Dear West Country Voices,
Our PM isn’t very good with gates, actually he isn’t very good at anything – except, of course, at lying; and actually he seems to have lost his talent for that recently.
You will remember when he was confused by Bill Gates on how much the UK would contribute towards Bill’s research into green technology; actually, Johnson was right for once that time.
Now we have Wallpapergate, Arcurigate, PeppaPiggate and the latest: Partygate.
I watched ‘All the Presidents Men’ online the other day, a great film showing how the Washington Post outed another notorious liar, Richard Nixon… Watergate.
How I wish our own newspapers had such independence, conviction and an idea as to what is ‘right’.
Instead, we have a collection of ‘lie rags’ owned by a number of individuals who need a Tory government in power for their own ends. I really cannot understand how journalists can feel in any way justified in allowing themselves to write such rubbish, or indeed advertisers in continuing to support them.
There are exceptions of course. The Guardian, supported by readers, the Independent and Mirror to a degree, and all the Bylines (being online and not print).
But look at a few numbers [most recent figures available from the ABC circulation audit]
Circulations as at :
21/10/2021
Daily Mail…………………………..910,630
Mail on Sunday…………………..789,451
Metro (free)……………………….1,054,780
Evening Standard (free)………457,542
Daily Mirror.………………………..342,311
Daily Express.…………………….225,968
July 2021
Observer…………………………….136,656
Guardian…………………………….105,104
March 2020..
Sun*……………………………………1,210,915
Sun on Sunday……………………1,013,37
Sunday Times……………………..637,622
December 2019*
Telegraph………………………….. 317,817
Sunday Telegraph………………..248,288
[The Telegraph group pulled out of the circulation audit in January 2020, Sun newspapers followed a few months later]
These are copies in print, of course; the Mail is one of the most successful online newspapers in the world!
Until it suits them, all the right-wing newspapers (most of those above) are going to support Johnson. When, finally, his MPs have had enough and are really worried about losing their seats they will get rid of him, and you will find the right-wing press anointing their next favourite, backed up by the 180,000 Conservative party members.
So, our useless, dishonest buffoon of a PM will be replaced according to the influence of a handful of press barons, 360- odd self-interested Tory MPs and 180,000 mainly old Brexiters living in the south east of England.
At the next election the right-wing press will dutifully ignore all the problems of Brexit, the by then probable 200,000 deaths from Covid-19, the thousands of food banks, distressed farmers, hungry children, failing NHS et al.
They will follow their own path.
That is 67,200,000 folk being controlled by, effectively, around 180,370 people and a relatively small proportion of that 67 million that reads the (right-wing) press.
Welcome to the oldest democracy in the world.
Ian Jacques
