{"id":617756,"date":"2025-12-07T10:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T10:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/617756\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T10:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T10:46:11","slug":"john-cleeses-36-word-bbc-verdict-issued-on-my-lbc-show-auntie-must-listen-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/617756\/","title":{"rendered":"John Cleese’s 36-word BBC verdict issued on my LBC show \u2013 Auntie must listen | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every now and again getting up before dawn and in total darkness each morning becomes worthwhile. And one such time was last week, when I had the privilege of interviewing comedy legend John Cleese on my breakfast show. As one of the greatest comedy geniuses of modern times joined me to talk about both the nationwide tour of the Fawlty Towers show as well as the publication of his new book, \u201cFawlty Towers: Fawlts & All, My Favourite Moments,\u201d it felt appropriate to ask the man whose comedy CV dates back to writing for The Frost Report in the early 1960s what he made of the current so-called comedy offerings on the BBC, a network he graced with his presence for decades.<\/p>\n

His response was withering: \u201cThere isn\u2019t the executive understanding of how to nurture comedy, which is why there\u2019s not much great comedy these days. John Birt (a former Director General) turned the BBC<\/a> into a bureaucracy \u2013 and bureaucrats aren\u2019t very good at humour!\u201d<\/p>\n

No one could possibly gainsay this comedy giant, but as I\u2019ve noted before comedy is currently definitely no laughing matter at the BBC.<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

With zero prison spaces, where do the convicted go after our speedier court process?<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

Writing as the proud son of a woman who served as a President of the Women\u2019s Institute and spoke at their annual meeting at the Royal Albert Hall, I\u2019ve put out my fair share of trestle tables and sold enough raffle tickets to be allowed a view on its decision to ban trans women from joining.<\/p>\n

The WI cites the Supreme Court ruling in April as the spur for this, but it will sadly result in a number of trans members in their eighties and who have been members for DECADES being expelled.<\/p>\n

That cannot be right. Surely the decision should refer to members seeking to join after the court judgement, but not for those who have enjoyed the companionship for so many years?<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

Remember when we were told by a previous government we should all buy diesel cars? To realise how dud that guidance was, just look at the price at the pumps. Now owners of hybrid cars \u2013 also once hailed as \u2018the future\u2019 \u2013 will be effectively double-taxed with a pay-per-mile tax as well as fuel duty!<\/p>\n

It’s enough to \u201cdrive\u201d any motorist nuts.<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

While the former chief constable and 12 other police officers who would face gross misconduct charges over their actions at the Hillsborough disaster are safe from any discipline as they\u2019ve all retired, surely all should be stripped of any honours such as a knighthood or a Queen\u2019s Police Medal?<\/p>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n

Once one of our most revered car marques, the ludicrous re-branding of Jaguar that saw them promote a sub-standard version of Lady Penelope\u2019s Rolls Royce from Thunderbirds has spectacularly backfired.<\/p>\n

And rightly so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every now and again getting up before dawn and in total darkness each morning becomes worthwhile. And one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[192,192445,77,192447,27170,382,16,15,192446],"class_list":{"0":"post-617756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-bbc-comedy-critique","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-hillsborough-disaster-misconduct","12":"tag-john-cleese","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-womens-institute-trans-ban"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}