Patten v. Thompson

[amateur51]

I'm not sure that Hodge is an appropriate chairman/woman/person. She often goes way over-the-top in her questioning and tends to treat the committee's 'guests' like school kids.

In fact she reminds me very much of the long-deceased Miss Dow who kept shouting at me in Primary Four ... the only thing missing with Hodge is the threat of the tawse.

Your antipathy to Margaret Hodge has been aired often scotty. She's a powerful woman (as presumably was Miss Dow), could that be it?

[Beef Oven!]

Your antipathy to Margaret Hodge has been aired often scotty. She's a powerful woman (as presumably was Miss Dow), could that be it?

Your accusation is baseless. Is this a new episode of 'wind Scotty up'?

Like a lot of politicians, H can be frustrating. It's got nothing to do with her being a woman, powerful or otherwise.

[jean]

Like a lot of politicians, H can be frustrating. It's got nothing to do with her being a woman, powerful or otherwise.

Well I'm not so sure.

It was often said that part of Margaret Thatcher's hold over her party lay in the fact that she reminded all those old Tory men of Nanny.

Scotty's post did make me think of that:

In fact she reminds me very much of the long-deceased Miss Dow who kept shouting at me in Primary Four ...

He may have been equally terrorised by some male teachers, but he hasn't told us about those.

[eighthobstruction]

Naaa Never....Wind Up Scotty, you might as well try to wind up a 747....I have carried Miss Lewis 1L through my life too....but Hodge certainly does grandstand, a little inaccurately, but against people who need to be shook up....

[amateur51]

Naaa Never....Wind Up Scotty, you might as well try to wind up a 747....I have carried Miss Lewis 1L through my life too....but Hodge certainly does grandstand, a little inaccurately, but against people who need to be shook up....

Unusually for a senior politician, I feel that Margaret Hodge speaks for me in the way she shakes these people up.

[eighthobstruction]

Unusually for a senior politician, I feel that Margaret Hodge speaks for me in the way she shakes these people up.

Yes, it's very much an Oi Thompson....Oi Lyons....moment....

I think a Sargeant at Arms (Chief Knocker Up) should be provided to the PAC to leap on the table and slap these people around the face as you would trying to revive an unconscious patient.....Oi Krol....

[french frank]

We could, of course, agree to agee that a (strong-willed) woman stands a better chance of getting at the truth than a middle-class, middle-aged-to-elderly man, who, but for the grace of God could be one of the BBC grandees himself. There has never been a woman appointed as BBC chairman, never a woman director-general, never a woman director of the BBC Trust. The lead non-executive director on the BBC Executive Board, a man, was [!!!] a Barclays banker. And the one woman didn't get an easy ride either ("You seem to keep changing your evidence.")

All those men could eat a more timid woman for breakfast and would sit down to eat breakfast with any men of their own kind.

It needed someone not in their mould, and that, on the day, was Hodge.

[Resurrection Man]

Thompson told them it was going well and they believed him.

.....

Precisely my point about the experience/skillset (lack of?) of the BBC Trust members.

Scene One: BBC Trust boardroom

Patten: "So, Mark, how's that IT project going?"

Thompson: "Very well, Chris"

Patten: "Jolly good. Shall we go and have lunch? Your club or mine?"

[Resurrection Man]

Unusually for a senior politician, I feel that Margaret Hodge speaks for me in the way she shakes these people up.

I agree with you although she does remind me, at times, of Anne Robinson.

[amateur51]

I agree with you although she does remind me, at times, of Anne Robinson.

I have personal experience of Ms Robinson which prevents me from agreeing with you (he adds, mysteriously).

I have attended a funeral with Ms Hodge and can report that, off-duty, she's a much nicer person than when she has her foot on Mr Thompson's throat.

[french frank]

Precisely my point about the experience/skillset (lack of?) of the BBC Trust members.

Scene One: BBC Trust boardroom

Patten: "So, Mark, how's that IT project going?"

Thompson: "Very well, Chris"

Patten: "Jolly good. Shall we go and have lunch? Your club or mine?"

And see my previous one. I was appalled to see them 'Mark-ing' and 'Chris-ing' as they sat side by side when being questioned over the previous BBC Annual Report.

One of our complaints, which we made to the Trust, was that the Charter and Agreement stresses that Trust and Executive should be independent of each other, and we thought the Trust had just rubber-stamped management's plans for Radio 3 without understanding the implications (or answering any of the questions we posed). The only reply we got back from a member of Mr Kroll's staff was, 'The Trust is independent of the Executive'. Oh, good. So that's all right, then. Sorry we troubled you.

[amateur51]

And see my previous one. I was appalled to see them 'Mark-ing' and 'Chris-ing' as they sat side by side when being questioned over the previous BBC Annual Report.

One of our complaints, which we made to the Trust, was that the Charter and Agreement stresses that Trust and Executive should be independent of each other, and we thought the Trust had just rubber-stamped management's plans for Radio 3 without understanding the implications (or answering any of the questions we posed). The only reply we got back from a member of Mr Kroll's staff was, 'The Trust is independent of the Executive'. Oh, good. So that all right, then. Sorry we troubled you.

Would you ever consider opening your files to a decent journalist, ff?

No answer required, just a suggestion.

[aeolium]

And see my previous one. I was appalled to see them 'Mark-ing' and 'Chris-ing' as they sat side by side when being questioned over the previous BBC Annual Report.

One of our complaints, which we made to the Trust, was that the Charter and Agreement stresses that Trust and Executive should be independent of each other, and we thought the Trust had just rubber-stamped management's plans for Radio 3 without understanding the implications (or answering any of the questions we posed). The only reply we got back from a member of Mr Kroll's staff was, 'The Trust is independent of the Executive'. Oh, good. So that's all right, then. Sorry we troubled you.

And this is why I disagree with those who think that there is nothing wrong with the idea of the Trust, only the shortcomings of its members. The Trust replicates the same problems that led to the disbandment of the BBC Governors, a too-cosy relationship between those supposedly overseeing the BBC and the BBC management. The Trust did not concern itself with salaries or the bloated management structure and does not seem to have had any effective system for dealing with complaints. One of its roles was to stand up for the independence of the BBC but why? That was guaranteed by Royal Charter. And the service level agreements which the Trust negotiated with the BBC management seemed to a large extent to reflect what the BBC was already doing, or what it had decided to do, and they were framed in such general terms that it was difficult for the BBC to 'fail' on any of them.

The Trust is an irreparably broken institution imo and should be replaced by one that is wholly independent of the BBC and of government.

[Beef Oven!]

I have personal experience of Ms Robinson which prevents me from agreeing with you (he adds, mysteriously).

I have attended a funeral with Ms Hodge and can report that, off-duty, she's a much nicer person than when she has her foot on Mr Thompson's throat.

Bit naive to think she was off duty.

[Beef Oven!]

Well I'm not so sure.

It was often said that part of Margaret Thatcher's hold over her party lay in the fact that she reminded all those old Tory men of Nanny.

Scotty's post did make me think of that:


He may have been equally terrorised by some male teachers, but he hasn't told us about those.

I think we agree then.