Forum Topic

Guardian Petition

Independent Press Standards Organisation : Shut down The Guardian NewspaperThe Guardian Newspaper was founded by John Edward Taylor from the profits of Cotton Plantation Slavery and therefore should be shut down.http://chng.it/G76wFb8Vxd

Sue Hammond ● 2125d28 Comments

Haha.  Well spotted David

Craig Fordham ● 2124d

A German couple stay with us in Putney for a few days. It was probably just after the wall came down. My partner and the German woman were old school exchange friends - but hadn't met since school. One evening we put the TV on - only to be confronted with Dad's Army.I did my best to explain about the comedy.The couple were very apologetic about the war and keen to learn from the mistakes of the past.They watched it with great interest.

Ed Robinson ● 2124d

Absolutely, and whilst I am in no way anti-British or anti anything much, I do think that people, especially children, should be taught the real truth of the past, including the British Empire, the good and the bad.After all, this is what life is all about, it's not good/bad, black/white, rich/poor, life is very nuanced with huge grey areas and the more light that is shone the better for everyone.

Bunny Payne ● 2124d

I agree about Austria: one reason they've never really confronted their past was that, foolishly, Austria was treated as the first victim of Nazism, when in fact the country enthusiastically welcomed the Anschluss.

Richard Carter ● 2124d

Austria still lags Germany on coming to terms with their wartime record. When I lived in what was West Germany in the 1980s I too was very impressed with how they confronted their past on TV and in the media. Even Das Bild, their equivalent of the Sun. I wonder if anything similar could ever take place here - a genuine reassessment of our colonial history - while so many still either deny bad things ever happened or just didn’t learn it at school and have never bothered to delve more deeply.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2124d

It's true that, for quite a few years after the end of the war, people were very quiet on the Nazi period: it just wasn't talked about. But I've been hugely impressed by the way that subsequently, Germany has been able to come to terms with its terrible past. For example, in the gardens outside Wagner's Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, there is a permanent exhibition detailing the treatment that the musicians, conductors and singers who were Jewish were subjected to under the Hitler regime. Something like that here would be a way of dealing with our past.Incidentally, it's interesting that the same kind of reconciliation hasn't happened nearly as much in the old Eastern Germany, because the communist authorities never attempted to come to terms with the Nazi episode. Partly, I suppose, that explains the rise of the AfD as a revisionist (and that's putting it very politely) party.

Richard Carter ● 2124d

Children should be taught correct and honest history.  I've said this before, but while living in Germany in the 1990s (I think) German TV put on an American miniseries about concentration camps.  Young people were extremely upset as they had never been taught this in school.  After every programme (they played it daily) there was a round table discussion with all kinds of people with different backgrounds.  Flyers were pushed through our door, THIS IS A LIE, NO JEWS WERE KILLED IN THE WAR!!, etc.  It was a very interesting time and I applaud anyone who wants to expose our recent history.  As a child, I don't think slavery was explained to me properly.  This is the history, not stupid statues.

Bunny Payne ● 2124d

Yes, the Scott Trust was converted to the Scott Trust Limited but retained the original aims of the Trust in its articles of association and all profits are reinvested in the company. I believe this was done for legal reasons  because of a limitation with trusts. But most lawyers don't go there unless they're specialists ...

Michael Ixer ● 2124d

There are more papers than just the Telegraph and The Guardian.From wiki concerning The Guardian: The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008..

Ed Robinson ● 2124d

You are right (though saying it hurts me). Right number of letters though, and everybody else on this site seems to be called Mike.I knew that those ten pints on Christmas Eve, 1965, would have cost me some brain cells.

David Ainsworth ● 2124d

Sue. On a less serious note, in keeping with this thread, perhaps there was a bit of red flag waving to get a reaction ... 😸

Michael Ixer ● 2124d

Sue. To be honest I hadn't seen that cartoon until you posted it and if I had I wouldn't have posted it as I don't see it as funny or in particular good taste. These days I don't read any one newspaper regularly. In practice I probably get a lot of news from Huff Post on-line, and thelast link I posted on here (this morning) was from the Seattle Times. Unfortunately for them, Trump and Johnson are almost characatures of what they represent - privately educated, privileged, white, males, with inherited wealth - they are so easy to ridicule. Can one believe the POTUS said this? And this isn't even satire. Johnson isn't at that level but some of his glib statements don't do justice to his position and insult people's intelligence - where's that world class test and trace system?https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-building-analogy_uk_5ee33de3c5b67fa8b8928796I've no idea what drives Pritti Patel. She must have encountered racism (I've seen subtle attempts to disadvantage colleagues from minority backgrounds) so she has done well to reach her position but I don't agree with her politics. (Rishi Sunak, again someone whose politics I'd probably disagree with does impress me.) Mrs Thatcher did well but I'm not sure she helped the case for sex equality if you look at the number of women in today's boardrooms? 

Michael Ixer ● 2124d

I assume you mean Paul Game?  Or are you insinuating someone else?

Sue Hammond ● 2124d

Surely Mike Game will turn up about now?

David Ainsworth ● 2124d

I'm sure it will self destruct soon.

Sue Hammond ● 2124d

Agree Sue - this ghastly left-wing propaganda outfit currently has it's lowest amount of readers in history and is surely close to self destruction.

Mike Essam ● 2124d

Michael you (and Richard) love to post derisory articles and about the Mail, and especially cartoons depicting Boris, Farage and Trump.  As avid readers of the Guardian how did you manage to miss this vilepersonal and racist cartoon about Priti Patel?  Or did you just choose to ignore it?  If the DM has published it I can well imagine how you would both have been foaming at the mouth with excitement to post it on here. Never mind I"ll do it for you:
Here is Priti Patel's dignified response to it:https://metro.co.uk/video/priti-patel-references-personal-racial-abuse-commons-2187858/?ito=vjs-link

Sue Hammond ● 2124d

Yes, I had avoided comment as it was obviously a wind up but never mind. Of course, being owned by a trust with no dependency on shareholders or other influential stakeholders, the Guardian must by definition be the most independent and unbiased newspaper, although I'm sure the wealth Barclays brother have no influence over the Telegraph's right wing politics; they're too busy embroiled in family bickering over their fortune 😱

Michael Ixer ● 2124d

free press???Surely the whole idea of owning newspapers is to have influence.

Ed Robinson ● 2124d

This is not a serious petition. It’s just a bit of mildly provocative fun set up by anti-Guardianistas.  Don’t take it seriously.  We need a diverse and free press, even the Daily Mail though I am loathe to say it.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2124d

Does IPSO have that authority? Perhaps more relevant setting up a petition saying they ought to make an apology, if they haven't already? And one for the Mail to disown facism? Where does one start with the the Sun and the Express ...

Michael Ixer ● 2124d

I'm afraid you've completely missed the point, Barbara: no one is trying to hide history, but to explose and explain it.

Richard Carter ● 2124d

Same here Matt.

Lucille Grant ● 2124d

Can we shut the Daily Mail down for supporting Hitler too? I'd lose the Guardian if we lost the Mail too.

Matt Palmer ● 2124d

It may be worth looking at the more recent history of some other papers.As for ownership - best not look at all!

Ed Robinson ● 2125d

Merely reinforces how utterly puerile it is to try and hide history

Barbara Shillabeer ● 2125d

Given our 'great leader' Boris's lineage (he's a relative of Ulysses S Grant) there's absolutely little doubt his family were up to their necks in slavery related issues too. Maybe we should  start a petition to abolish him. What do you think, Sue? Would you sign it?

Freddie Francis ● 2125d

Fair enough. Ditch the Guardian.Are you prepared for ditching the Royal Family  then?"The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of Charles II and later took the throne as James II. It shipped more African slaves to the Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade." (Wikipedia)

David Ainsworth ● 2125d