I was shocked yesterday to hear of the death of radio DJ Steve Wright.  It was only on Sunday he presented, as usual, Sunday Love Songs on BBC’s Radio 2 and he sounded in fine fettle (though the show was probably recorded earlier.) But he was only 69.

We have Radio 2 as our radio alarm station and so we listened to him every Sunday.

His DJing style wasn’t always to my taste (in particular I couldn’t stand his Serious Jockin’ segment) and he had a habit of talking over the ends of songs or even adding his own idiosyncratic vocals but he had a legion of fans and will be a miss on Sunday mornings from now on.

Stephen Richard Wright: 26/8/1954 – 12/2/2024. So it goes.

If the UK Government had set out to underline Gary Lineker’s comparison with Germany in the 1930s it could hardly have done so any better than by leaning on the BBC – albeit indirectly – to remove him (even if that is only temporary) from his position as host of Match of the Day.

It is one of the signatures of an authoritarian government that it tolerates no dissent, no criticism.

Linkeker is not a political journalist, does not appear on political programmes and is, moreover, not a direct employee of the BBC. He appears on other TV channels and his social media posts are quite obviously his own personal opinions and not to be taken as reflective of a BBC stance on anything. Other such BBC presenters have in the past been defended by the corporation on precisely those grounds.

The media frenzy that has been whipped up has been deliberately misconstrued to make it seem as if Lineker has said something objectionable. He has not.

It is a deflection of attention typical of right wing politicians to seize on something a critic has said as being unnaccceptable in order to move the focus of any debate away from the point at issue.

As a matter of fact Lineker did not compare the Government to Nazi Germany. He said the language the Government was employing was similar to that of Germany in the 1930s. And in that he is correct. The government has undoubtedly been using language which demonises people. We know where that leads. There are too many historical instances (not just those in 1930s Germany) of derogatory language acting as a precursor to something much worse.

And how can the BBC be considered impartial anyway when its chairman has donated money to the party in government, facilitated the provision of a loan to a former Conservative Prime Minister and only gained his position precisely because of those links?

It has in any case been obvious for a long while from its political coverage that the letters BBC in fact stand for Bending over Backwards to the Conservatives.

There has been a large outpouring of appreciation for former football commentator John Motson, who died last week.

Noted for his meticulous preparation, with a multitude of facts and statistics to hand, he was a mainstay of BBC TV’s Match of the Day for decades. His retirement was much regretted by viewers.

I remember reading about one player for a lower league team whose match Motson was covering relating his pre-match experience with the man. Motson had asked the team to line up for him and went along the line scrutinising each one. This particular player, it seemed, received a more intense scrutiny than the others. In the aftermath he said wonderingly to his teammates, “I’ve just been eyeballed by Motty!”

John Walker Motson: 10/7/1945 – 23/2/2023. So it goes.

The position in history of Betty Boothroyd, whose death was announced today, as first woman Speaker of the House of Commons, cannot be surpassed. Her career trajectory was unusual. There aren’t many former Tiller girls who became MPs, let alone Speaker. And unlike most politicians she presented a human face to the world.

Betty Boothroyd: 8/10/1929 – 26/2/2023. So it goes.

I’ve just seen on the news that Murray Walker for so long the voice of motor sport on British television has died.

I remember his distinctive voice commentating on Motocross (formerly known as motorcycle scrambling) in the 1960s on the BBC’s Grandstand; itself sadly long gone.

It was as a commentator on Formula 1, though, for which he was best known, for both the BBC and ITV in a stint lasting over twenty years. After his retirement the sport somehow never felt the same. Shockingly, that commentating retirement was itself twenty years ago.

He was one of those few characters associated with a particular sport whose fame and personality allowed them to transcend it.

Graeme Murray Walker: 10/10/1923 – 13/3/2021. So it goes.

2019 kept taking away till the very end. Not content with removing Alasdair Gray from us it managed to take Neil Innes on the same day.

It was only four months ago I featured his big hit with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, I’m the Urban Spaceman.

That was the least of the band’s eccentricities. Innes contributed the most bizarre guitar solo to the utterly indescribable Canyons of Your Mind. Try out this video from the BBC’s Colour Me Pop for size.

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: Canyons of Your Mind

Innes’s Beatles parodies for Rutland Weekend Television and subsequent recordings as The Rutles were sublime. The haunting Let’s Be Natural is the perfect example.

The Rutles: Let’s Be Natural

Neil James Innes: 9/12/1944 – 29/12/2019. So it goes.

The Tories came up with this wheeze to get the BBC to publish the salaries of its top earners as a way of kowtowing to the wishes of their masters’ at News Corp, Sky and elsewhere as part of their continuing project to undermine the BBC. The theory seems to be that people will object to TV Licence money being “wasted” on celebrities who (by definition) are not doing a “proper” job.

Agreed these are ludicrous sums, but no more so than top footballers’ pay (perhaps less) or the even more egregious amounts paid to heads of banks and CEOs/directors at large companies, who don’t do a proper job either.

And what’s appropriate for the BBC is surely good for its broadcasting rivals too.

After all, if I happen to buy a product that has been advertised on ITV, I still pay for Ant and Dec’s salaries even though I never watch them. Ditto for anyone that appears on Sky. Why should their payments be any more commercially confidential than those who appear on the BBC?

I look forward to the day when the salaries of those at ITV and Sky are made public instead of just being estimated.

I won’t be holding my breath though.

The title of this post is, of course, taken from the TV series Minder, George Cole‘s signature role.

It is however the only appropriate phrase with which to greet the latest news from the soap opera that British politics has become. Yea, verily; Angela Leadsom – it seems only two seconds after anyone first came to hear of her – has abandoned her attempt to become Prime Minister.

So, not only is the architect of the catastrophe, Mr Irreponsible, quitting, his main nemesis been shown up for the buffoon he is and betrayed, his assassin defeated, and one of the last two standing has weaselled out (which is entirely in keeping with the way she weaselled in.)

Who leaned on her? Is Angela Leadsom really so thin-skinned that she cannot take criticism of a statement she made – on tape – to a journalist? Why has she suddenly decided she is no longer the person most suited to run the country? She seemed confident enough about her abilities a week or so ago.

This is the sound of the Tory party closing ranks, partly to presume upon Labour’s disarray, partly because it is just what Tories do. They can be ruthless in cleaving to what they see as their advantage. Its members may feel cheated of their chance to give their input but I suspect the Tory grandees have never been too keen on democracy – even democracy within the party – and may always have been looking for a way to engineer the result they wanted.

But…. To look at it another way it is actually a coup d’état. The Government has been removed and will be replaced with another, another that is liable to propel the UK even further rightwards, make it even more divided, even less fair, even more prepared to kowtow to the barons of the Press and their agenda, even less likely to address the concerns of those whose votes were suborned in order to enable it, even more likely to eviscerate – and even dismantle – the NHS and the BBC.

She may possibly have been the lesser of two evils but if the answer is Theresa May what the hell was the question?

And note, the wider electorate has been totally excluded from all this. I very much doubt there will be a General Election to sanction the change of government and due to the Fixed Parliament Act our new Prime Minister will have four years to do more or less as she wills. Her government’s majority of 12 in the House of Commons will not see serious inroads, unless there are by-elections. Tories, without the bee of the EU in their bonnets, won’t want to upset the apple cart.

On a happier note, congratulations to Andy Murray on winning Wimbledon for a second time. A thoroughly professional, accomplished performance.

FA Cup Round 2, Moor Lane Stadium, 4/12/15.

I posted about Hartlepool United this time last year at the same stage of the competition and again when the club miraculously retained its football league status in April.

So once again Pools were on live television courtesy of the BBC and its FA Cup coverage but apart from converting a penalty weren’t much in the game first half where Salford had much more possession and looked more threatening especially with the dead ball – culminating in a goal when their player reacted quickly in a second ball situation from a free kick.

Second half there was an improvement by Pools perhaps catalysed by the wonderfully named sub Rakish Bingham who looked very lively. Unfortunately he missed a header from five yards as did Scott Fenwick both of which would have removed the necessity for a replay. Salford also had their chances but couldn’t get past Trevor Carson in Pools’ goal.

1-1 at the end. At least I’m not a televisual jinx.

Manager Ronnie Moore was scathing about the performance after the match. His assessment was spot on. If Pools play for 90 mins in the replay they ought to get through.

Despite a winning start to the season Pools still lurk towards the bottom of League Two. I’m still nervous about that.

Today is another anniversary. Again just about inescapable if you’ve been near any BBC outlet the past week or so.

You wait 50 years for an anniversary and then two come along at once….

On 23^rd November 1963 a strange, spooky TV programme with a first episode entitled An Unearthly Child appeared on BBC 1.

The programme was of course Doctor Who.

On Thu, 21/11/13, BBC 2 showed a good drama about its genesis, An Adventure in Space and Time. It’s on the iPlayer here.

The BBC has got a bit of a cheek calling it the longest running TV programme, though, considering they axed it for years after Sylvester McCoy’s run finished – apart from the Paul McGann one-off.

For any nostalgia freaks here are all the different title sequences.

I see Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has been sniping at the BBC.

Well, sniping isn’t quite the word. Threatening would be nearer the mark.

If you recall before the last General Election I predicted this sort of thing would happen if the Tories were to win office. The only surprise is it’s taken this long for them to get round to it. Too busy demonising the unemployed and telling lies about the mess they inherited (the UK economy was growing in May 2010 when they took over. They immediately set that into spectacular reverse.)

In any case what have they to complain about? I rarely hear much criticism of the government or its policies on the BBC news. It might not be 100% suppportive. But it’s not supposed to be.

I read over the weekend that during the last government Gordon Brown was seen on the BBC twice as much as David Cameron – aka Mr Irresponsible. At the moment it’s four appearances for Cameron against every one for Ed Miliband. As I remember a similar ratio applied during John Major’s time as PM. (Now there’s the return of the undead.)

Whenever there’s a Tory government the letters BBC might as well stand for Bend over Backwards to the Conservatives.