IntenseDebate - David Webb

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Darren Grimes: Not eve... · 7 replies · +1 points

The BBC is way too big, and has far too much money. It wastes most of it, but it has been hugely successful at squeezing out commercial competitors (regional media being the main victim).

It’s also largely run by people who’d rather be pursuing a different mission from the one in the Charter (the same syndrome exists at the National Trust).

I think Darren is being too hasty in condemning Tim Davie: he should be judged on direction of travel after a year, not a month. Let’s hope that the examples Darren quotes here are the last gasps of the old regime, rather than Davie’s work.

There’s a mid-Charter review coming up in 2022. The Government should not have let the BBC renege on the ‘free licences to over 75’ commitment (without slicing the overall fee to make it revenue-neutral). Nothing much will change in 2022, but I hope to see an agreement to make the BBC much smaller by 2027.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Neil O'Brien: Johnson ... · 1 reply · +1 points

Neil’s right that something needs to be done. Nick Timothy’s article in Telegraph today is in a similar vein.

US Education Secretary Betty DeVos has set the right example. When the President of Princeton University stated that there was ‘systemic racism’ at Princeton, she pointed out that this was illegal under US Law. Princeton is now facing a Civil Rights investigation and the potential clawback by the Federal Government of $75 million, on the grounds that Princeton claimed the money under false pretences.

The same logic can be applied here. Any publicly funded organisation that believes it has a serious problem internally with systemic racism, as evidenced by large expenditure on ‘diversity and equality’ staff, needs a new top management, and a healthy cut in budget.

At the very least, Perm Secs and other SCS Officers who tweeted in support of BLM should forfeit any bonus for 2020/21. Depending on the content of their personal public statements, disciplinary action may be appropriate.

Organisations can be as woke as they like within the law, but they have to do it with their own money., not ours.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Iain Dale: Good luck t... · 0 replies · +1 points

Time will tell. Unlike his predecessor, he’s set a clear marker. I’ve pretty much given up on the BBC myself other than its website, but I’d still rather it rescued itself.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the Germans don't ... · 0 replies · +1 points

It’s amazing that the regulators both sides of the Atlantic didn’t see the risk from the very start that the software would detect that it was a standard test and respond accordingly.

It’s even more amazing that senior management in the motor industry didn’t realise that they were bound to be found out sooner or later.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the Germans don't ... · 2 replies · +1 points

Yep - a really annoying feature of the Con Home software.

Recommend doing as JWF suggests - write on Notes (or similar) and paste in.

I’ve had trouble with the Edit feature so am not so keen on that method

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Iain Dale: Good luck t... · 0 replies · +1 points

The key thing is that the new DG recognises that licence payers have legitimate complaint.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the Germans don't ... · 1 reply · +1 points

Indeed. Hence the scepticism about the Euro on launch. But the long term viability of the Euro will probably depend on big financial transfers from Germany to the Mediterranean countries. It’s fine as long as German taxpayers are happy with this, and Merkel’s great skill has been to keep them on board.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the Germans don't ... · 1 reply · +1 points

I received excellent treatment from a German dentist here in Hampshire before she moved on (or maybe moved back).

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the Germans don't ... · 5 replies · +1 points

Everything depends on the Euro. As Andrew says, the politicians steamrollered it past a sceptical public. And it’s worked out pretty well for German industry (and thus the nation), by keeping the currency value lower than it would otherwise have been under an ever appreciating Deutsche Mark.

The problem will come if and when the cost of transfers from Germany to the economies struggling under the Euro becomes a major source of discontent, and a post-Merkel CDU stutters over it. There’s no viable Opposition other than on the extremes, so that’s where protest votes will go. Greens and Linke on one side - AfD on the other - and a slushy failing centre (we can see the parallels with 1930s Germany without assuming a similarly catastrophic outcome).

There’s also a potential problem with the car industry. Much of Germany’s wealth has been built on the superb products of their motor industry. Yet we’re in the bizarre position that a new US arrival to the industry (Tesla) with a still small market share is valued at more than the traditional European and American car companies combined. It’s difficult to imagine that the geniuses at Merc, BMW and VW can’t match Tesla, but they’ve been slow to date.

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Iain Dale: Good luck t... · 4 replies · +1 points

I very much hope that the BBC can recover from its sad decline. The new DG’s speech set exactly the right tone, with Impartiality being his top priority.

We’ve seen what happens in the US, as the news networks become ever more partisan - it’s not healthy.

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