about the nearest we can get to an independent/honest voice. Without it we wiil only get propaganda, all manner of evils will be censored. That’s what’s really evil.
Oh Hannah, do get an education beyond what the BBC news programs into you. The BBC’s news output is pure propaganda, without a shadow of a doubt, as ITV’s recent John Pilger documentary pin-pointed to a tee. It is totally slanted and biased to its own agendas. Pro-Israel, the mouth-piece for the man-made global warming lobby, completely politicised… I could go on and on. Do wake up!!
3 universities, and too many colleges to mention not enough? Loads of very high intelligence tests, and one at 100% I never believe one source especially british ones which are often very one sided, so I trangulate several sources of news to cross chack each story.
russell hasn’t even been in the uk for most of the coalition. he followed the dollar signs to the USA to make trash versions of good British TV.
Eactly. He’s a champagne socialist of the very worst kind.
I want to pay a licence fee – but not so the BBC can produce more bloody house-buying programs/talent show competitions and pay super-star salaries to talent show hosts and radio 1 DJs.
That’s a criticism of the direction down which the dreadful Birt (everything he touches turns to dust) and his like took the BBC, and from which it has not yet recovered. You probably cannot beat the trash channels at producing trash and so should not try. Obscene amounts are paid by the BBC to worthless presenters and quality knowledgeable people are edged out. But that is not an argument against retaining the licence fee
We have lost some important insights through his loss, and there aren’t really any replacements. They are the insights that have a chance of stopping the fools that run this country – who try to destroy sources of knowledge that doesn’t suit their greed. In the process of their greed they beggar our country, themselves and us all.
‘Evil’ is invading sovereign countries at the behest of your allies with no evidence.
Being prudent with the nation’s finances is not ‘evil’.
Remember, “the people” switched from New Labour to the Conservatives. Don’t winge because you don’t like the result.
Licence fee is ‘wrong’. Murdoch/Sky is wrong, because they don’t allow a free market to operate. t’s only entertainment.
whilst they aren’t entirely bad, they are very bad. And they didn’t win the election remember? They told lies about what they were going to do and then immediatly ditched it all after the day. Despite that they still didn’t win. They rely upon the revolting corrupt and see no evil Libdems to prop them up, who also are doing stuff they said they wouldn’t, and not doing stuff they said they would.
If we only have a free market the country will be destroyed. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so. Stall doesn’t sell enough to be profitable. So they put prices up, and sell even less so.
In short no service, and stall goes bust, one more on dole.
agree totally
I agree with Russell. Loved his queer as folk, he’s done more for gay representation on TV than anyone above who’s ‘whinging’ about him. I thought he summed them up well when he said,
” There is a great intelligence behind the Tory party that says let’s appear slightly bumbling and slightly buffoonish, while they are lethal as a laser underneath it all. “
Whilst he might make lovely television it doesn’t mean he’s in the least politically astute. Of course he’s p1ssed, I’m sure the cuts will have an effect on his earnings, but he didn’t seem to blink an eye for all the years Labour where throwing money we didn’t have at everyone and everything.
I wonder why …..
Another urban myth – actually public debt as a % of GDP was roughly the same when Labour left office as when it entered it.
I cannot say if Russell Davies earns a lot or not, I suspect he does owing to his Dr.Who connections. But it is worth pointing out that the BBC markets a lot of its programmes overseas (or licences their remakes).So the net cost of Russell Davies may be a lot less than you might think.
The percentage at a specific time may have been the same, but the rate of growth was exponentially higher and the projected income from tax was a fraction of what it was. The percentage figure of debt is not as important as the ability to service it and the rate of interest at which it has to be paid.
excuse me? Conservative experiments have ruined this country. Our manufacturing base is now decimated, through the 1980′s. The only way to recover it is to invest some money in it, and the coalition are ttaking money out actually.
I think there is a point about the blindness to Labours faults, but his writing actually contains lots of the kinds of insight studying English Literature trains you to see.
Michael, if that were to happen, we’d end up with that awful American style of programming, where more than half the time is devoted to advertising, very little viewer content and what remains are mediocre progammes, mostly all comedies and soaps, very few dramas of substance, as well as boring, reptitious game shows and bad news reporting with four or five barbie and ken doll types of people reading the news and flashing their ever so straight almost artificial looking pearly white teeth, instead of one. American news casting is abominable. Who needs that kind of thing on British t.v.? We’re losing a lot of the good stuff as it is. If paying a licence means better quality, then by all means keep it but not necessarily let it go to the BBC.
Russell T Davies has been in the US for the past two years developing a new series of ‘Torchwood’, BBC Worldwide’s inaugural drama series made in conjunction with the Starz cable network. This new business model presents infinite new possibilities, in terms of both creativity and profit for the BBC. Partnership with Starz allows the BBC to expand into new markets and territories, not to mention the opportunity to showcase world-beating UK talent. Therefore, the more international networks buy Torchwood, the more profit Starz/BBC Worldwide generates from overseas subscription. Overall, this venture is being funded by people who love, respect, and admire the BBC’s unique standing as a quality public service broadcaster. The purse strings of BBC UK are barely affected. In other words, the licence payer gets a top quality, internationally-acclaimed drama at a fraction of the cost. Russell T Davies should be commended, not criticised, for being a staunch defender of the BBC.
Of course Russell T Davis is not going to knock the hand that feeds lots of lovely lolly into his bank account. And let’s not forget he is Auntie Beeb’s foremost “diversity champion”. He is supposed to be a writer and yet throws the word “evil” around like confetti. What an ignorant, self-serving pillock.
Well, QUITE!
@Samuel B. I think, if you look beyond your own self-interest, you’ll discover the Tories have an absolutely reprehensible voting record on gay rights. As a private citizen (and gay man), Russell T Davies has every right to criticise this, not to mention support the BBC as a public funded broadcaster. If you don’t approve of his so-called standing as a “diversity champion”, imagine the alternative. Gay people contribute approximately £190million a year to the BBC in licence fees, yet clearly come up short in terms of on-screen representation. Without the influence of powerful advocates like RTD, do you honestly think we’d even get a look in? Any organisation that affords gay people the same rights and privileges as our heterosexual counterparts is, by definition, a diversity champion.
hello world
I think him describing the tories as “evil” is an understatement – I’d have added the f-bomb before evil and b**tards after it. This country will be a wreck by the time there term is up, it’s already worse now than it was 2 years ago and it’s getting worse.
They delibrately leave holes in the so called safety net, so that the most unfortunate fall through when they are down on thier luck. I can’t really think of another word for that but evil. They destroy things that are against thier own interest, even when they hugely relieve suffering and injustice, even if they know they will cost themselves and others money, just to slant the field in their favour.
Yes, but you assume that supposedly intelligent writers will use their words carefully. Evil means different things to different people, but as a one-word judgement against MPs he opposes for reasons that don’t add up is foolish and irresponsible. Of course Davies has done very nicely out of the Beeb, but their financial recklessness and lack of financial foresight (absurd exec. wages, exhorbitant expense tabs, a redundant £1 billion production complex in Manchester)… I mean, who does Davies expect to pick up the bill for these?
And yes, while diversity is to be embraced, I’m against the spoon-fed, box-ticking approach at the Beeb, which reached absurd and insulting levels in Davies’ Dr Who. Let’s have gay and ethnic characters by all means, but don’t slip one-liner innuendos in for nudge, nudge, end of the pier effect, and cast actors first and foremost on their acting skills, not the colour of their skin.
It seems living in empty-headed LA LA land has really effect the poor lamb.
@DavyPaul: For the record, nobody won the election. “The people” (as you so eloquently put it) didn’t “switch from New Labour to the Conservatives”, hence the Coalition Government. Turns out the swivel-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth “Silent Majority” that haunt the Daily Mail message boards aren’t so legion after all.
By all party reckoning, Labour lost the election even if nobody won it outright. Labour failed to persuade the electorate to continue its mandate – that is a defeat in most people’s eyes.But they did not endorse conservatism, and whatever made them vote LibDem it was not the policies they are currently in coalition pursuing.
Dear Russell T Davies, david cameron is not evil because he is just strange idiot…. Baby, you need to correct your mind!….
“Baby?”
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LMAO! Oh, bless. You are quite the village fool.
I can think of plenty of reasons to condemn both Cameron and Clegg – and a small number of reasons to congratulate them.
Cutting the funding of the BBC would hardly be my priority to complain about
It is one of many reasons to complain about them. The BBC is either independent of government or it is not. The BBC should be its own master of its licence fee, and if the government of the day does not like it then they should legislate to change the Charter under which the BBC operates.
He’s a writer, so whilst his comment probably refers to more than writing, it is the BBC that is going to be his most immediate experience of the cuts.
@Beth.
Russell T Davies has a formidable reputation for turning a decommissioned BBC drama into a hugely profitable international brand, so it’s doubtful he needed to “chase the dollar”. Moreover, how do you know he hasn’t been to the UK “during the coalition”? Were you hiding behind his bins, peering through the curtains for a salient peek? In actual fact, he was very much present during the final stretch of David Tennant’s run as Doctor Who. As for your assertion that he now makes “trash versions of UK TV shows”, I assume your one of the few embittered slash fiction-obsessed harpies who routinely slate RTD for “killing” (fictional) Ianto Jones? Wring-out your gusset and dry your eyes, love. An entire galaxy of gay porn awaits for you to mythologise and coo over. It’s called…the INTERNET! Failing that, you might be interested to learn the first episode of ‘Torchwood: Miracle Day’, was met with universal acclaim at a BFI screening earlier this week.
i was AT the BFI screening, and no it wasn’t met with universal acclaim. actually most people were disappointed with it. and your assumption is completely wrong. My partner works for the BBC in Cardiff hence the BFI invite. We’re on the scene as it were, so yes we do know where Russel is.
By the way David Tennant’s run in Doctor Who was long before last year’s general election. what does that have to do with anything?
I see you haven’t had the good grace to apologise for the ‘harpy’ remark. My criticism of RTD was based on actual knowledge of the man. You jumped to conclusions knowing nothing about me.
@Beth
The allegation that RTD has “[made] trash versions of good British TV” is completely baseless, not to mention ignorant. Your evidence? That you (allegedly) attended the BFI screening of the first episode of the new series of ‘Torchwood’. To claim that most people were “disappointed” is an outright lie. I was at the screening and Q&A. The feedback gained was overwhelmingly POSITIVE. In fact, we couldn’t find a single person who rated it poorly. (Audience feedback was also corroborated by users of Twitter who attended the screening, not to mention countless unofficial blogs.) Your attendance at the BFI denied a genuine fan the opportunity to experience a TV show that has, unequivocally, been a labour of love for all involved. Might I suggest you refrain next time, as your motivation appears somewhat cynical.
In essence I agreed with many of his comments but the overall tone and name calling did nothing to promote his cause.The BBC offers outstanding drama at its best and some pretty rubbish entertainment shows at worst.however i would be unhappy to see it developed into a more commercial venture.As to whether new partnerships such as the one with Starz are the way forward the jury is still out on that one.ITV is currenlty showing a Starz production of Camelot and it is not exactly impressive.The sweeping cuts that we are seeing across the UK are having a huge impact on care of the elderly and NHS services and of course thses cuts are impacting on the BBC as well -I may not agree with the cuts but I can find few arguments to justify the BBC being exempt.It is certainly not one of the priority issue I have with the government at this time.As to dismantling the BBC that’s speculation so lets see what happens until we have something more concrete.
But the cuts in the BBC income owing to being unable to edge up its licence fee even by below the inflation rate have nothing to do whatsoever with the national finances, it is not as if the BBC spending came out of the Treasury into which we all put our taxes.
If no one calls them, no one is going to stop this, and scumbags will go unpunished.
I have never called people on the Left scumbags, but I consider them to be mistaken. I attack forcefully their policies but not their motivations. Sadly, those on the Left seem never to repay the favour, being constitutionally incapable of admitting that those on the Right believe themselves to be doing the right thing. It’s a total arrogance.
The left aren’t great but they don’t make dirt poor kids on council estates even poorer, they don’t leave people without hospital treatment they’ve paid for through taxes, and they don’t push the waiting lists up.
Great man and spot on !
Think of all the amazing shows the BBC has done over the years and still does with a standard to go toe to toe with the most biG budget American shows and then think about the rest of uk channels.
The Tories have sleds hated the BBC and are trying to get rid of it slowly crippling it’s money.
Luckily try will be voted out soon and as clarkson says normal service will be resumed.
Talking of clarkson, I would not lose any sleep if Jeremy Clarkson was permanently confined to “Dave”. I quite like his buddies the nascent oenophile James May and the cuddly hamster Richard be-your-own-ploughshare Hammond
I’m glad Russell is never given to hyperbole.
Another person that needs to get real.
The BBC take our money and waste so much.
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I’m glad the BBC are being made to cut but I also feel they should be force to either go it alone or drop the licence fee.
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I don’t watch, listen, use anything BBC yet I am forced to pay £145 a year for the privilege.
Yet for my Sky £240 for the channels I actually want.
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The BBC has long past it’s sell by date.
Time for them to go it alone and stop ripping us off and blaming everyone else for doing so.
Is there no past tense on your keyboard?
It seems that emigrating to LA LA Land has really affected the poor lamb. Calm down, dear,
Is this really a newsworthy item? We are discussing gay issues, the BBC ‘s cutting of money is not one of them. Just because someone gay mentions something it doesnt make it newsworthy. Must be a slow news day
flaps!
Actually I do agree with that Chutneybear, good point.
Amen to that! Pink News should be out there finding the real news – not lazily trawling the mainstream press for anything remotely tenuous. But has always been thus. Time for a tightening of shoelaces at The Pink, methinks.
Jessica will be jumping up from her manicure in shock at that comment Samuel ;) hehe!
Amazed you stopped eating long enough to type that in chutneybear. Russel raises a good point that no one else has, though he goes over the top like any good science fiction writer. The fluffy gay friendly face of the government could just be a disguise.
Read that too quickly, Chutneybear, and mistook “manicure” for “manure”. But I do hope Jessie’s reading these comments and taking note. She does a great job overall on probably a pittance budget, but a little more coverage on the real matters that affect us would be more welcome than some egocentric writer’s bitter missives. For example, Boyz recently reported that HIV rates among gay men have topped 3000 a year for the first time. Why has this been ignored by Pink news?
Ah now Alf we cant all have the bodies of a brush pole handle ! Take the tiara off and read “its a slow news day” ….
Is anyone on facebook? if so you can add me ljust look for Dennis OR!
Yes.
Talk about over-the-top! Davies calls Cameron & Clegg “savage and evil”. He needs to look up the meaning of those words. Osama, Hitler, Genghiz Khan – these were savage & evil people. Is he really putting Cam-Clegg on the sane footing? I heard the interview and it was typical of the hysterical luvvy lefty variety. Such gross overstatement only makes him look pathetic and his arguments ridiculous; how can anyone take such a character seriously?
Because those people were really, really terrible, doesn’t mean Cameron and Clegg aren’t terrible.
So the company he’s working for may need to release some of it’s archives to make money?
Poor things.
The BBC has sat on valuable archives for years and refused to make money from then instead insisting that their money comes from the public purse.
Sorry,Ru$$ell,the NHS & pension plans etc are WAY more important than whether or not the government has nefarious plans for the BBC! You just keep enjoying your millions,pal!
I think pretty obviously it’s all going to make little difference to him, he’s fine jack. At least he has the sense to really consider the issues, not throw out trite insults, and shows some concern for others.
Well Russell it isn’t just the BBC that are having to endure massive cuts, it’s the whole country so get over it!
No. Shouldn’t we all be fighting it and opposing it. How is what you said a justification for ignoring it all? The state of mind of people in this country!
In reality the cuts are just one more step towards handing control of UK television to Rupert Murdoch. That’s it, really.
We need some better legal safeguards, they may be nearly there in taking over Virgin cable. Trouble is every government already wants to suck up to that empire because they already control so much.
Sure, cuts are nasty, but necessary.
Bit who got us into this sh|t in the first place and left the coalition holding the baby?
This is all about socialists feathering their nests and fiddling while Rome burned, and it it is now left to the others to try and mop up and reform the country after the total abortion Labour left it in. Stop shooting the messenger Russell. It’s like so many socialists attack Margaret Thatcher for her vicious cuts and controls, but nobody seems to remember the ‘Winter of Discontent’, the three day weeks and the strikes, union blackmailing and utterly dismal days that preceded her.
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The country is in a complete tip, none of which is their doing, and they are trying their best to get us back on an even keel. It’s about time these lefties faced facts and stopped trying to throw guilt trips and dispersions at others and started getting their own house in order.