To blame Have I Got News For You for the mess we’re currently in?

[BertrandRussell]

None of this would have happened if Johnston, Farage and Rees-Mogg hadn’t been invited on and been allowed to present themselves as “good sports”.

I can't tell if you are being serious or if this is supposed to be lighthearted?

Haha. Yabu but I know what you mean. They made that joke on the show last week I think!

I blame the people who voted leave. All 17.4 million. I'm not absolving them of any responsibility.

None of this would have happened if the UK weren't full of a load of thick, ignorant oiks.

x-posted with lljkk

Surely a lot of people can see them as amusing characters, good for a laugh, but utterly useless as politicians?

That was what we took from their appearances.

Is this lighthearted? I can’t twll any more.

None of this would have happened if the UK weren't full of a load of thick, ignorant oiks.

That's largely government's fault. Skimped on education and press regulation.

Its abit like me blaming kirsty and phil for the ridiculous house prices but i do

Surely a lot of people can see them as amusing characters, good for a laugh, but utterly useless as politicians? But not enough to stop them getting elected, made leader of their party, given ministerial posts ...

I blame remainers who assume everyone who voted leave is a “thick ignorant oik”. People hold a variety of views and just because someone thinks differently to you doesn’t mean that they don’t understand or are stupid.

I blame Jeremy Corbyn, if he has just shifted his Arse to the labour strongholds (e.g. South Wales) that voted leave and taken the time to explain why if was such a bad idea then we’d have had a different result. He seems more concerned about getting into power than the good of the country.

I also blame Tory MPs who seem to believe they are having “jolly good japes” in a debating society rather than understanding this is the real work.

But most of my vitriol is reserved for “Call me Dave”. The bar for constitutional change should have been set at 66% not 50. Wanker.

And breathe

YANBU Allowing Boris to be perceived as 'hilarious' is where this started. When Boris then came out in support of Leave, this was a game changer for the Leave side ... and when Scarlet on Goggle Box saw him do so and said 'Oooh I like Boris - I really trust him' I knew that Leave could win. The irony is that he wrote two articles - one for remain and one for leave - he would have gone either way ... and chose according to his own personal career prospects - he literally didn't care ... he cares only about himself. And any woman supporting JRM needs to look into what he really thinks about us and our bodily autonomy. These people are not 'hilarious' - they're dangerous.

Surely a lot of people can see them as amusing characters, good for a laugh, but utterly useless as politicians?

This is the biggest problem, not just HIGNFY but satire in general. They build up these ‘characters’, play it to the public, they go along with it - ‘what a buffoon! Harhar he’s like a living Victorian!’ - and we all forget what they really are. Dangerous, rich white men, who are not stupid buffoons. They know exactly what they’re doing, and are very happy to ‘play the part’ on television, whilst causing this huge mess behind the scenes. When it all goes to shit? ‘Don’t blame me, I’m just a silly, fun politician!’.

I don’t blame HIGNFY specifically, but all satirical media (tv, radio, cartoons in the paper) have been complicit in making these ‘characters’. Anyone who believes that is their true personality is the actual fool.

Johnson, Rees-Mogg and Farage. 3 names guaranteed to make me throw myself off the edge of a cliff if I had to play Snog, Marry or Avoid.

On a serious note, the retreat of the left into self-congratulatory satire in place of action started long before HIGNFY.
For those with BBC iPlayer - look up a film called Hyper-Normalisation; it does a stunning job of weaving together a few seemingly random threads to explain how we got to the now.

Oh I dunno, a good skewering by Ian and Paul does them good every now and again.

But really, to support your hypothesis, you would need to demonstrate that everyone who voted Leave (1) watched HIGNFY and (2) was sufficiently influenced by what they saw to be persuaded to vote Leave.

Do the HIGNFY demographics overlap much with Leave voters? I doubt it. Maybe a few swing voters here or there.

This is why I don't believe in voting for personality. Someone can be a nice person, funny and interesting to talk to or watch on TV. They can be caring and help some of their consitituents on a small scale and do good charity work. They might even be that rare thing an honest politician. None of that means they are an expert economist with an amazing plan for our future on a national scale.
People make out that the politicians they disagree with are awful people, stupid and cruel. This is so often not the case. Most of them are perfectly nice, but that doesn't mean they are the right person to be in charge of the country.

It wouldn’t have happened if the EU was run properly. The leave vote wouldn’t have succeeded on the ignorant oik vote alone. I used to be very pro EU before doing a law degree/the events of the migrant crisis. I still think to this day that in the beginning that it was a wonderful idea which has been implemented improperly and illiberally. It is sad that the EU hasn’t taken brexit as an opportunity to re-evaluate it’s purpose and direction.

Ah, I dunno. I would estimate between a third and a half of all "EU citizens" do not want to be in the EU. Someone else will leave shortly, the nationalists are on the march all over Europe, the EU is failing, I voted remain but I wonder if it's best we get out now, we'll be glad in 20 years I reckon.

OMG OP YANBU! I've been saying exactly this for years!!

I've even managed to narrow the blame down to Angus Deayton for getting sacked - then we wouldn't have had these guest presenters.

My sil voted leave because Boris was funny - I don't think she ever watched him on Hignfy though - she didn't think leave would win so she didn't think it would matter - her stupidity on this issue beggars belief.

Brexit wouldn't have happened if Tony Blair hadn't decided to allow several million immigrants from Eastern Europe. That's the top, bottom, short, and long of it.

They should share responsibility, I mean, Trump would probably not be president now if it weren’t for the success of the Apprentice. Many people like people more if they’ve been on the telly. HIGNFY worked hard to promote these cretins as loveable funny rogues.

However, as PP said the majority of my blame goes to the 17.4m people who voted us in to this mess. The government has been unable to govern for over two years becuase all focus is on Brexit. Don’t expect these people to change their minds if there’s another referendum though. People don’t like to admit they’re wrong even if it’s to their own detriment.

I’m an EU critical remainer but I think the benefits they bring dwarf the the things they get wrong. However, unfortunately the narrow way history has been taught for decades in the UK, many people believe the UK can do everything alone and is superior to everyone else. In addition the class system is so entrenched that people will doff their caps to anyone with a posh accent and will support everything they do even if it’s against their own interests.

If BoJo was called Kevin from an estate, somehow rose to Tory minister and behaved exactly like BoJo has, he would’ve been torn down long before now for getting ideas above his station. RM, BJ et al can fuck up again and again and people will still clamour for them to be PM, give them tv shows and paper columns.

YANBU

Satire has an important place but the politicians shouldn't participate in it, that makes politics into a silly game. They need to remember they make decision that affect people's lives.

Other European countries with more ghoulish pasts avoid having these cartoon character politicians because they know where it can lead.

Indeed if it weren't for the thick and ignorant we wouldn't have joined in the first place.