How the middle class ruined Britain.

[Leothebear]

Was this programme just a wind-up? His sole bug-bear seemed to be that MC parents went out of their way to get their kids into the better schools.
While the WC (presumably) couldn't be [expletive deleted].

So that, with a touch moaning about location gentrification, was his justification for the daft title of the programme?

How the hell did he get a prime time slot on the BBC?

[Slarti]

Apparently he is the only "successful" right wing stand-up comedian around at the moment, so perhaps the Beeb was trying to maintain balance against all of the left wing ones?

I did see him on something some months ago and he seemed to suffer with a major problem for a comedian, he wasn't funny.
I mean Bernard Manning may have been deplorable, but he was at least occasionally funny.

Slarti

[AF62]

Apparently he is the only "successful" right wing stand-up comedian around at the moment, so perhaps the Beeb was trying to maintain balance against all of the left wing ones?

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

I did see him on something some months ago and he seemed to suffer with a major problem for a comedian, he wasn't funny.

I do find him amusing, mainly for when he pops up on shows such as Frankie Boyle's New World Order and you can see the distraught looks from the 'right on' audience who have come to see the usual 'diverse' line up.

[Leothebear]

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

Difference is Simon Evans is funny.

[Slarti]

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

I didn't get that at all when I saw him, but it was quite a few years ago, when he was just starting touring by himself in the £15 venues.

Slarti

[AF62]

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

I didn't get that at all when I saw him, but it was quite a few years ago, when he was just starting touring by himself in the £15 venues.

From when I have heard him he didn't fall into the usual BBC leftie comedian "Tories are evil scum" "capitalism is morally wrong" etc group, but had a more balanced viewpoint.

How the hell did he get a prime time slot on the BBC?

The same way that people like Gina Yashere (who is as funny as a hole in the head) get a slot; the BBC has a quota.

[Howyoudoin]

As far as i'm concerned anyone who has a second property ruined Britain.

The moment that property became an investment rather than just somewhere to live, things went pear shaped.

It all comes down to greed, obviously.

HYD

[BrummieDave]

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

Difference is Simon Evans is funny.

He wasn't when I saw him.

And he clearly loathes certain sections of society, with his jokes about these groups being vitriolic without any suggestion of humour.

[AF62]

Also with a more right than left wing slant is Simon Evans.

Difference is Simon Evans is funny.

He wasn't when I saw him.

And he clearly loathes certain sections of society, with his jokes about these groups being vitriolic without any suggestion of humour.

I have to disagree with your view, but your comment on him loathing certain sections of society, etc, applies to almost all the Radio 4 leftie comedians the BBC employs.

[UncleEbenezer]

I have to disagree with your view, but your comment on him loathing certain sections of society, etc, applies to almost all the Radio 4 leftie comedians the BBC employs.

Yes, the BBC has quite a few hate-filled comedians. They can be seriously self-defeating: for example I feel sure idiot-lefties calling Farage racist (which he personally isn't by any measure I recognise) did a lot to deflect attention from the very real racism rampant in his parties, and discredit valid criticisms.

But to be fair, they also have a decent number of comedians who are not at all hate-filled, many of them genuinely funny. Even some of those who deal with political subjects.

[XFool]

Was this programme just a wind-up?

That question crossed my mind more than once. It seemed to me that he wasn't able to make up his own mind about that, which was a major part of the problems. Plus he tended to come across a bit as a rather 'chippy' working class man. Didn't somebody in the programme suggest this to him?

The programme seemed to start off well, the possibly jokey/possibly serious title, a right wing working class comedian, a suggestion of some real issues to be tackled. But it then seemed to go downhill, getting bogged down in all sorts of particular issues - some of which were hardly news, such as the school entry business. And here he muddled the nature of his programme by combining an apparent Panorama investigative reporter style, but culminating in a send up comedy pseudo 'interview with a parent'. So were we supposed to be taking him seriously or not? He didn't seem to know himself, so neither did we.

His sole bug-bear seemed to be that MC parents went out of their way to get their kids into the better schools.
While the WC (presumably) couldn't be [expletive deleted].

He covered other issues, but it was such a scattergun approach it just left me dissatisfied.

So that, with a touch moaning about location gentrification, was his justification for the daft title of the programme?

How the hell did he get a prime time slot on the BBC?

Perhaps because he expressed his own doubts that it would be aired by the BBC, thus challenging them to put it on the air?

All in all, if it had been me, I'd have pulled it.

[brightncheerful]

The moment that property became an investment rather than just somewhere to live, things went pear shaped.
It all comes down to greed, obviously.

I think you'll find it was after the Reformation that property (real estate) also became a store of value. We could thank King Henry VIII for having created the property market. Centuries later, the Property Owners Building Society* launched buy-to-let mortgages for all and sundry. Not to mention legions of politicians tinkering with market forces and helping to fuel inflation and rising prices.

*Property Owners Building Society. Acquired in 1986 by the Woolwich Equitable Building Society. The Woolwich subsequently acquired by Barclays Bank.

[UncleEbenezer]

The moment that property became an investment rather than just somewhere to live, things went pear shaped.
It all comes down to greed, obviously.

I think you'll find it was after the Reformation that property (real estate) also became a store of value.

Up to a point, Lord Copper. Henry may have changed ownership, claims, and enforcement, but we have much earlier records of Land as the principal store of value. The Domesday Book, to take one obvious example.

Not to mention legions of politicians tinkering with market forces and helping to fuel inflation and rising prices.

Until the expenses scandal, nearly every MP automatically had a strong vested interest, by virtue of a taxpayer-funded property empire. Of course they always pushed up prices!

[Sussexlad]

The moment that property became an investment rather than just somewhere to live, things went pear shaped.
HYD

This attitude isn't helped IMO by programmes like 'Homes under the hammer', which concentrate not on simply improving the property but how much money can be made is a very short time. This really just assists those who already have capital.

How much better if would be, if we had the likes of Barry Bucknell, encouraging folk to buy up less than pristine properties and doing the work themselves, thus saving bags of money and ending up with a house they both like and have an investment in.