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Daily Mail

(149 Posts)
varian Tue 09-Jan-18 20:37:46

Virgin Trains West Coast line will no longer sell the Daily Mail which it regards as "no longer compatable with VT brand and beliefs". Nigel Farrage has tweeted that he finds this worrying.

jura2 Wed 10-Jan-18 09:17:07

Yes Merlot- the staff- many of them being the ones targetted day in, day out, by the DM- you know, 'foreigners'- those on the front page of the DM, day in day out- for being spongers, and freeloaders (and who work very long hours often in unpleasant circumstances) - totally get it.

Chewbacca Wed 10-Jan-18 09:24:42

No jura, I'm not. I'm not sure how you extrapolated that from me pointing out that, for some of us, we have no choice as to which train provider we have to use if we need to travel. We make not "like" Virgin, but if they're the only provider who is running trains to where we want to go, we either have to use them or stop at home. Its not about being "clever" in our use of their services; it's because their is no alternative.

radicalnan Wed 10-Jan-18 10:00:58

News papers are a waste of the planet's resources, all of them.

MawBroon Wed 10-Jan-18 10:01:47

Many years ago my DD then a student complained that Richard Branson and his Virgin brand were taking over he world! We laughed, (then) but how arrogant to censor (because that is what it is) what his customers may or may not buy to read. Like it or loathe them, the DM, the Guardian the Times and the Telegraph and I suppose the Express are still perfectly legal reading matter. If it was the Sun with bare boobs on the front, fair enough. But who is Branson to be the arbiter of what we may buy.
And do Virgin Trains have beliefs anyway? confused

Sheilasue Wed 10-Jan-18 10:08:39

I get the metro on our bus, my h really enjoys reading it.
Thinks it’s far more informative then the papers we buy I would never buy the daily mail or the sun. Awful papers my fb page is always putting on comments on hate mail from the daily mail and the sun.
Typical Nigel such an idiot.

maryhoffman37 Wed 10-Jan-18 10:10:34

I find Nigel Farage worrying.

MissAdventure Wed 10-Jan-18 10:10:51

I don't enjoy being told what I can and can't do, particularly by a train company.

MaizieD Wed 10-Jan-18 10:39:30

Oh, for heaven's sake, MissAdventure. They're not telling you what you can and can't do. You are free to buy a copy of the DM before you board the train. They're not going to search you for contraband copies to confiscate before you board. They're just not selling the DM on their trains.

maddyone Wed 10-Jan-18 10:52:45

Richard Branson has demonstrated by various things he has said in the past, that he leans to the left. The Daily Mail is a right wing paper. This is obviously the reason that the decision has been made to stop selling this particular paper on Virgin trains. However, the paper of one's choice can be bought in any other newspaper selling outlet. No problem then.

maddyone Wed 10-Jan-18 11:00:43

Incidentally I have little sympathy with Richard Branson who has made vast profits from his trains, and other businesses, but has now chosen to live on an island far away from the UK, presumably so he can pay no tax on his income now he has retired. I find tax exiles morally repugnant.

maddyone Wed 10-Jan-18 11:16:36

In addition, you may be interested to know, his daughter was on the same course as my daughter at university. The course was medicine, the university was a well known and highly regarded London School of Medicine. The fees at the time were £1000 per year. A couple of years after qualification Branson's daughter quit medicine in order to run/manage/oversee her father's business empire. Medicine is a highly sought after course, and requires top grades at A level in order to be accepted on to a course, and for anyone to take a six year course, to qualify as a doctor, and then to abandon that profession in favour of working for her father (something she could have done without a medical degree) borders on immoral in my opinion. Someone else could have been on that course and now be working in the NHS. Had Branson's daughter chosen to continue working as a doctor, there would not be a problem, but she chose instead to work for her father. For me, that is a problem.
Whilst this may not be related to selling particular papers on Virgin trains, to me it smacks of the usual self interest and arrogance of the rich who run our businesses and services.

sunseeker Wed 10-Jan-18 11:17:09

I don't really see what all the fuss is about. As has been said people are free to buy the DM before boarding the train - I gather Virgin only sold 70 copies a day anyway so no big loss for DM. I think Virgin trains should be more concerned to ensure they are running an efficient service.

paddyann Wed 10-Jan-18 11:32:33

Maddyone lots of young people do university courses and never work in the field they studied.Bransons daughter is not alone or unusual in that .In my small street there are at least 4 people who have done two or three different courses before deciding what they wanted to do ...???I find it very strange I must admit as someone who has done the same job for 48 years ..and loved it.I cant imagine studying for 3 or 4 years for something and THEN changing course.

newnanny Wed 10-Jan-18 11:38:09

Totally agree with Day6. DM have been very critical of Virgin trains and now they are refusing to stock their papers on their trains. Most people buy a paper on way to station. and as Merlotgran states the DM is free to read on phone.

GabriellaG Wed 10-Jan-18 12:30:41

My two penn'orth.

Richard Branson DOES NOT own Virgin trains. He LEASES the brand name to the company for a monetary consideration. That absolves him from having to deal with and fund train timetables, staff, rolling stock and 101 other things involved with running a company.
He also only owns 41% of Virgin airlines.

MaizieD Wed 10-Jan-18 12:39:38

A good two penn'orth, GabriellaG grin

Morgana Wed 10-Jan-18 12:42:37

While there are lots of really good comments on this thread, surely the most important one is that the Daily Mail with their constant racist and anti immigrants comments is a terrible insult to many of our inhabitants. The Daily Express is just as bad.

Willow3 Wed 10-Jan-18 12:47:04

Daily Mail is the paper given out on Virgin Atlantic in Upper and Premium cabins so wonder if that has changed as well. Interesting.

varian Wed 10-Jan-18 13:24:25

Shops which sell newspapers should adjust their offers as their customer base changes.

I shop in Lidl, which these days seems to have a broad customer base which was not the case fifteen years ago when I first shopped there. At that time it was decidedly down market. Now the shop is full of all sorts of folk, including many who would not look out of place in Waitrose.

However the so called newspapers on offer have not caught up. They still sell only trashy tabloids - The Sun, DM, Express, Star and Mirror.

I think they should certainly be selling the "I" which is not expensive, politically balanced and great value for money. The Times, FT, Telegraph and Guardian are, admittedly more expensive, but I wouldn't be surprised if quite a lot of Lidl customers read them too.

lemongrove Wed 10-Jan-18 14:37:02

What would you suggest Morgana ...only approved newspapers such as the Guardian?

MissAdventure Wed 10-Jan-18 14:42:16

It's a slippery slope..

MaizieD Wed 10-Jan-18 14:48:17

It's a commercial decision, not a slippery slope. Are you going to start complaining about the other papers that Virgin West Coast aren't selling, MissAdventure?

blueskies Wed 10-Jan-18 15:00:32

Most of us find Nigel Farage a trifle worrying......

MissAdventure Wed 10-Jan-18 15:07:58

No, Maizie I've said what I wanted to. Since I don't use virgin trains or read the daily mail I think that'll do. smile

Lilyflower Wed 10-Jan-18 15:56:32

Pure censorship on RB's part as the DM criticised his trainset and doesn't support the Remain campaign. I hope the DM points this out but since their print and online readership is 29 million a month they are not going to miss a few copies sold on trains.