The Hotel End

Firstly, please no one be silly enough to post any names or speculation on here. TBF I think THE crowd are a pretty sensible, switched on bunch and capable of healthy discussion at times.

I’m totally sickened by the news events of the past few days. Rarely shocked but I cannot believe we live in a world where between the press and social media, a total witch hunt over any allegations (however wild) can gather such impetus in a short space of time. People have been deemed ‘guilty’ and had their reputations shattered, from what?
I’ve seen a questionable picture of one, which could have been created by anyone in a minute.
I’ve read the ‘victim’ is both a boy and a girl.
Presenters have had to announce their holidays, openly deny it isn’t them and anyone who hasn’t has been under scrutiny.
As for the Sun and fellow red tops, it’s about time they were removed from our society, as they frantically back peddle.
Regardless of the facts and what did happen/didn’t happen/never happened, certain people will now be smeared for the rest of their careers and lives.

The internet and forums are such a power for good. The opportunity to debate, share information, learn and grow….but at the same time it is SO poisonous. We see it time and time again. From Madeleine McCann to Nicola Bulley, fake news is rife and shapes how people think.

Wasn’t too impressed with the latest Black Mirror but in so many ways he’s bang on the money!

Mods…obviously respect your decision to take this down now or at any point.

Tom Watson / Carl Beech was far worse.

I agree with your point generally.

I think a lot of the problem is generated by peoples obsession with taking a piccy/selfie/image whatever your choice of title. IF the individual is guilty, (and the BBC are very good at covering things up) then once again someone has been found out, by their own stupidity and use of cameras. A few years back my choice of camera was a OM10 which hung around my neck. Nowadays, everybody has one in their back pocket. I have seen people slowing down on the M25 to take pictures of crashes, and the sickos were queing up to take pictures of somebody who had been crushed by a bus in London. Thats just as bad as exchanging naked pictures with a child. If you dont want to get caught out, dont take a picture.
On an episode of TOTP2 that I watched, Dave Lee Travis was presenting it surrounded by young girls, and his hands were everywhere. Operation Yewtree sorted him out. But what do you expect when you are on camera?
A lad in my old pub football team, he always seemed a bit odd but we tolerated him cos he was a decent goalie, he was later convicted of sexual offences with an underage boy. He took pictures and showed them to his partner, who rightly contacted the police. If you dont want to get caught dont take a picture.
I feel sympathy for people wrongly accused, but their anger should be aimed at the perv who was exchanging pictures with a child in the first place.
As for the BBC, where do you start? A journalist friend of mine knows about a major star of theirs (no names or hints) who has a penchant for young boys. They all know about it, but it is being covered up from the very top. They are waiting for him to die basically. And when he does it will be huge news.
And the Sun, they were the ones counting down the days until Samantha Fox 16th birthday, when she could get her tits out. Enuff said.

People watched kids getting groped on TV and laughed along less than 50 years ago. Clearly t*ts with your cornflakes a long less than that and still exists to a certain degree. I wonder what the standards will be in another 50 years? I’m sure Micheal McIntyre will still be OK.

This case has been bizarre. A parent of an estranged adult has made a claim of something that didn’t happen (according to the adult) when they were 17. (fully aware of the law on the alleged)
The parent wrote something to the BBC before deciding to go to the lowest common denominator of the press. The Sun decided to run the ‘news’ all weekend despite the ‘victim’ telling them not to because it didn’t happen. The police become involved and no doubt trying to fit the pieces together.
Meanwhile numerous names get dragged through the mud. In fact, if you haven’t denied it on the telly it could be you. ‘The photo’ might have been created anyone with a phone and Twitter account.
It IS a Black Mirror episode.

On the law itself….call me old fashioned. You can legally do all manner of explicit acts with a consenting 16 year old, they can even buy their own energy drinks (it’s the aspartame and 5g that’s gonna kill us all…), and yet if you exchange a explicit selfie you might go to prison and end up on a register. I’d say we either need to raise the age of consent or ban all exchanges of explicit information…good luck with that one!
Meanwhile the masses mutter “there’s no smoke without fire” and become judge, jury and executioner.

I would put a Jimmy Carr line in regarding the issue but would be immediately cancelled.

Crazy times.

Here's the problem as I see it.  EVERYONE makes their mind up without ever questioning what is being said or looking at all the evidence.  You ask most people and they have made their mind up after reading a couple of tweets from someone who literally could be making it all up.  Look at the way the press are able to manipulate opinion.  They don't print NEWS they print a version of events heavily biased to influence in a specific direction.  There's no comeback if they get it wrong.  They publish an apology years later on page 38.

Look at the way this specific story has moved from one invidual, to the next and the next etc.  Everyone believing one version till the next version came out.  Look at the way the story has developed over the last few days from where we started.  Where does that leave the ones who moved on after day one and still to this day believe it's one of the previously named accused.

The absolute worst part is none of this really helps any of the individuals involved and nobody spreading this muck has a care about any of them anyway.  Does anybody really think this helps the alledged victim or for that matter the accused be dealt with fairly or correctly?

I'm fortunate in that I'm limited through work on what social media activity I can take part in and years ago, after initially thinking it's a bad thing, it's been a blessing.  But I still see, on a daily basis, highly intelligent individuals getted sucked into and repeating this sh!t without a  care in the world about whether any of it is true and the effect it could have on those people.  It's like they think they are not talking about real people just characters in some drama.

I didn't know this.
I thought the age of consent was 16 regardless of sex or sexuality, and yet you're saying its illegal to exchange explicit pics with a 17 year old.
That is truly bizzare.

And this is why we ended up with Brexit.

You just cant stop yourself, can you?  ;D

“and that’s my final defence your honour”  ;D

 ;D ;D ;D

Sadly yes.  Also a big part of why we end up with people like Boris Johnson.

You can literally lie with impunity.  I just feel that the majority of people today have lost any semblance of critical thinking and simple fact checking.  It's not even like it's difficult to do so.  Instead they just read, believe and repeat.  They then follow or get fed more of those similar type of views which only further reenforces these false beliefs. 

And therein is the double edged sword. The Internet opens up a whole world of information for us,  but not all of it is correct.

Whatever crackpot view you ascribe to you can find more people out there that agree with you, validating your opinion and creating an echo chamber.

Increased sensitivities don't help either. Someone recently posted a question on our village Facebook page asking if people could guide him where he could find information that wasn't from NASA (and therefore biased) when deciding whether he thought the Earth was round (as NASA say) or flat (as they say in the bible, apparently). The guy sounded a bit troubled so I wasn't rude but I gave him a whole load of everyday evidence that he can see for himself that it's round.

The admins closed the thread because people weren't respecting his views.

I mean,  FFS! It's the 21st century and we're pandering to people who don't understand basic science!

The unnamed person (who one in six can name according to polls  ::)) has only allegedly gone and met an unnamed 23 year year old for a cuppa during lockdown.
‘Discusting’ will be appearing across social media threads near you.
It’ll add to the Scum’s coffers though.

I guarantee that ‘a story’ could be created about just about anyone in the country.

Thing is, a newspaper without a story, doesnt sell many copies. Or ends up going "platform neutral" and only posting on line. And I would say that far more than one in six know the pervs identity.

I doubt more people think they know who the alleged person is, or even care.
In general chit chat a lot of people don’t reach into our murky world. Most of our elders wouldn’t have a scooby for example. The press are doing everything in their power to oust him. Unless something ground breaking appears he’s hardly the next Savile. I think the moniker of ‘perv’ is extremely strong. Questionable so far whether anything actually illegal has happened, other than guess work and speculation. I dare say many, many people commenting have done a whole lot worse in their lives.
If any of the reports so far are to be believed I’d label them as ‘stupid’ and lacking awareness of dealing with the public as a public figure. I guess that always comes down to ego and perceived power.
Not a great career move and no doubt shattering for his personal life and anyone close to him.

I would imagine Jeremy Corbyn and the hard left of the Labour Party had a lot to do with that. He has now been removed from the party he previously led so even they had significant reservations.

😘 🎣 😉

Well, I popped into see my mum yesterday in her care home. They all know about it. Hes not named on the news, and theres no social media in there. But they all know.( No, but hes such a lovely feller. Well I never)
I think that your defence of him is questionable, in trying to say that he has done nothing illegal. Somebody in his position should have known better. In my mind exchanging naked pictures with a child, and paying him off with hush money makes him a perv. We will just have to disagree on that point.
These things normally lead to the floodgates opening, lets just wait and see.

Everything you have said above could be completely true.  Equally some or all of it could be completely false.

Not having a go personally but demonstrates exactly what I was saying earlier.  What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?   

I definitely won’t descend the thread into the rights and wrongs and moral/legal arguments of what allegedly has gone on. I made the clear point previously around the bizarre nature of the law. Having a cuppa with a 23 year old might be strange but not worthy of 5 days of blanket press. Each to their own.
As at the minute nothing has actually been proven/charged, it makes it even worse.

PS 1 out of 8 people I spoke to (as I passed the canteen TV) said the name. The others were either uninterested in the story or oblivious…although they were up to date on their respective teams pre-season.
You must mix with gossips  :P

I'm interested and dont have a scooby. Must live in a vacuum.
DM anyone?  ;D

It's been announced - Huw Edwards.

No police action and in hospital for mental health issues.
I’m sure the hounding will continue but hope he’s well enough to take the appropriate action against some of the atrocious stuff posted out there.
Unless something a lot more sinister comes to light the coverage his been seriously OTT.

Yeah, thanks. My missus has just come in phone in hand with the news.
This is easy to say, but if I had had to guess at a name, then without any other prior knowledge, rather just from the way the beeb news has been reporting the thing and Rita being on repeat for the past few nights, that's who my pound would have been on.

Its a little bit more than having a cuppa with a 23 year old though isnt it? And his wife has now confirmed it.
I dont mix with gossips as you put it, but it seemed like everyone that I spoke to, like neighbours, people at the supermarket or mums care home knew the name of the person concerned. And I didnt instigate the subject. Maybe people round my way like to chat a bit more than they do in Dav.
Anyway, I have no desire to fall out with you, but you were the one who started the topic, and then went delving into the web for info and pictures.
Take it easy mate.

Back at ya  :)

It was to highlight (and discuss) the craziness of how the world turns. Shame on the Scum (as usual) and the brain dead masses.

The words Sun and brain dead go arm in arm mate. (very easy crossword)
A quick word for Bingers, as I know that certain newspapers act as a trigger to him, I dont buy the Mail very frequently, and my last regular read was the London Evening Standard. (decent cryptic crossword)
For what its worth Dav, I think that this particular case has a way to go yet. But we will see over the next few days.

No criminality, no police action, just a salacious rag out to make mischief. Bloke's in hospital, his career is over and the Cabrones at the scum must be rubbing their grubby paws in glee.

I have little doubt.
If every aspect of anyone’s life was forensically analysed and speculated about you’d find no one is Mother Teresa, who was clearly a wrong ‘un herself.

I bet a few on here would be twitching to hand their laptops in, nicked a bag of crisps from the corner shop, sent a dodgy message (there’s been plenty over the past few days!), cheated on their partner, been in a fight, got drunk and did something silly, broke lockdown rules, said something racist, treated someone badly, taken drugs etc….and I’m sure a lot worse. Most of which will be crucifying anyone on the front page.
Fortunately they aren’t in the public eye, nor work for the organisation where Savile made a living.

At worst they may have made the court column in the Chron.

8/10 for me.  :( :-X

I find the hypocrisy of so many people (especially on twitter) astounding.

For example. It is alleged that Edwards 'broke lockdown rules'. Much in the same way that many politicians were accused of doing so. Yet the same people (high profile people) who still rumble on about Tory party's, say that this chap has been 'hard done by', treated disgracefully etc.

All this sh1t is so out of proportion its untrue! These people love to hound a politician demanding they are instantly sacked from office if they have an affair or 'kiss someone' other than their partner, yet when it comes to Mr Edwards, none of it should have even been reported. Full stop.

You cant have it both ways!

Ironically Edwards is paid about 5 times the salary of an MP and that wage is paid by the public so the old excuse 'we pay their wages' doesn't add up either!

Its all a load of b0llox and goes down to the FACT that the media in this country all of their political agenda's and the fringes on social media do also. Whilst the 80% of us in the middle don't really give a fcuk! We might talk about it, have the odd rant deyn the pub abeyt it but that's just topical stuff.

We are totally controlled by the media in this country whether that be directly or indirectly. Its all agenda lead. Just ignore it and crack on with what you think is best is what I say!  ;D

I believe that it should have been reported, as Edwards was in a massive position of trust. The news anchorman at the BBC is at the top of his profession. The reassuring face and voice that the public believe. The man that was entrusted with pulling on his black tie to formally announce the death of the Queen on the 6pm news. No one else had that opportunity of a lifetime.
You say that we are controlled by the media, then say just ignore it. Trouble is to many people, he was the face of the media, and thus should be believed. He had it all and threw it all away. Very little sympathy comes from me.
You surprise me, didnt you used to work for local media?

It’s still all a game though. The main issue being that someone gets hung out to dry before anything is actually confirmed, proven or charged, by which point they are painted as Savile.
Then the next stage is the public outpouring of support for being mistreated, which seems to be dividing opinion on web, with plenty of ‘nonce’ and ‘nonce sympathiser’ comments being spouted. Then the ‘mental health’ debate on whether it’s mitigation. Followed by a drip feed of those who received an emoji on Insta from him. Whilst the Scofield link of ‘gay’ continues to get made, without any reports on gender involved (it might have been a ‘they’)…not that it makes a difference. Not forgetting the Judge Karen’s copy and pasting the interpretation of the law.

Anyway, we’ve established that Marvo is the biggest criminal in waiting on here.  ;D

Thankfully THE SUN (or anybody else for that matter) isn't interested in me.  ;D

You’d always make T.H.E front page.
Don’t lose any of those stats when you clear your search history.  ;D

Schofields biggest error was being caught on camera queue jumping, at the queens lying-in-state. He was a TV nobody compared to the BBC anchorman. In football parlance, he was just Edwards bootboy.

As ever, summed up perfectly by Jonathan Pie...

https://fb.watch/lLZx8TVH-S/ (https://fb.watch/lLZx8TVH-S/)

Quite right too. 😉

And you are of course right about the Scum.

I did mate. 30 odd years ago. How did you know btw, Im intrigued?!

When I worked for the chron and echo (advertising sales) the paper dare not put anything negative about the council because the council were the biggest client (advertising)!  At the time, lots of competition, Herald and Post, the advertiser (think it was called) - the freebies that everyone got. Plus of course the wireless etc. No tinternet stuff back then.  

So like I say, 'controlled by the media'. Because the media are controlled by £. The Sun does whatever it needs to do to sell papers/get people on their website. Goes with what the average thick tw@t wants to read. Or what pictures they want to see (old school). The Mail is Tory/right wing propaganda for the mainstream right wingers, the Telegraph more aimed at upmarket right wingers. The Mirror is for left wing thicko's whilst the Guardian is for 'intelligent' left wing ultra's. Each one has its agenda and attracts a certain political demographic.

The BBC in my opinion is overall, a bit left wing but pretty fair with its reporting.  Channel4 news is really left wing. ITV - Depends on whose advertising with them. Skynews is more right wing but Id say not too imbalanced.

Strangely I like reading a bit of each one on line (BBC, Sky, GB news, Guardian - channel4 news on TV) and try and come up with a balanced conclusion. Doubt many of us look at them all, but I spend probably an hour a day reading news sites on and orf.

When it comes to things that have a national impact like covid, Ukraine etc...in deep crisis situations...they all tend to go with the main government of its day line in the short term before branching out once things have settled down a bit!

Anyway, no issue with them (Sun) running the story particularly, more so the total obsession with it since and even now when we all know who it was (which wasn't very hard to find out before!). And the way that they (media outlets) are all now agenda focused. The left wing saying its disgraceful how he's been treated, the right wing thinking he's got away with murder.

My view for what its worth is that its something that the corporation should have dealt with inhouse and fired him. On the assumption he's not broken any actual laws but brought the institution into disrepute. I see no public interest argument. The parents would have made a few quid out of it all, that's for certain...which is why they've gone to the paper in the first place. I would argue that I have the same views when it comes to how politicians are treated. Virtually all high profile bods fall on their swords in the end simply because the media are obsessed with them all and looking for each one of them to trip up at some point. Which is rather sad.

Its the same in most countries unless were talking China/Russia/Korea etc type politics. You can guarantee if you were to stand at the next general election, won your seat and then became a 'high profile', 'they' would be going back years checking out your social media accounts, what you've written on here (!) etc. Checking your online movements on an hourly basis. That's the way of the world now eh!

Oh, which 2? I am going for the packet of crisps and nothing racist.

I'm a child of the fifties/sixties when there were programmes on TV like Love they neighbour, Till death do us part and the Comedians. I doubt anybody born in the same era never said anything racist, though they may not have deemed it as racist at the time.

I did some work experience at the Chron in 1992, when the Olympics were on. The Sun had done a feature on "Linford's Lunchbox" where they had tried to recreate his impressive bulge using a variety of household items.

Thus inspired, the guys in the newsroom had mocked up a Chron front page featuring then council big hitter John Dickie, with the Express Lift Tower and two radar tracking stations sticking out of his trousers. They'd then printed it out and stuck it on one of the pillars on the middle of the office.

Then he popped in for a visit.

He stood, for an extended period of time, chatting with the editor right next to the article in question while remaining utterly oblivious.

I've never seen so much s******ing and giggling in my life.  ;D

Love thy neighbour was nothing compared to "Curry and chips". Its on youtube, give it a go, if you have a window in your extensive social life.  ;D

I spent 5 years of my 60's childhood living in Singapore c/o the RAF....... I've never said anything racist to anyone!

A couple of points to raise. I made the observation about people posting things on t`internet a few posts back, be they photos/images, or the written format. If you dont want what happened in the past to become common knowledge, then dont post it.
With regard to newspapers, as you accurately point out, each one caters to their own readers requirements.Thats how you sell them. As I mentioned earlier, my personal favourite was the London Evening Standard. A decent read and a decent cryptic crossword. Ironically they were given out free at all central London stations. (Get your freee stannaard!) One of the three vendors outside Tottenham Court Road would chase after me to personally press a copy into my hand. That lass had good taste  ;D
I am not a fan of the BBC, and the manner in which they conduct their internal inquiries, and cover ups. They have history in this matter. I would not expect any other employer to behave this way. Finally, you reap what you sow. So again, no sympathy fom me.

You've never referred to a Scotsman as "Jock", or an Irishman "Paddy" or a Welshman "Taff"? Good for you. I'm impressed.

Good!

I declare Godwin’s on this thread.

It’s difficult to know what standards we are judging people on at any given moment.
For example, does Churchill get a bye for screwing up in WW1 and being a massive racist for defeating Hitler? He’s either got to be a hero or villain judged in today’s society.

You refer to the recent past, totally mainstream then. Today (flippantly) a cuppa with a 23 year old stranger can get you slaughtered. Who knows what we do today will be frowned upon by our grandkids. Maybe the end of pronouns, who knows?
I think my moral compass is pretty accurate but it is certainly is hard work to stay zoned in on the time. We’ve all done and said things that would have us cancelled today.

PS your average 18 year old today would think that Churchill was a massive racist and that Sam Smith is pushing the boundaries. We are merely dinosaurs.

Not Siao Angmoh. Him and Mother Teresa.

There’s no way he’s as bad as that evil witch…too soon?

😘

Evil is a relative term 😉

I’ve got some evil relatives.

I am so pleased for everyone at the BBC, utter left wing scum.
DEFUND THE BBC NOW.

Now then!, now then! Calm down Manny! You're working yourself up into a right old two and eight. Let it go! 8)

All these leftists on here do nothing for my blood pressure 🤣😂😛

I take tablets for mine ;)

From the good old National Health Service?

How dare you, they are all leftists, constantly on strike!

Even Cockneys?

They probably got prescribed by a doctor, who are now so fûcking lazy they do everything over the phone.
The NHS is irrevocably failing in every sense and needs completely privatising so it’s fit for purpose.

Worked well for British Rail..  :D

Nah, I was born in London, Dad was stationed at RAF Northolt

Nah, just needs properly funding and managing.
Heard the other day that although the USA has a private health system their government pays eight times as much into it than ours pays into the NHS. I don't we can afford a private system!

They need to, have you seen their life expectancy? 78 compared to 82 in the UK.

Yeah, tax Manny more. And me. And most of all tax those big businesses that take the pîss with their pricing and take too much of OUR money, make them give it back for the national good, which in turn will be their good as well.

Privatise the NHS(paid by increase by NI contribs) and the Supermarkets! Tax those Doctors who drive around in Porsche's. I have one Doctor who does; drives me mad.

What a load of tosh! A Porsche tax? Any doctors rich enough to drive one will have earned that money through private practice, not what they earn from the NHS.

You do not have to be rich to drive Porsche, chap down the road from me has got one. And hes a mechanic.

Horrible cars........ Good luck to anyone owning one

I think doctors are already taxed. Still many of them should be taxed more as they are in the higher tax bracket. Am I agreeing with Evers here?

They don’t drive Porsche anymore…it’s all about those crappy Tesla’s.

I spent a while working for a Porsche approved bodyshop, and they are indeed horrible. The only thing about them thats impressive, is the price of spare parts.

I imagine the actor who plays Dr Who gets paid a lot of money, the show is very popular. Deserves his Porsche.

Oh and you are talking crap by the way again, nothing new there.

I agree with you Bingers, apart from the bit about me, I pay enough.

I glad we agree Manny, but I do think you could do just a bit more. We are all in this together. Strength in unity.

I don't pay income tax  ;D

I can't stand Farage, he turns my stomach but there is a bit of a wider issue in this story. Having a bank account is pretty much a fundamental right. If organisations start to pick and choose who they want as customers based upon their political views I think it sets a rather scary precedent when it comes to free speech.

I disagree with everything you say but will defend to the death your right to say it and all that...

I think Coutts said at one stage that farrago didn't have enough money in his account to qualify for one of theirs. He shouldn't have been binned for his political and personal beliefs when he wasn't rich enough in the first place

That's what the BBC reported but apparently it was incorrect, hence the apology they had to give him yesterday.

Apologies by the way, I've just noticed I've replied to the wrong thread, although this and the politics one are merging into one!

I see BBC journalists are now asking completely inappropriate questions at the women’s World Cup.

MPs have written to the S*n about the Huw Edwards story, the S*n claims to be a responsible media organisation  ;D

Must have missed the bit about Huw being innocent?
Don’t believe everything you read in that rag the guardian or BBC #fcuk woke.

Looks like another BBC employee, is going to be outed on mainstream TV tonight. Presumably, ch4 have strong evidence, and have had their legal team check everything out before broadcast. Personally, he makes me squirm, and I think that he is a complete and utter tw@t.

Especially after what he and Ross did to Andrew Sachs...

Both of them should have been banned from broadcasting for life for that.

Agreed..

Absolutely, 100%. When somebody boasts about having a harem, then alarm bells should be ringing. You should hear the language my missus uses when his name is mentioned.. Still, thats one more found out. One big one from the BBC still to go though. This one is huge and he likes flying. Shouldnt be too long..

He ain't got a squeeky voice has he?

The Beeb have outed him! Wussell has denied everything

Which one? The self obsessed stick insect, or the one that they are totally covering up?

Trial by media once again

Thank goodness someone has made that point!

Just like Boris and the BBC.

Savile got away with it, because of a high level cover up. Which is why he was regularly invited to spend xmas and new year at Chequers by Maggie T.
Or so my well informed journalist mate tells me. Thanks to him, I knew months before the official announcement, that Rolf had been arrested. Front page of the Sun, world exclusive, my @rse.

I can understand your disappointment, I also think he should have had a proper trial, in the court of law.

Just like your other mate, Donald is going to have.

He was fined for breaking his own government's regulations, that had nothing to do with the BBC, it was the plod what done it

Again I think a Bingers and Manny coalition would make a better job than Biden and Big T, however i firmly believe that Mr Trump will be the next president, at least we will get a trade deal.

In the immortal words of Sir Bob Geldoff: "Russell Brand. What a c**t."

Sir Bob has a way with words  ;D

On the plus side, at least the whole Russell Brand affair has meant there's finally something worth watching on GB News....

https://www.thepoke.com/2023/09/18/andrew-pierce-took-fellow-gb-news-presenter-bev-turner-to-task-for-calling-russell-brand-her-hero-and-its-an-extraordinary-watch/ (https://www.thepoke.com/2023/09/18/andrew-pierce-took-fellow-gb-news-presenter-bev-turner-to-task-for-calling-russell-brand-her-hero-and-its-an-extraordinary-watch/)

A colleague of mine told me that Bob was very free with his language when she was trying to explain to him and his band where to get the next train home from Bedford going back to London (they'd been performing at Bedford Corn Exchange).

That must have been a long time ago!

Definitely prior to 2003. I remember thinking when she said it they were well past their commercial peak (I assumed the band was the Boomtown Rats). He was effing and blinding about the last inter city train having already left and he'd have to catch one of the all stops local service trains between Bedford and Brighton.

Geldof just tells it like it is. "just send us the fvking money" on live TV during Live Aid.

As much as I loath and detest Brand it seems funny to me that these allegations known about for years have only surfaced recently to coincide with his exposure of climate and covid hoaxers in the media. It would seem if you are going to take pot shots at the establishment you need to be pretty well bulletproof yourself.

Smoke and mirrors

I still haven't decided which job you get in my government Manny, but I have ruled out Equality and Diversity Minister.

How about deputy prime minister or minister without portfolio?

Have you wonderered why he positioned himself there? You don't go from calling farage a poundshop enoch to wellness/conspiracy theorist in 10 years.

Very Wise!

No it’s not - getting a conviction for sexual assault is statistically unlikely even if you can get the police to take an interest, couple that with a celeb that’s protected by both his employers and his wealth there is a massive view of being untouchable- without professional investigative journalism like this scumbags will continue to get away with it - is Brand guilty? - none of us can say for certain so it now goes to the DPP to consider if there is a case.

Exactly that - position yourself as anti establishment, big Pharma etc and you will automatically get the support of thickos who follow the likes of Laurence Fox, Andrew Tate etc - Brand may be many thinks but he is not stupid.

Goes back to the original point of the thread. The ‘power’ now rests with the watching public. We get to decide what is OK, who we like, who is going to be taken down and when, with a little help from press and by the platform of social media.

No-one can condone the alleged behaviour. As for his “coordinated attack” crap….I’m sure there are A-Z listers who are waiting for their turn. Brand was pretty open regarding being a deviant, so this is hardly a stretch. This ‘open secret’ line is wearing thin. So it was that much of an open secret that not one person whistle blew or took action? A familiar line.

Jimmy Carr famously said he’s already told the joke that he’ll be cancelled for.
You can say the same about Gervais and many, many others.
Many people don’t agree or like it but times do change and I’m not a huge fan of retrospective criticism.
You can say how much your were disgusted by Little Britain etc at the time, but it was commissioned and millions watched it. Go back a couple of decades and take your pick.

Whilst the world needs to move forward, improve and learn from previous ‘errors’ , isn’t hindsight wonderful?!

I like Black Mirror, is the episode Fifteen Million Merits the one associated with this thread? There is another I've seen more appropriate but I'm not sure if that was Black Mirror or a Star Trek episode where people had a phone app where they could vote on other people and decide their fate.

Yeah, most link to an extension or exaggeration of what is actually happening with technology and human behaviour. In 30 years time I’m sure some will be more like a documentary.

Personally, I think Russell Brand is vile and that's not based on any recent disclosures. He's very bright but he's a complete bottom feeder; a sleazebag who has always used his fame and dubious talent to sleep with as many women as possible and then brag about it.

Of the cases discussed on Dispatches, while morally questionable, I'd say there was no criminal offence in any of them (with the obvious exception of the alleged rape, and I suspect that would be virtually impossible to get a conviction on). Of course there's also the subsequent sexual assault allegation and I've no idea about that one.

The thing for me on this is I'm not sure how it comes as news to anyone. He's a scumbag and I'm certainly not excusing his behaviour, but he's made a career out of it!  It's not like he's been going around doing all this in secret, they even used footage of him talking about some of the nasty stuff he said to one of the women in his stand up act.

If he's charged and found guilty of something that was a crime at the time he committed it then good, I hope he gets what he deserves. Initially though,  I think there's a big element here of retrospective moral judgement. On the one hand I'm quite uncomfortable with that but on the other.. isn't it nice to watch him squirm?

In my opinion it is

It is trial by media IMO. Not a ‘brand’ new phenomenon but the ante keeps getting upped.
When did it become OK to destroy people without police and criminal involvement?
Then the polarisation of “he was always a predator” vs “he was nice because he didn’t try and rape me” commentary.
The biggest change needs to be addressing these issues at the time. Especially when apparently they’re pretty much in the open, apparently. It’s 2023, we wouldn’t put up with such a culture surely? I’m not talking about the direct victims who may struggle to do so for obvious reasons.

One thing is for sure, he will never get a trial (if it goes that way) without the prejudice built during the coverage, so how does that help the justice system? This could go on for two years+. Is it now an acceptable ‘tactic’ to attract potential victims, whilst also tempting out a number of spurned lovers and spurious claims?
Going back to the original subject (Huw Edwards) you’d think he should be doing 10 years after some of the ridiculous claims. Is the world a better place for knowing he used Only Fans? Are his family better off for having his name dragged through the mud? I didn’t see a lot of ‘professional investigative journalism’ there.

With regard to why now (given he appears to have been happily married for some years with young children and a third on the way and no recent concerns of his activity) my thought would be to follow the money. The production company may simply have seen an opportunity to exploit a situation for gain (public interest or otherwise).

Trial by media is repellent but politicians use it as well.

….and I understand why you say that but for me a trial has a judicial outcome whereas Despatches and the Times simply appeal to the court of public opinion that in no way redresses any wrong doing (although I accept as with Cliff Richard can damage reputations if they are wrong)

Morning Bingers, now I’ve given this a lot of thought and I think head of the Met Police would suit me down to the ground, if you could fix it for me this would be great. Thanks Manny.

The problem with Brand is that classic crest of a wave syndrome. One minute you're flavour of the month, next thing you're in the gutter. His problem is going to be his colourful past. This guy has more skeletons in his closet than there is in Kingsthorpe cemetery. All of them very aware of his wealth and vulnerability at this time. At the moment, like it or not, he's innocent. As, bizarrely enough, is Saville. Without due process and a conviction beyond reasonable doubt, he's free and able to carry on. Personally I think he should be more concerned about the US accusations. Trying to get a sexual assault allegation over the line in this country is nigh on impossible. 

No worries Manny, you are obviously cut from the same cloth as your new boss Suella (not a compliment, I'm afraid), so you should fit in just fine. Just don't go arresting the Mayor of London on trumped up charges on your first day. If you could arrange for your new staff not to use their position to assault innocent women, that would be good and skin colour is not a reason for stop and search, but other than that, crack on.

If Manny was the same skin colour as Suella he'd end up deporting himself.

Are you referring to the Clapham Common women agitators who got arrested for breaking the Covid Rules?

I think you should engage your brain before you write.

Indeed!

Wouldn't hurt, would it?

Please clarify

Unless you’re Jimmy Carr you can’t make light of assaulting females Evers, although TBF Bingers‘ satire started it.
The minimum requirement is that it has to be ‘funny’. There’s a lot of soap boxes to dodge and you mount yours sometimes so it’s hard to keep up with the standards.

That aint a soapbox that he mounts, its a pulpit.

I actually dont follow your argument as I was referring to the two women who were arrested. Thought that was pretty clear?

It's the use of the word "agitators" that's not appropriate! It was a vigil for a woman who was kidnapped and murdered by a serving Met officer, and it was the Met's heavy handed response to the vigil that also caused great offence

Or perhaps the cause of the vigil, or maybe many other examples that hit the national news or even those who don't get the publicity.

Oops, that's me out of order then.

I don't disagree with your comments at all.
As it happens I have a young daughter who lives in Clapham and fell out with my sister in law who allowed her to walk back to her flat alone. The Clapham vigil is understandable but the two women were arrested for turning a peaceful vigil into a somewhat fraught occasion and ended up being arrested. Also the two women in question were of course infringing the Covid rules a point which is lost on some on here! Finally I agree with Sarah Everards parents who called for, in light of the Covid Regulations, a mass vigil was not a good idea.

So now you take to making somewhat arrogant and offensive personal remarks. As for making comments 'on matters you have little understanding' coming from a person who is given to disingenuous remarks like above; in this instance standby my comments on the Clapham Vigil. My daughter was there!

You really couldn’t make up the nonsense you print.

You accuse two woman that were arrested of turning a peaceful vigil into a fraught occasion based on what?  - perhaps your apparent Covid rule breaking daughter’s witness statement? - perhaps you should keep up with facts since the two woman in question received substantial damages as a consequence of the police action.

I really should take my own advice if not arguing with idiots as they will beat you with their experience….