[Bones McCoy]

Poor old Rishi gets it in the neck, what if Johnson had made this Sky TV remark? He’s such a card with his Bertie Woosterish remarks that annoy the lefties, ha ha.

Makes you wonder how Rishi "won" all those PMQs - as I read in the Telegraph.

[Tubby Isaacs]

What can go wrong next? Oh. Killer Whale was ahead of the game on Craig Williams.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... nouncement

Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide placed a £100 bet on a July election just three days before the prime minister named the date, the Guardian can reveal.

The Gambling Commission is understood to have launched an inquiry after Craig Williams, the prime minister’s parliamentary private secretary, who became an MP in 2019, placed a bet with the bookmaker Ladbrokes on Sunday 19 May in his local constituency of Montgomeryshire.

[davidjay]

I keep thinking it can't last. Surely they'll turn it round and go back to the slick, efficient election machine they've always been. Then a new day dawns and they get worse.

[Youngian]

It is understood that a red flag was automatically raised by Ladbrokes as the bet in Williams’ name was potentially placed by a “politically exposed person”, and the bookmaker is particularly cautious over “novelty” markets.

Often wondered about that since the 90s when a young fairly unknown film critic Mark Kermode used to guest on Danny Baker’s R5 breakfast show.
Kermode on an assignment in Hollywood was shown the Oscar winners in advance and confessed to having won a few quid on a cheeky flutter in the bookies. ‘Why didn’t you do an accumulator?’ Baker asked. ‘What’s an accumulator?’ Mark replied.
A gripping piece radio ensued as Kermode read out the odds for each winner and Danny worked out the maths. Young Mr Kermode would have had enough to retire handsomely.

[Tubby Isaacs]

There'll be a load more freelancing, doubtless followed by reports of Isaac Levido "reading the riot act".

I can't imagine what's left of the sane wing are too happy with Andrea Jenkyns' "Vote for us, we're just like Farage!" That's not helpful if you've got the Lib Dems coming up fast. Wouldn't be surprised if some sort of "One Nation" (not that any of them are Heathite moderates) manifesto emerge?

[Bones McCoy]

And now he's lost Twix and Haribo...

[Bones McCoy]

[Youngian]

For over a decade of its existence, Sky was little more than a racket to shake down football fans. The Sunaks probably had a dish for the Indian cricket league rather than Sky.

[Andy McDandy]

Cinema, soccer, and the Simpsons.

[Youngian]

Murdoch said that Sky never listen to anything I say and began to divest. Then it became quite good. He’s never had much feel for the British TV landscape like he does tabloids.

[Bones McCoy]

Cinema, soccer, and the Simpsons.

I never had Sky (The struggle is real).
My brother who spent almost every waking hour watching sport got it.
I recall early tales of "thin gruel".

* Football games padded with a couple of hours of speculation and comment (not usual with football coverage).
* 8-10 hours of non-sports like Yoga (Firmly aimed at "the Dads"), and other stuff that even Channel 4 wouldn't touch.
* You pay subscription and there are still 10-12 minutes of ads per hour.
* Same 5-6 blockbuster movies on rotation all week.


Things have improved a lot.
A case can be made that the rolling repeats filled a gap now covered by streaming.

There are also certain "poor service" tropes that have followed into the streaming industry.
Primarily top-loading the schedule with one or two flagship shows, and backfilling with dross.

Thankfully, the News operation didn't go down the Fox style plughole.

[Bones McCoy]

It over-ran...

Newsflash for mister Sunak. For many, D-day never ended.

[Nigredo]

A question I saw posed elsewhere
Sunak is the most intriguing PM of my time. Why did he go into politics given that he's little sense of public service; no ideology to push; is uncomfortable in the public eye; and is no good at it? Class - for once - is not the answer, but I don't know what is.

Lining up some juicy long term contracts for his father-in-law's IT company, and also the kudos of being introduced as a former world leader at dinner parties.

[Killer Whale]

I'm not sure the 'doing the family business a favour' angle holds water. Infosys is so big it really doesn't need friends in high places. Also there's a bit of a 'they don't do politics like us, it's all about self -interest' racist odour to it that doesn't sit well.

I'm happy that "City Whizz-kid makes a quick buck and thinks that means he's particularly clever" combined with good, old-fashioned, public school self-confidence covers it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

For over a decade of its existence, Sky was little more than a racket to shake down football fans. The Sunaks probably had a dish for the Indian cricket league rather than Sky.

Pedant point.

The big tournament is called the Indian Premier League, which was founded by Indian's official cricket board (BCCI). The Indian Cricket League was a much less glamorous affair, founded by a TV company, with lots of players approaching retirement age. BCCI leaned very heavily on anybody who played in the ICL, and despite losing a court case, put the ICL out of business.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Only railheads notice this stuff now.

[Bones McCoy]

[Killer Whale]

Only railheads notice this stuff now.

And that 1bn was supposed to be the compensation for the 4bn owed to us as the Barnett consequential of HS2.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Utterly lacking in any class.

[Watchman]

Zelensky can now vote in our election?