Football 3 BBC Management 0
Discover more from Tom Watson's Newsletter
Football 3 BBC Management 0
Plus Carol Vorderman, active travel and Wayne Shorter
I probably wouldn’t have written the famous Gary Lineker tweet, but My God, what is the BBC doing suspending him?!
If Pru Leith can make cakes and back Brexit, Gary Lineker can analyse football and discuss asylum laws.
I love the BBC, but I think Tim Davie poorly leads it. It’s not his politics, well, not directly. As the head of BBC Radio, he tried to close BBC 6 Music and opened up a debate about privatising Radio 2. That makes him a bit of a chump in my book.
Now he’s allowed himself to be bullied by Conservative MPs and has punched downward on Lineker. He’s made an arbitrary decision to suspend Lineker, exposing that he doesn’t have a robust and credible social media policy.
And Gary Lineker carries something Tim Davie is lacking right now: Respect. When Ian Wright and Alan Shearer display an act of solidarity so powerful that Tyrone Mings steps in, I know who will win hearts and minds on this one.
Tim Davie should go over this. He won’t, though, because there’s no one to sack him as the current BBC chairman is still facing investigation over his role in arranging a loan for Boris Johnson.
A single tweet has created an absolute car crash. The biggest winner out of all of this? Elon Musk!
Meanwhile, more cuts on something important go unnoticed
On Thursday, the government announced a £200 million cut to the active travel budget in England. It represents a two-thirds cut to promised capital investment in safe infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling.
The government set a target that 50% of all journeys in English towns and cities would be walked or cycled by 2030. That’s impossible with these cuts. It also probably means that our net zero targets by 2050 will be missed too.
Sustrans say that people walking and cycling take 14.6 million cars off the road, saving 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. All hail London’s ebikes. I use them every day.
And back to the BBC
I’m not BBC bashing. I love it. Think of this as Tim Davie bashing. He’s cutting the orchestras and choirs.
Times are hard, I know Tim. But sort yourself out man.
Watching
Do I sound a little waspish this week? Maybe, but how can the Guardian only give Broker two stars! It’s woke Britain gone mad. Being back in London I got to the Curzon for a matinee showing. I loved this film and highly recommend it.
Listening
James O’Brien is taking his “Full Discolosure” podcast to another level with the current series. By getting his subjects to talk about their childhood, Mr O’Brien is stimulating fascinating and revealing discussions. I loved the Carol Vorderman interview this week. Neil Kinnock a few weeks back was a joy too.
Reading
on Wayne Shorter. I took a paid subscription to this newsletter because it is deep and rich in wisdom.If you’re new here, welcome! Perhaps you’ll consider joining us? Subscribers receive this newsletter every week and occasional extracts from my books. Paid PoP Club members get access to a members-only health support & accountability group and regular Q&As with me. Plus, you’ll be supporting the work I share here for free.
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Football 3 BBC Management 0
Davie is making the BBC look like a bunch of Charlies due to his own deeply questionable loyalties. He most definitely should go - he should have gone before all this.
Totally agree. Tory trolls on FB are trying to muddy the water, but it'll backfire.