He talked about it when I saw him at the Book Festival.
It's his washing, he said. ?
Is it me or am I getting mixed messages
Kate Garroway-Care at home costs
How do you acknowledge Easter.
Sign up to Gransnet Daily
Our free daily newsletter full of hot threads, competitions and discounts
SubscribeI have a been a Neil Oliver fan for some time, but no longer. I’m disgusted by his comments comparing the pandemic to WW2 and the Battle of Britain. Anti maskers/anti vaxxers are not heroic freedom fighters. What an insult to those who fought, suffered and died.
Billy Bragg puts it so well in this article.
tinyurl.com/2wb8bf4p
He talked about it when I saw him at the Book Festival.
It's his washing, he said. ?
Lincslass that’s what HE said that he would cheerfully get COVID to protect freedoms.
Well, what a twonk. I'd never liked him because I can't abide his accent. This made me feel guilty because I too am Scottish. Now I can avoid him without guilt.
I agree about his accent, Ailidh. I always find it sounds artificial, as if he's trying to sound more Scottish, and failing miserably. Can't stand his programmes - not that I've given them much chance so far, and will not make the effort to do so now.
I'm puzzled by the accent complaints. I haven't listened to Neil Oliver a great deal (no TV, for a start), but in the snippets I have listened to his Scottish accent sounds perfectly normal. At least it's articulate, unlike some of the speech near where I live which rarely contains a consonant and, consequently, can be very difficult to follow.
I grew up in north Lancashire but I've lived in Scotland, on both the east side and the west (whose accents are very different) for more than half of my adult life.
Also, I notice, most of the comments I've seen are attacking the man rather than his ideas. Never a good look that.
Just listened to this on general past history of humanity: twitter.com/talkradio/status/1273329570003865601?s=21
I'd be interested to know what people find wrong with the ideas in it.
It's only a few minutes long.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Lincslass
25Avalon
What a load of rubbish he spouted. He’ll cheerfully catch Covid for the sake of freedom. Silly man.
That is awful, wouldn’t wish Covid on anyone.
What he said makes sense in a historical context, which is how he means it. I bet he has had the Covid vaccine. His argument is simply that it must be a free choice.
The freedoms we had in the "old normal" took centuries to achieve and in some countries they still havn't been achieved to the extent Western and Anglosphere nations had got used to before Covid.
None of which means I'd happily get Covid to protect freedom. I think people are listening to just words and not their meanings.
I think it was more the bit about people who don't think they should take the vaccine are freedom fighters like those who fought in the Battle of Britain; it was that analogy that made me think he's a bit of an idiot.
I understood those words and their meanings.
25Avalon
Lincslass that’s what HE said that he would cheerfully get COVID to protect freedoms.
I beg your pardon, yes read that after. Silly silly man. Apologies.
I understood those words and their meanings.
But not, perhaps, the use of hyperbole as a communication tool.
Well I understood that Oliver is a self-publicist trying to get ratings for his show and that we're all talking about him.
I also understand making belittling comments say more about the commenter than the person that they are talking about.
He comes across as someone who is passionate about what he believes in and I think that's why he can sound hyperbolic. If you look at his Twitter account he seems very popular all over the world as 'thecoastguy'.
It's not actually wrong to self-publicise. I follow a number of artists and writers on Twitter and they all do it to a greater or lesser extent, mostly to be able to make a living (or part of one) from what they love doing. So I don't understand why you seem to see it as a fault.
It's fine not to like the man or what he says/believes in but he isn't actually doing anything wrong. There seems to be quite a lot of rather intense dislike on Gransnet of people of whom gransnetters disagree with. Why not just disagree with what they're saying rather than criticise them as people?
My comment about not understanding hyperbole is not a personal attack. It's pretty obvious from lots of things I read that a lot of people don't understand its use in public discourse.
My third paragraph isn't personal either. People who are popular are often disliked in equal measure. Maybe that's a characteristic of popularity?
One of those ofs can be crossed out.
You seem to be able to make lots of inferences from a very short post Baggs. Being a self publicist is not a fault, I didn't say or imply it, although the speed with which you jump to his defence over an imagined insult is very interesting.
I didn’t criticise him as a person, I think you’ve just hallucinated that. I don’t “dislike” him because he’s a self publicist, I dislike him because he thinks it’s appropriate to join a TV Channel which thinks woke people are the enemy, but that Farage is a good hire, then use inflammatory language to increase his audience. I think its idiotic to try to make a point by comparing anti-vaxxers to Battle of Britain pilots in their quest for freedom. Laurence Fox thinks he’s a good guy. Say no more.
I didn’t join in the criticism of his accent, for instance, because its not his accent that grates on me, it’s what he says. And what he says is a choice that he makes. He also tends to over-emphasise words to make us think that what he’s saying is really clever and important. I say this as someone with a Scottish accent that you might well characterise as inarticulate.
When you quote something I post about, and then make a comment about not understanding something else…well, I’ll let others decide whether that’s a personal attack or not.
Popular or not, he is, in the words of one of our fellow GNers Ailidh, a twonk.
Are we to dislike everyone in the BBC then, as they gave Farage more air time than Ant and Dec, I think the mans a twonk too, I am not sure however about disliking people because of the channel they are on, or the people they share screen time with. That's not a world I want to live in either.
I dislike Oliver. (as much as you can "dislike" someone you've never met - let's say that "dislike" is shorthand for "disagree with strongly".)
I "dislike" Farage. I "dislike" the concept behind GB News. I don't "dislike" the BBC because they have Strictly.
Yes, that's facetious because that's what this conversation has become.
I dont think it is actually. It's one of the problems we face at the moment. Dividing people into tribes, disliking everything that someone says because we disagree on one issue. Haranguing people because they liked a tweet of someone we dont approve. I like Andew Doyle, he is bright and has interesting things to say, I disagree with him profoundly on Brexit, hes on GB news, I am not going to stop listening to him because I loathe Farage and Fox. I have never watched Strictly
One thing that someone says can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Neil Oliver is disparaging about Scottish independence. He almost drove the National Trust for Scotland into Civil War. He called BLM activists anarchists who want to bring down British society. He works for GB News which has a right wing agenda. The Battle of Britain thing is the latest in a long history of things I disagree with.
If Neil Oliver was on Strictly, I would have a dilemma
Has Brillo come back?
Imagine a strictly of Fox , Farage and Neil Oliver. It would be worth it to watch Lawrence Fox's tantrum when he lost.
The Fox & Farage. ?
Now that’s a public house to avoid
And Farage blaming the EU for his disaaastrous foxtrot
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »Get our top conversations, latest advice, fantastic competitions, and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.