When I heard last week that the BBC, in their wisdom, had decided to remove all the words from Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory at the Last Night of the Proms in September, it was the final straw for me—and, I’m sure, many others.
Over recent years the BBC have become so ‘PC’ they’ve completely lost direction and the raison d’être for them even being here.
They’ve simply put two fingers up to their loyal viewers and decided that the indigenous population of this country should ‘put up’, ‘shut up’ and allow our history to be buried forever.
Well, if they think their current strategy is going to win them supporters they need to tread very carefully.
If the government vote to abolish the license fee—and it seems inevitable—the BBC will have to compete with the likes of Prime, Netflix Brit Box and others, as well as all the other terrestrial stations. And, if that happens, I hope they drown!
The amount we pay each year is virtually double that of the other providers, and the BBC’s programming is simply becoming a joke.
Putting this year aside for obvious reasons, they seem to be struggling to come up with any new programme ideas. Their dramas are pathetic, slow-moving and have weak storylines. They also seem unable to source good comedy writers and the prizes on offer in their quiz programs are laughable.
Do they not look at other stations both here in the UK and overseas? Are they so smug that they think they can just keep turning out the same old rubbish and we the viewers will just accept it?
Two years ago we invested a small amount each month on Netflix and, I have to say, it’s one of the best things we’ve done, in terms of entertainment. It’s worth every penny, with a huge choice of dramas, films, box sets and comedies.
The American dramas especially are incredible; gripping, fast-moving, with great storylines and leaving you gasping for more when the series finally wraps.
But it’s not just the Americans. We’ve also watched Australian, Spanish and Canadian series, all of which offer terrific entertainment value.
Throughout the whole ‘lockdown’ experience we’ve rarely watched any of the BBC channels—and I’m sure we’re not alone.
Prior to this latest insult, I’d been quite impressed with the coverage of ‘VJ Day’ by the BBC, a very important and personal date on my calendar. That was until about 10 minutes before the end of the evening commemorations from Horse Guards Parade.
Bearing in mind it was remembering the war in the Far East and the horrific atrocities by the Japanese, why was it at all necessary to bring out a Japanese woman to speak? And in a negative tone, to boot.
If she’d apologized on behalf of the Japanese government, that probably would have been considered acceptable. But, instead, she was complaining about flag burning by protestors when the Japanese emperor and his wife made a state visit to London in 1998.
For me that completely ruined the whole day of commemoration, and it should never have been allowed and included in the BBC coverage.
I also find the BBC news to be biased and they don’t report on stories which most of us would want to hear about.
A prime example would be the terrible fires in California. Surely the fact that, to date, several people have lost their lives and over a million acres of land have been destroyed is as important, if not more so, than riots in Wisconsin? Yet their coverage has been totally focused on the latter.
And now this latest outrage over the Last Night of the Proms has left me seething.
I’ve been fortunate enough to go to the Proms, though not the Last Night. I have, however, watched the latter from a young age—usually with my Dad who loved classical music—and the two songs in question (Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory) are firm favourites for all those ‘Promenaders’ who stand for several hours on the Last Night to join in what is a rousing end to the Prom season.
Now it appears, thanks to the BBC, we’re no longer allowed to be patriotic and proud of our country.
While we accept that this year the final concert will be very different, I believe their decision to remove the words is purely a ‘PC’ one. And I, for one, definitely won’t be watching.
Trying to remove our history, be it good or bad—and no-one would deny there’s both—will not improve anyone’s lives, whoever they are or wherever they originate from.
Accepting and learning about the past is the only way to move forward. Trying to wipe it off the face of the earth by removing all references will just bury it.
When that happens there will be nothing on which future generations can base their arguments for a fairer and more balanced society.
And isn’t that what we all want?
The current approach isn’t creating a fairer society, it’s simply queering the pitch—and that won’t bring about change.
All of us who pay our license fee should expect nothing less than neutrality from the BBC. Yet right now they’re veering rapidly to one side and heading down a very slippery slope.
’Til next time,
Granny FlapjaX
GRANNY FLAPJAX 