Nicola Sturgeon quits BBC event over Steve Bannon invitation

[moondust]

Source: The Guardian

Nicola Sturgeon has pulled out of a conference being jointly hosted by the BBC next month after learning that Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon had been invited to take part.

Scotland’s first minister said that allowing Bannon to freely express his opinions risked “legitimising or normalising far-right, racist views”.
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She later added: “The email the BBC sent to my office justifying Bannon’s inclusion described him as a ‘powerful and influential figure … promoting an anti-elite movement’. This kind of language to describe views that many would describe as fascist does seem to me to run the risk of normalisation.”

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/20/nicola-sturgeon-quits-bbc-event-over-steve-bannon-invitation

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[roody]

1. Looks like some country may be well-governed.

[cp]

2. Go Scotland!

Alba forever!

[Delphinus]

3. Good for her!

Standards.

[elmac]

4. that's the reason i no longer watch maher

anyone who invites bannon to anything is an enabler

[LAGC]

6. Maher tore Bannon apart.

You don't defeat repugnant ideas by ignoring them or letting them fester in the dark, you have to confront them and expose them to the light.

[elmac]

11. we already know bannons an ass wipe

and you will never convince the trumpsters so what's the point, well, entertainment is the point and I don't need that crap in my life.

[atreides1]

18. Once confronted and exposed, they have to be destroyed!!!

Bannon has been confronted and exposed...yet no attempt has been made to destroy him...and his repugnant ideas are only gathering strength each time he is allowed to appear and speak his mind!!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I'm very worried the BBC has bought the "anti-elite" crap

That's a lie, and they shouldn't be using it an an excuse to drum up controversy for a conference by inviting people like Bannon. Bannon has made millions in banking, movie producing, and from political scams, and is spending his time using elites.

[Socal31]

7. Bannon is an intellectual lightweight.

That wingnut speaking is not a threat to me or my values. Not having overwhelming counter-speech by self-exclusion actually lends credence to whatever nonsense he will spout though.

[FakeNoose]

8. Yes but he sucks up to some extremely rich people

No need to give this guy a platform.

[LiberalLovinLug]

9. "...promoting an anti-elite movement'"?

The BBC thinks Bannon, Trump, the Kochs, and all the top rulers of the despicable regimes they worship are NOT elites?

They don't think the party Bannon is a part of, and of the person in Trump that he championed, do not think of themselves as elite? That that big tax scam giveaway was meant for anyone other than the elite? All those cabinet positions handed off to fellow billionaires...they weren't 'elite'?


One of the greatest achievements of the new radical right is how they have re-imagined some words in the English language. And the kicker?....Even news organizations like the BBC have been tricked. Entitlements doesn't mean "benefits you are entitled to because you worked for them" it now means "you are lazy and don't work, or are a brown immigrant, but still you feel entitled to live off the state"

"Elites" now does not define your bank account, but your political ideology. You can be an "elite" if you are a student who takes part in a counter demonstration against fascists, or a women who went to the women's march wearing a pink hat.

[erronis]

16. Excellent! This should be its own post. The RW privileged get to call the others "elites"

What a joke. Another form of new-speak.

But they are entitled to their tax cuts and their regressive taxes/social security payments.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. K&R. If English word abuse was a criminal offense.....

ALL RepubliCons would be in jail......

[Cryptoad]

10. My 21gGrandfather Robert da Bruce

would be Proud!

[Denzil_DC]

12. Sturgeon was to have given the opening speech of the conference,

on a different day to when Bannon would appear, so there wouldn't even have been any prospect of her "debating" the asshole.

The BBC was largely responsible for promoting Farage over the years, to the extent that UKIP became - temporarily - a significant force in UK politics (except in Scotland), and that's largely why we're in the mess we're in now.

The fact that the state broadcaster sees fit to lend credibility to Bannon is a total disgrace, and I have cause yet again to feel proud of my country's First Minister for refusing to play along and for calling the BBC out on it.

[YOHABLO]

13. Got to love a woman like Sturgeon. She's tough.

[Maxheader]

14. Viva la Revolution!!!!

Let the cheetox admin rot on the vine..

[onit2day]

15. Lies like Trump...when he breathes

[Scurrilous]

19. K&R