Thursday, September 15, 2022

A genuine suggestion for the BBC: why not introduce a daily, half-hour Republican Round-up from now until Monday (or however long you plan to keep this up for) to provide a small semblance of balance?

For clarity, the programme wouldn't be 30 minutes of people slagging off the royals for the sake of it.  It would be respectful and in keeping with the solemnity of the moment, but would simply look at the current events through an alternative lens.  It would, in a nutshell, be what is known as journalism.  And thirty minutes a day of that really isn't too much to ask, given that the monarchists would still have the remaining twenty-three-and-a-half hours of each day set aside for unchallenged propaganda.  

The BBC could bring in one of their in-house republican presenters to front the show - it would presumably be OK for that person to 'come out' with their views, given that other presenters have had free licence to espouse monarchist views live on air since last Thursday.  But in a way it might actually be interesting to have one of the monarchist presenters (like Huw Edwards) front the republican programme, just to see if they're journalistically dexterous enough to carry it off with the same level of enthusiasm.

Items for the show could include...

* What would be happening right now if Andrew had happened to be the eldest son, rather than Charles?  Don't the implications of that question suggest that it's far too dangerous to leave it solely to accident of birth to find a suitable (or even semi-adequate) person to be Head of State?  And could the monarchy actually survive the introduction of a legal mechanism to filter out undesirables, or would that be an "emperor has no clothes" moment?

* Has a terrible misjudgement been made in allowing Andrew to be one of the Counsellors of State, who take over the functions of the King when he is incapacitated or out of the country?  Is that decision a giveaway that the monarchy is primarily motivated by family interest, rather than the interests of the country?

* Should the King have spoken out against the arrest of protestors?  OK, such an intervention would have been highly unusual, but past monarchs have spoken out about issues that they found particularly important, and can there be anything more important than ensuring that a system of installing unelected Heads of State is consistent with the upholding of free speech?

* Should the cost of the funeral be sharply reduced?  The Royal Family take pride in what their admirers describe as lives of "sacrifice" and "selflessness", so shouldn't that entail the dispensing with unnecessary frills in the middle of a cost of living crisis?

* How do particularly selfless members of the public, for example those who give up their homes for others or work in soup kitchens, compare to the "sacrifice" of the Royal Family?  Do they live out their lives in greater or lesser luxury, and which sacrifice should we celebrate more?

* This is the first time that a new Head of State has assumed office since we moved into a less deferential age.  Would this be an appropriate moment to have a referendum just to check the public are willing to give their considered consent to the system of non-election?

* Are the 'marks of respect' proposed for the day of the funeral causing an unnecessary and unwanted disruption to people's daily lives?  Was the semi-lockdown that occurred when the Queen died an act of self-harm that may have needlessly made a recession more likely?

* How does the media coverage of the Queen's death and a new Head of State compare with the North Korean media?  Are there obvious parallels in the attribution of almost superhuman qualities to a 'dear leader' who is supposedly admired more than any other person in the whole world?  Are the sometimes rather absurd examples given of the leader's greatness (see the satirical pigeon video below) comparable to examples that the North Korean media regularly offer? 

* Will the replacement of a popular monarch with a less popular one hasten the break-up of the United Kingdom?

* Should the King pay inheritance tax in the way that any other person would be obliged to?

* Are there at least ten news stories happening in the world right now that are more important than a long queue?

*  *  *

We've already seen since Nicola Sturgeon's announcement that the overwhelmingly unionist mainstream media are attempting a 'shock and awe' campaign to try to kill off independence - and the misuse of polling is playing a key part in that.  If you'd like to balance things out with polling commissioned by a pro-independence outlet and which asks the questions we want to see asked, one way of doing that would be to help Scot Goes Pop's fundraising drive - see details below.

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11 comments:

  1. I can connect with the lovely story about Her Majesty and the pigeon. Let's call it a dove. I was once in Deeside when Her Majesty was in residence and I felt touched by an almost mystic magnificence. I felt the Her Majesty had made me magnificent like herself. I felt I had shared her splendour. I was later rewarded for my splendour and am writing this from my private Grace and Favour apartment.
    Yours,
    The Duke of Carstairs

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  2. I nearly jumped oot ma tights laffing at the pigeon

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    Replies
    1. One of the funniest shorts I've seen for a while.

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  3. All the hours spent looking for economists in favour of Brexit in pursuit of “balance”, can’t be bothered yelling out a window to find an anti-monarchist

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  4. In your imagined half hour segment they could pose the strange and unfortunate coincidence of the heir and spare both being friends of paedophiles - Saville and Epstein.

    Like your imagined half hour it just won't happen.

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  5. ... Good post J, succinct questions, all of which could do with answers!

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  6. Mad British/Irish liar Skier backs Sturgeon when she says the BBC is a valued institution.

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    Replies
    1. And your replacement would be?

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    2. An independent SBC, presumably. Hope this helps.

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  7. In Scotland we have a Head of State we never elected and a PM and government we never elected. We have people being arrested for gentle protesting yet 50% of the people of Scotland have been brainwashed into accepting this as ok by years of conditioning by an English media. There is no democracy in Scotland - never has been.

    The UK is truly a shithouse - a medieval shithouse.

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  8. Not relevant to the thread but is there any analysis of the The 'Scottish' Sun poll?

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