To think it grossly unfair that Emily Maitlis won't be on Newsnight tonight and DC and BJ are still in their jobs?

[theduchessstill]

It just sums up this shit country and the state it's in imo.

Watching Johnson stuttering and blustering his way through the select committee this afternoon showing that he doesn't have a grip on the crisis at all and then finding that Maitlis, who is excellent at her job, has been chastised and suspended feels like yet another blow to decency in the UK. It comes after the government refusing to appear on the show for weeks as well - too scared.

How much longer will this shit go on?

@theduchessstill

Well, *@Suckiking*, she's not on the nation's flagship news analysis programme at the moment, which is a shame, but, yes, fortunately other media exist these days.

As for elite - Maitlis is on £260,000 a year and married to a merchant banker

What's that got to do with anything? She's not the one claiming 'the elite' are some kind of dark force. It was millionaires Banks, Cummings, Farage and Johnson et al who performed that blatant piece of manipulative hypocrisy. That's what she was calling out. Her own level of eliteness wasn't the point!

'He tagged the lazy label of 'elite' on those who disagreed.'

This indicates that the 'elite' label is unjustified.

But she IS elite - Cambridge educated, friends in high places in the Labour party, salary of £260k, married to a merchant banker. So it isn't a lazy label in her case. It's spot on.

Diesel

Have you ever watched Newsnight? It is a news magazine programme, devoting as it does 10 - 20 minute slots to one item.

But she IS elite - Cambridge educated, friends in high places in the Labour party, salary of £260k, married to a merchant banker. So it isn't a lazy label in her case. It's spot on. Yes how much more 'elite' could she be. She got carried away and let her biases slip

Oh I apologise. According to Wiki. As of 2019 she is the only Newsnight presenter not to have attended a private school.

Diesel

You can be monied without being elitist.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=L6wIcpdJyCI
Coronavirus: They tell us it's a great leveller...

Now I'm off for some fresh air and some cool evening rays.

@Sucking are you being disingenuous or do you really not understand how the word 'elite' came to be such a loaded one in the debate surrounding Brexit? She is elite in the terms you state, but elite didn't just refer to money and/or education/background did it? Otherwise the architects of Brexit would have had to describe themselves as elite, which would have defied the point!

Cummings et al described opponents as elite in a, yes, lazy, attempt (a successful one unfortunately) at silencing opposition and shutting down debate - 'Oh, the elite don't understand the ordinary people and their concerns.' This ignored the fact that there are 'ordinary' working class people opposed to Brexit AND, crucially, that the architects of Brexit are about as elite as they come, whichever way you measure it.
When Maitlis opened the show a couple of weeks ago by talking about how Covid is not a great leveler as the poor are far more likely to suffer badly or even die from it, did that suggest she is someone obsessed with her eliteness who doesn't give a stuff about those less fortunate? Can you imagine Johnson making such a speech? No, because he has done the opposite in exploiting his own illness (from which I'm glad he recovered, before anyone starts) to try and spin a narrative which, as Maitlis says, is simply not true.

This hypocrisy around the use of the word 'elite' is completely relevant to the Durham incident, with its details of country estates and private woodland because Cummings was using his privilege to behave in ways not open to others less fortunate than himself. It was literally a case of the rules don't apply to me - I'm to important. This is awful anyway, but coming from a man who based pretty much an entire political campaign about how 'elites' needed to shut up and make way for ordinary people it is utterly revolting and reprehensible.

too important

Abso-f*cking-lutely.

Well said. How come they did wrong and lied, and get away with it. She speaks the truth and gets punished.

And people quoting the "impartiality of the BBC". What about the "integrity of public office" and the Nolan Principles?

Its baffling, infuriating and totally unjust. It sits very badly with me.

@Tavannach

Diesel

Have you ever watched Newsnight? It is a news magazine programme, devoting as it does 10 - 20 minute slots to one item.

It clearly isn't according to the BBC, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion.

When Maitlis opened the show a couple of weeks ago by talking about how Covid is not a great leveler as the poor are far more likely to suffer badly or even die from it, did that suggest she is someone obsessed with her eliteness who doesn't give a stuff about those less fortunate? Oh she's a woman of the people all right. MPs of all stripes claim to care about the 'less fortunate' but words are cheap.

She’s not an elected politician though is she 🙄

@derxa

Oh I apologise. According to Wiki. As of 2019 she is the only Newsnight presenter not to have attended a private school.

Hardly an average state school. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_VII_School,_Sheffield

She speaks the truth and gets punished. She's not supposed to be giving her opinions. She's supposed to be finding out what the truth is by asking relevant guests.

"Can you imagine Johnson making such a speech? No, because he has done the opposite in exploiting his own illness (from which I'm glad he recovered, before anyone starts) to try and spin a narrative which, as Maitlis says, is simply not true. "

I can't imagine him making such a simplistic speech, no. The points she made about education were extremely ill-informed.

Please explain how Boris is exploiting his illness. I expect he caught it deliberately to score political points.

Actually King Edward VII school is pretty average! It’s just a comp!

She now has a higher salary due to the extra payment made to women at the bbc to even out male/female salaries. She’s brilliant at what she does.

Yet again, Newsnight is a news magazine programme. Therefore it can have opinions and invite guests to discuss them. That’s why it’s good. It has strong journalism and it’s why the cabinet (and government) mostly refuse to engage with it. Ditto Question Time. They are frightened to engage with decent journalists or the public.

As for a guest wheeled out by Talk Radio!!!! Words fail me. Is that our equivalent of Fox News? Nigel Farage presents for them doesn’t he? Who on earth would listen to that and think it’s not got an agenda?

I can't imagine him making such a simplistic speech, no. The points she made about education were extremely ill-informed

Oh, you've got me there. There I was thinking he was the master of the simplistic slogan (take back control; get Brexit done), but now I see the subtle nuances of these gems are just too complex for me to grasp. And when off script, I thought he stuttered and jabbered incoherently, but doubtless the finer points have sailed over my head there too.

And as it becomes clearer day by day that the UK really has had one of the worst outcomes of this virus in the world, doubtless I'll be too stupid to understand that this is really a raging success. And Brexit will be too, even when it's not.

I give up - there really is a cult surrounding this man and I only hope this Cummings incident has shone enough of a light on it that we might be able to break free of in it at the next opportunity.

I see Emily has been sacked for a second night. I hope they sack her permanently.

I see Emily has been sacked for a second night. I hope they sack her permanently.

Indeed. If we have to paid the bloody licence fee by law, then the BBC using it to push its propaganda is utterly disgusting.

I hope they sack her permanently.

For telling the truth? This is not quite a dictatorship.

Not the truth Starbucks. Durham police have stated that the trip to Barnard Castle, only, might have been a minor breach of the guidelines and they will take no further action.

Hardly the hanging offence claimed by DC's critics. And no worse in fact, significantly less selfish/risky than actions by Labour MPs such as Stephen Kinnock and Tahir Ali. No baying mobs outside their houses, I note.

For telling the truth? This is not quite a dictatorship

If Emily Maitlis wants to tell the 'truth', then she can start her own TV program instead of using the supposedly neutral tax payer funded BBC.

My prediction is that she wont because she likes her quarter of a million BBC tax payer funded salary.

What I don't understand is, surely much of the programme at the beginning : introduction is scripted. Did she go rogue and go off script?

From what I understand HealingCalmingSoothing Maitlis wrote the introduction herself, but you would imagine it was looked over before the show was broadcast.

Togglethis

Maybe you should check out the other thread which refers to the confusingly worded "might" statement. He patently broke guidelines by going to Barnard Castle without a valid reason and a minor breach is still a breach.

As for Kinnock et al (don't forget Jenrick's tour of the Welsh marches) they were all wrong but there are significant differences: they weren't carrying the virus and apologised. They can also be removed by their constituents. Cummings is only accountable to a weak PM who seems incapable of leadership. If Cummings had apologised at the get go, this would have died down by now.

supposedly neutral tax payer funded BBC.

The truth cannot be "neutral". Incidentally, I've noticed over the last few years the BBC has taken to seemingly give equal credence to opinions and facts, presenting both as having equal validity.

Obviously you don't like what she said, but there was no bias to it. Every word was true.