I’m on strike tonight. I’m not watching all that commemoration coverage. It’s certainly not out of disrespect. I know a great deal about the Great War. I just finished reading a book about POWs in that war. I’ve preached Remembrance Sunday sermons. But today I feel bullied by the BBC.
I’ve heard snippets, of course, that’s unavoidable. And the thought of royals reading speeches (badly) and politicians slithering around looking for personal advantage turns my stomach. Cameron apparently said that the war was fought for “British values”. It seems they don’t teach history at Eton. His trying to make himself look good and put Ed Miliband in the wrong with the trick with the wreath cards was despicable. And what is making it all far worse for me is that the BBC’s coverage is fronted by Huw Edwards, who is apparently this generation’s Richard Dimbleby. If only! I don’t mind his Welsh accent; although anyone with the equivalent English regional accent (think Liverpool or Brum or Hull) wouldn’t get even a sniff at the job. But is inability to read the autocue without saying, “er” every other sentence makes him a very poor newsreader. To make him the voice of our great state occasions is symptomatic of what’s wrong with the BBC.
So I’m keeping away from it all. I will continue to listen to that excellent 1914: Day by Day by Margaret Macmillan on Radio 4. But I will not change my Facebook status, turn my lights out (and then take a photo of the candle to brag about it on Facebook): and I will not be bullied into compliance.
I Wish to Complain 