News1 min ago
Captain Ott?
Captain Tom was undoubtedly a lovely brave old man who raised a record-breaking amount of money for the cash-strapped NHS, and was an inspiration and lifted the nation’s spirits during this pandemic. Last year he got a knighthood, Pride Of Britain Award, a hit record, a Piers Morgan Life Stories, etc. Since he died there’s been a special clap, Parliament stopped to honour him, GMB dedicated a whole show to him, there are calls for a hospital to be named after him, a statue to be erected, etc etc. But I am now going to put my head above the parapet fully expecting to be shot down in flames when I ask: isn’t it all a bit OTT? My arguments would be: He didn’t intend to raise more than £100 - the extraordinary donations were from other people. Plenty of people will have done tougher things to fundraise for the NHS, though may be not at such a grand age. Yes he fought for our country - so did countless others. He was adorable with an endearing turn of phrase, but so are many. The likes of Sean Connery, Des O’Connor, Bobby Ball and Maradonna who also died recently had far greater impacts on my life, yet their deaths didn’t get anything like this reaction. Okay, I’ve put my tin hat on. Fire away!
Answers
Yes I agree As much as I admire the Captain (and indeed anybody of his ilk and age) his apparent beatificatio n is totally excessive. It started because he wanted to exercise during lockdown and amazingly managed to raise a large amount of money. But I'm quite sure he didn't want the limelight he was eventually bathed in. I'm not so sure about his family, though...
14:26 Fri 05th Feb 2021
Yes I agree As much as I admire the Captain (and indeed anybody of his ilk and age) his apparent beatification is totally excessive. It started because he wanted to exercise during lockdown and amazingly managed to raise a large amount of money. But I'm quite sure he didn't want the limelight he was eventually bathed in. I'm not so sure about his family, though but that's not really relevant. In any case, if they erect a statue of him it will shortly be torn down. As the Reverend Wossiname said a couple of days ago, applauding him represents "The Cult of White British Nationalism" and we can't have any of that here in (predominantly) white Britain, can we.
Lady CG - // Sean Connery, the great Tax Avoider. //
This was debated at the time of Sir Sean's passing, but if you are going to refer to him as 'the great Tax Avoider', it is worth a correction I believe - Sir Sean paid the appropriate taxes to his country of domicile, and as such has not 'avoided' anything.
This was debated at the time of Sir Sean's passing, but if you are going to refer to him as 'the great Tax Avoider', it is worth a correction I believe - Sir Sean paid the appropriate taxes to his country of domicile, and as such has not 'avoided' anything.
Bobbi - // I really don't like the idea of a statue , I'd rather see a Memorial Day , whatever is decided , it will be fitting //
Why would you prefer not to have a statue?
I'm unsure about a Memorial Day - there are quite a lot of those already and starting another one sounds fine, but it will inevitably lose impact over time, coupled with the fact that the loss of impact rather defeats the object of the exercise.
Why would you prefer not to have a statue?
I'm unsure about a Memorial Day - there are quite a lot of those already and starting another one sounds fine, but it will inevitably lose impact over time, coupled with the fact that the loss of impact rather defeats the object of the exercise.