TV for grown-ups needs to return ... not juvenile Jonathan Ross

What struck me was that the interviewer did his job in a professional straightforward manner, clearly displaying knowledge of the topic, but with no frippery whatsoever. The interviewee answered the questions in the same considered manner. Everything sounded pretty serious to be honest. Some might say boring. It was like a throwback to my youth in the early 1970s watching the news, current affair programmes, documentaries etc where on the whole flip comments and humour were kept to an appropriate minimum.

Over the years due to “progress” people behind the scenes in television, who clearly think they are very clever, but clearly aren’t, have introduced loads of really irritating gimmicks. I think a really good example are talk shows. I enjoyed watching Michael Parkinson in the 1970s interviewing some of his Hollywood idols for example. Some of his interviewees littered their discussion with humour but to what felt an appropriate level. If they were more serious he gauged them accordingly and the interview remained in that tone but nevertheless often interesting and insightful.

Now two of the biggest talk shows, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton are just really awful. Jonathan Ross with his constant smirk, slags off his guests and loads of juvenile humour is involved. As for Graham Norton are his guests so rib-ticklingly funny that he spends 95% of his show giggling or belly laughing at basically nothing?

Regarding what now passes as “light entertainment” one Saturday night at peak viewing time I switched over to ITV to be confronted with “The Masked Singer”. At first I thought I had chosen a CBeebies channel by mistake. Celebrities, many of whom are tone deaf, conceal their identities behind bizarre costumes, sing a song and a panel of other celebrities try to guess who they are. When they speak their voices are changed to sound like the Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz to again hide their identity. The whole thing is surreal but in a totally dreadful, cringeworthy, not interesting way.

Also in many of these so called light entertainment programmes the presenters shout down the airwaves to us. Why do they have to shout? I yearn for the days of “Whispering Bob Harris” on the “Old Grey Whistle Test” or the inimitable John Peel. Both spoke quietly and John Peel showed it was possible to speak to his audience in the same normal manner he would to his pals down the pub unlike most of his DJ colleagues with their affected transatlantic way of speaking. For years now far too many programmes for adults treat their viewers as if they are imbeciles, not adults.

What does all this inane behaviour we have constantly been subjected to over the years eventually lead to? A man-child of a man, who would go on to become the prime minister of the UK, appealing to the masses by getting stuck on a zip wire whilst fully suited and booted and frenetically waving Union Jacks in both hands. That’s what it’s come to!

After independence, once we finally get a Scottish public broadcasting telly station, those TV executives responsible for this appalling state of affairs can forget applying for any vacancies at our brand spanking new telly station. Applications will only be accepted by “fuddy duddy” types, with “outdated” views stuck in the 1970’s. That will do me just fine, thank you very much!
Ivor Telfer
Dalgety Bay, Fife

TO save his own worthless skin Boss Hogg Boris has come up with a recycled ponzi scam. Another fraudulent racket with as much credibility as a “degree” from Trump “University”.

So-called levelling up. This requires £billions from government. The Tories have committed nothing.

Local Authority spending has been reduced by 15 percent over since 2010 by the Tories. In the North of England it was double the rate in the South of England.

The Tories have admitted they have failed for 12 years. They are restoring 10 percent of the money they have cut from budgets. This is now being touted as a “victory”.

The public is being asked to believe that the Tories the unrepentant guardians of the class interests of the city swindlers, the bankers, the media proprietors, the landlords, landowners and property developers suddenly care about the less well off.

Michael Gove (who in 2016 said Boris Johnson was not up to the job of Prime Minister) was sent onto the TV shows to sell this nonsense all to save the supreme liar Boris Johnson.

Levelling up is a polished Tory turd, An empty Easter egg, a meaningless slogan. It’s all designed to con the gullible clodhoppers who voted for Brexit. All to make them think the Tories care.

Boris Johnson and his clique are flagrant law breakers. They have a sense of class privilege which makes them think accountability is only for those on low incomes. Tories believe the rich and powerful can commit fraud, lie and steal with impunity.

Boris Johnson is a sign of a debauched and degraded political system. His face represents Tory Unionism with all its vacuity, greed and unpleasantness. Scotland must liberate itself to ensure this buffoon is the last unelected Tory dictator in Scotland.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee

ANOTHER non-apology from Boris on Thursday, once again trying to save his own neck and keep a good member of staff, but it was too little and too late. He had the opportunity at PMQs this week to give that apology and even today another chance and he did not take them. He is incapable of contrition and incapable of truth.

Dominic Rabb and Rees Mogg have both just called it the “cut and thrust” of Parliament – it was not anything of the kind it was anger and deflection by Boris to take the heat off himself on a day when he should have been contrite and humble.

He is now demeaning every Tory Minister or MP (unless they are like him) who has to come out and try to defend him and as a result he is demeaning the highest offices of state.
Winifred McCartney
Paisley

DOES anyone else see what I see? Westminster is not providing a democratic government. We have an elected dictatorship. The will or wish of the people has no real sway in Westminster. The party in power can do what they want for the full term of their office.

The same approach has produced elected dictators in Turkey, Syria, Russia and many other countries. Do we in this country – the UK and Scotland in particular – want to be a part of this?
Grace Franklin
Address supplied

HOW formidable is Russia as an economic and military power?

On December 27 2021 the new Russian heavy lift rocket, the Angara, failed to reach its proper orbit by thousands of kilometres. This Angara rocket has been in development since 1992 – so for close to 30 years – and is years behind schedule. It was supposed to replace the existing Russian Proton rocket which uses highly toxic fuel.

The Russian Soyuz capsule that Tim Peak used to return to earth from the International Space Station dates back to the 1960s. The Russians ability to update and innovate seems to have largely disappeared.

The Russian Health Service, when in the Soviet Union 40 years ago, was highly regarded. It has now slid to a ranking of 58th out of 89 countries, with a low score also for the quality of its infrastructure. Outside the major cities public hospitals are few and far between. One Russian survey found complaints of filthy hospitals, crumbling buildings and even drunken doctors and paramedics.

The latest World Health Organisation figures show the life expectancy of Russians to be just 71.9 years – for men just 66.4 years – which ranks the country 105th in the world!

Russia is still suffering from the pandemic, with low national vaccination rates. Long term economic growth is predicted to be sluggish, with weak investment, and underwhelming living standards. The best prediction of long term growth is under 2% a year, with 8% inflation.

The lack of infrastructure investment over the last 10 to 20 years has dropped Russia to 93rd place globally in the quality of overall infrastructure in The Global Competitiveness Report prepared by the World Economic Forum. The main obstacles to improving this infrastructure are corruption and inefficiency.

So where has the money from Russia’s natural resources gone? Well, there is a very luxurious building near the Black Sea, called “Putin’s Palace”, which cost well over a billion to build. Now because of corruption and corners being cut in construction, it all had to be stripped out because the whole building was totally permeated with mould.

“Putin’s Palace” is just the tip of the iceberg. Massive sums of money have been siphoned off from Russian projects and hidden in off-shore bank accounts according to the revelations in the Pandora Papers. Regrettably billions have been laundered through London, according to US sources, so the true source of the money is no longer obvious.

Putin claims to have spent money on armaments, but reportedly some of the most high profile additions are inflatable tanks, inflatable missile launchers and even inflatable aircraft. How many of the tanks and missile launchers etc threatening Ukraine are real, and how many are just inflated? Is the threatened Ukraine invasion just an elaborate bluff?

Should the West be arming the Ukraine with drawing pins to deflate the Russian military threat?

The answer to any invasion of the Ukraine should be a co-ordinated international crackdown on off-shore funds, so that the billions Putin has hidden away can be seized. That is his Achilles heel!
Pete Milory
Trowbridge

THE Sabbath Naitionall syne hed a pukkil o wrytes anent Scots an the fak at Burns wes telt no ti endyte in Scots. He hed eneuch mense ti deiffie sic adveice, fur he kent at in thon tung he wes a gryte bard an in Inglish he wes a minor poet.

But language is much more than that. In the Anschluss of 1938 when Germany took over Austria, a common language was one of their justifications. Also in Putin’s taking over of Crimea the Russian language was a factor. Ruthenia, which was oddly independent for one day in 1938, gives Ukraine the Ruthene language but areas that are largely Russian-speaking are those liable to incursions.

In Scotland whan Jeames the Saxt gaed suthlins we hed twa langages, Scots an Gaelic. Enou, lik monie ither pairts o the impyre we hae maistlie Inglish. We suid, lik Burns, haud ontil wir auld tungs an pit richt the fauss consait at we ar airt an pairt o the Inglish hegemonie. In ither wirds, friedome an leid gang thegither.

Fur thur at consither this is langage inginerin, mith A mynd thaim at the Israelis yaise a speik at is steidit on the auld leiterarie leid o the Auld Testament with vocabular frae hodern Europeane langages. Be-in clivversum cheils, thai kent the vaillie o thair ain naitionall tung.

TS Eliot agreed with this approach when he said: “Every language needs refreshment from its own past and contemporary sources elsewhere.”
Iain WD Forde
Scotlandwell