Britain - The Official Thread

[Obelisk]

I swear I posted something in here earlier...

ISIS tried to claim responsibility for it.

They'd claim responsibility for anything.

Edit: I ought to catch up on both British and American politics so I know what's going on here.

 

[Robin]

Goes to show how shockingly lax security is around public figures is in this country, he could just walk up to our prime minister and hand her something like that. No security even attempted to jump on him.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Goes to show how shockingly lax security is around public figures is in this country, he could just walk up to our prime minister and hand her something like that. No security even attempted to jump on him.

Quite right, he could have had anything printed onto that piece of A4. Imagine if it had been a picture of a gun or a speeding truck.

 

[Robin]

Quite right, he could have had anything printed onto that piece of A4. Imagine if it had been a picture of a gun or a speeding truck.

Or it could have been laced with contact poison...

 

[Touring Mars]

Goes to show how shockingly lax security is around public figures is in this country, he could just walk up to our prime minister and hand her something like that. No security even attempted to jump on him.

Perhaps it is not surprising that no-one at the Tory party conference would know who Simon Brodkin was. I reckoned it was him as soon as I read the headline.

I also had a psychic moment the other day when I first saw that Tory slogan - whoever put those letters up should have been fired, and that's before the letters started falling off during the flippin' keynote speech Also, I just noticed that the original letters (first pic below) were so wonky that they must have been taken down and replaced yesterday before Boris Johnson's speech (second pic), and then changed yet again before Theresa May's speech (third pic).

Incidentally, I was a conference at the exact same venue just a couple of months ago and a sign fell down during a talk there too, so methinks the people at Manchester Central might need to invest in some better adhesives.

 

[Liquid]

Manchester Central used to be a railway station until it was closed during the Beeching Axe so it's no surprise that everything is falling down.

The spirit of British Rail carries on.

 

[Robin]

Perhaps it is not surprising that no-one at the Tory party conference would know who Simon Brodkin was. I reckoned it was him as soon as I read the headline.

Yeah I had a feeling right away it was him but I know him better as Lee Nelson. Surprised he shifted career to prankster, I guess his stand up comedian one tanked.

Manchester Central used to be a railway station until it was closed during the Beeching Axe so it's no surprise that everything is falling down.

The spirit of British Rail carries on.

As for the venue they should keep it in Birmingham at the ICC, it's in much better condition, maybe because of that extra £50m the EU chipped in to build it...

 

[Touring Mars]

As for the venue they should keep it in Birmingham at the ICC, it's in much better condition, maybe because of that extra £50m the EU chipped in to build it...

Oh the irony.

The falling letters are a brilliant and fitting metaphor - so fitting in fact that I am starting to wonder if it was maybe done on purpose. A couple of nights ago, I was thinking how funny it would be if the O (in 'Country') fell off, and, amazingly, it did. It would have been beyond hilarious if it had fallen off first though.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Or it could have been laced with contact poison...

So could every public doorhandle in Britain.

 

[Robin]

So could every public doorhandle in Britain.

Yeah but other people tend to open doors for important people.

 

[Famine]

Oh the irony.

The falling letters are a brilliant and fitting metaphor - so fitting in fact that I am starting to wonder if it was maybe done on purpose. A couple of nights ago, I was thinking how funny it would be if the O (in 'Country') fell off, and, amazingly, it did. It would have been beyond hilarious if it had fallen off first though.

Perhaps someone was telling her to F off.

Also the letters that fell are an anagram of "WE FUEL VOTE".

 

[TenEightyOne]

Perhaps someone was telling her to F off.

Also the letters that fell are an anagram of "WE FUEL VOTE".

Or "VETO FLU WEE". After all, she isn't well.

 

[UKMikey]

View attachment 677201

I give up... I posted actual video of the event an hour previously and all people did was complain...

 

[Lizard]

I did find that all so funny. Although May's joke about giving Corbyn a P45 sounded like a desperate comic who is getting a blank audience. Thing is I believe she was half serious, she would quite like to have no one on this earth disagree with her so she can become a dictator.
Another funny thing was Brodkin had a legit invite, he didn't sneak in.
And the letters falling off just put the cherry on the cake. Also this https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2017/10/01/nearest-bar-tory-party-conference-manchester/

 

[Robin]

It gets worse, Calvin Harris is annoyed that they did not ask permission to use his song for the conference


Seriously, who put this event together!

 

[Lizard]

It gets worse, Calvin Harris is annoyed that they did not ask permission to use his song for the conference

Seriously, who put this event together!

Wait what?
I am guessing that's a copyright case in court then, as if the election didn't damage the party enough.

 

[Robin]

Wait what?
I am guessing that's a copyright case in court then, as if the election didn't damage the party enough.

They also annoyed Florence Welch...


It's a serious legal thing to use music without permission especially for political reasons, beyond belief that the people organising this didn't get permission from the record label.

They could have at least used songs from Conservative supporters!

 

[Lizard]

It's funny how everyone was predicting a Labour wipeout when May called the election. Now it seams the Tories are the ones in trouble.

Also their membership is in serious decline, threatening to go below 100k. Meanwhile Labour have almost 600k members.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/n...hip-plummets-hopes-theresa-may-resigns/02/10/


Oh and apparently she nicked the speech off a TV show.
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/n...ime-minister-may-plagiarised-west-wing/05/10/

 

[Spurgy 777]

Wait what?
I am guessing that's a copyright case in court then, as if the election didn't damage the party enough.

I doubt it, chances are they're just complaining for attention and the Tories actually paid for a license. Looking at other examples of musicians complaining about politicians using their music they don't seem to end up in law suits, either that or the news just fails to mention it.

 

[Liquid]

I doubt it, chances are they're just complaining for attention and the Tories actually paid for a license. Looking at other examples of musicians complaining about politicians using their music they don't seem to end up in law suits, either that or the news just fails to mention it.

There are other documented cases; off the top of my head Tom Petty issued a cease and desist to George Bush Jr. for use of "I Won't Back Down" in his 2000 presidential campaign, Neil Young complained about Donald Trump using "Rockin' In The Free World" for his 2016 campaign and Bill Clinton never had permission to use Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" in 1992.

This Rolling Stones article suggests that it's young staff on the campaign team who think it's 'cool' to have their candidate to come out to a particular song rather than the politician demanding a particular song be used and damn the consequences. I'm fairly certain Donald Trump didn't gaf what song he was walking onto the stage to.

Interesting tidbit from the article:

Technically speaking, copyright laws allow political candidates to use just about any song they want, as long as they're played at a stadium, arena or other venue that already has a public-performance license through a songwriters' association such as ASCAP or BMI. However, the law contains plenty of gray area. If a candidate refuses to stop using a song in this scenario, an artist may be able to protect his "right of publicity" – Springsteen's voice blaring over a loudspeaker is part of his image, and he has a right to protect his own image.

It uses Bruce Springsteen complaining about Ronald Reagan using Born In The USA as an example.

 

[Spurgy 777]

There are other documented cases; off the top of my head Tom Petty issued a cease and desist to George Bush Jr. for use of "I Won't Back Down" in his 2000 presidential campaign, Neil Young complained about Donald Trump using "Rockin' In The Free World" for his 2016 campaign and Bill Clinton never had permission to use Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" in 1992.

This Rolling Stones article suggests that it's young staff on the campaign team who think it's 'cool' to have their candidate to come out to a particular song rather than the politician demanding a particular song be used and damn the consequences. I'm fairly certain Donald Trump didn't gaf what song he was walking onto the stage to.

Interesting tidbit from the article:



It uses Bruce Springsteen complaining about Ronald Reagan using Born In The USA as an example.

Yeh, I know there are plenty of other cases, my point was it doesn't normally result in any legal action because usually they have a license.

 

[Famine]

other examples of musicians complaining about politicians using their music

And there are loads. It seems to happen at every election and at every party conference - leader comes out to anthem "X" and the band that wrote it jumps on the much-needed publicity by complaining about them using it. Sometimes they claim to be apolitical (like Sting and Adele) and just don't like their songs being used for political purposes, and sometimes they add a message that they definitely do not support this politician because they support the other one (boosting sales amongst the other one's supporters).

And it's always an absolute non-story.

 

[Dotini]

Back in the good old days (think "British invasion"), musicians received a royalty payment for every play on radio, and on sales of records, tapes and later CD's. In the digital era, musicians have lost most control of their financial destiny. But of course can still moan as well as ever.

 

[ExigeEvan]

And it's always an absolute non-story.

This.

Artists don't care unless a) it hurts their image or b) it hurts their pockets.

It's very easy to post a grumpy Twitter, but it doesn't mean anything legally.

 

[adamp93]

They could have at least used songs from Conservative supporters!

The most right wing musician I know of is probably Phil Anselmo from Pantera. "Walk" might be a good idea given the Tories' views on disability benefits.

 

[Lizard]

I doubt it, chances are they're just complaining for attention and the Tories actually paid for a license. Looking at other examples of musicians complaining about politicians using their music they don't seem to end up in law suits, either that or the news just fails to mention it.

On further research, you don't need permission to play in a public place according to the BBC. I find this odd.

The issue I think the Tories have atm is leadership. May has no charisma, Boris may win some votes but his lack of social awareness will draw a huge amount of anger should he become leader, Mogg believes in policies that only a small number share belief in and portrays himself as a toff (although unintentional I am sure), the average voter wont want that.

Also their campaigns, they focus too much on what is wrong with the opposition rather than tell people what the party can do for them should they vote for them.

 

[TenEightyOne]

On further research, you don't need permission to play in a public place according to the BBC. I find this odd.

If you're playing recorded music in a venue accessible by the public then all you need is a PRS licence. The thornier issue is when you associate the music you're playing with a particular brand or cause - and @Famine has pretty much covered that.

 

[Lizard]

How true is this? Fake or real?

 

[Robin]

How true is this? Fake or real?

Well it's all over the press so guess it's real.

 

[Touring Mars]

How true is this? Fake or real?

True and true