Re: What UK politics The problem I have with him isn't the fact that I disagree with the vast majority of his views, but that he is, to quote Mario Kempes who put it better than I could, 'rude, pompous and arrogant and at times crosses the line with his acid retorts to members of the panel and the audience'. The way he ridiculed that member of the audience, who had a valid point of view, was horrible. The problem is whith David Starkey, ironically for a historian, is that he is stuck in the past. He fails to grasp any subtleties of modern society and his frustration that the world has moved on boils over in to belligerence because he finds himself increasingly out of touch. He actually damages himself because when he does have an interesting insight he is dismissed as a nasty bitter little man based on his behaviour and incapacity to engage in a debate without being a bell-end
Re: How many times do you hear the French saying good things about the British....... That was probably his daftest point. Did Anglo-French relations begin after World War Two? He dismissed centuries of conflict, disagreement, and cultural difference between two countries to make a completely flawed argument based on an incomparable situation. Again, he actually destroyed his own interesting point, this time through equating the involvement of foreign powers in domestic affairs to that of allies by treaty defending a country from an invading and occupying force.
Re: What UK politics They are like lighthouses. If the country goes beyond their thinking we'll end up dashed on the rocks of BNP fascism or the looney SWP.
Re: What UK politics Except for economics. Anyone advocating a state role in the economy is dismissed as out of touch and a dinosaur. Except for when the banks **** their load. Then the state was good.
Re: David Starkey........what did he say that was wrong ? What he said there was the allies went THROUGH France as a route to Germany to defeat the Germans. It did not involve post conflict 'peace keeping'. That is different to Iraq, Afghanistan Serbia etc. Afghanistan is a tribal region, and has been for hundreds of years. We are wasting our time trying to change a culture stuck in the middle ages. Unfortunately, Starkey is so confrontational and 'arsey' that he gets everyones' backs up so even when he is talking sense he just annoys people and they dont really listen properly to what he says. I moderated my view of him when I saw him on a programme where he and other fairly famous people spent time teaching ordinary kids. He came across very well in that once he adjusted.
Whats up with being confrontational ??? Thats one of the biggest and daftest changes I have seen in Britain over the last 30 years.......people becoming so SENSITIVE and easily taking offence if something is said that they dont agree with
Re: Whats up with being confrontational ??? A country may regard itself as liberating another country but the people of that country regard themselves as being oppressed. An interesting perspective by David Starkey.
Re: Whats up with being confrontational ??? Yeah a valid point, but like I said ruined by the shoddy example he gave. It was not a disimilar argument (made far better) by Emily Thornberry on QT a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately she was able to articulate herself without being rude and obnoxious or using fllawed comparisons
Re: How many times do you hear the French saying good things about the British....... RE- how many times do you hear the french saying good things about the british...................well first of all forget about all the shi te you see and hear in the media,,,i've been going to france on my bike since the mid eighties and visited practically every region,from the alps to the somme and i've never once been treated or spoke to badly,never once have i even had it implied that they dont like us...they are courteous and do their best to help out....we've spent many times in areas where no-one speaks english and have never had a problem,even the cops have always been fine...I honestly cant see where the problem with the french comes from.......other than journalists and politicians who only see paris,,,which is a place even the rest of france cant stand..