Times Article On Glasgow East

[Bloobell]

My reaction to 'it'? My reaction to what?

The world, the universe, everything

[H_B]

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Poverty is obviously relative. Becuase you have 50p for a loaf of bread a week and someone in Africa does not, that does not mean you aren't living in poverty.

[Lisa Cuddy]

Shucks, and such a shame you're a ginger, of pale complexion and with rotting teeth

And I have a face like a melted funeral candle, let's not forget.

[Guest johnjag]

A.A. Gill is an arrogant, middle class fud who thinks it's acceptable to spend five minutes as a tourist in a down- at- heel corner of a working class city before stereotyping, ridiculing and grossly insulting it's inhabitants, in print, to extract some cheap laughs from other arrogant, middle class fuds who read his "upmarket" rag then to return to his tastfully decorated Kensington town house safe in the knowledge that he will never have to sit down face to face with any of these people and explain himself.

[Nizzy]

Poverty is obviously relative. Becuase you have 50p for a loaf of bread a week and someone in Africa does not, that does not mean you aren't living in poverty.

Bread, huh?! Everyone in Glasgow east has adequate flooring, how can you possibly say some live in poverty?

[DAFC]

Before I checked it out I thought 'i bet this snooty c**t is from Edinburgh' and right enough he was.

He also slagged off Ramsay who has West Coast connections, how sad and predictable.

Some Edinburgh people seem to have a real chip on their shoulder, I bet he has never even been to the East of Glasgow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Gill

c**t.

[Nizzy]

A.A. Gill is an arrogant, middle class fud who thinks it's acceptable to spend five minutes as a tourist in a down- at- heel corner of a working class city before stereotyping, ridiculing and grossly insulting it's inhabitants, in print, to extract some cheap laughs from other arrogant, middle class fuds who read his "upmarket" rag then to return to his tastfully decorated Kensington town house safe in the knowledge that he will never have to sit down face to face with any of these people and explain himself.

Again, I didn't laugh at what he said because I think the characters he described are precisely the kind of people you can come across while passing through Shettleston. It might not tell the whole story, but it's a pretty vivid description of some of the residents of Glasgow's most deprived areas.

[Supras]

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Poverty is obviously relative. Becuase you have 50p for a loaf of bread a week and someone in Africa does not, that does not mean you aren't living in poverty.

Find me someone in Glasgow who is starving, and I will accept they are in poverty

Bread, huh?! Everyone in Glasgow east has adequate flooring, how can you possibly say some live in poverty?

More than 50% of the world's population do not have adequate flooring.

[Nizzy]

Before I checked it out I thought 'i bet this snooty c**t is from Edinburgh' and right enough he was.

He also slagged off Ramsay who has West Coast connections, how sad and predictable.

Some Edinburgh people seem to have a real chip on their shoulder, I bet she has never even been to the East of Glasgow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Gill

c**t.

Nice edit. You weren't right - Gill's a man. Read the article, he's clearly been to the east of the city.

[Nizzy]

Find me someone in Glasgow who is starving, and I will accept they are in poverty

You could walk along Sauchiehall Street and find four or five such people within about 200 paces.

[The Old Northerner]

Before I checked it out I thought 'i bet this snooty c**t is from Edinburgh' and right enough he was.

He also slagged off Ramsay who has West Coast connections, how sad and predictable.

There is another reason why A.A. Gill would slag off Ramsay. Equally snobbish and pretentious (although this time it's reciprocated) but nothing to do with geography.

*Wonders whether he should have read the article before posting. Feck no. Click*

[Supras]

You could walk along Sauchiehall Street and find four or five such people within about 200 paces.

Ah yes all those well fed beggars who seem unable or unwilling to claim governmant benefits.

If they were ever seriously starving they would be taken to hospital.

[DAFC]

I bet he's a c**t though.

Posh stuck up c**t who would never have been successful if he had the misfortune to be born and brought up there.

That article is offensive and I don't know how it got past the editor.

Let's sit back in our fancy Edinburgh town house that Daddy bought me, along with my education, and laugh at hopeless people with no chance of a decent future.

[Supras]

I bet he's a c**t though.

Posh stuck up c**t who would never have been successful if he had the misfortune to be born and brought up there.

That article is offensive and I don't know how it got past the editor.

Let's sit back in our fancy Edinburgh town house that Daddy bought me, along with my education, and laugh at hopeless people with no chance of a decent future.

My sentiments exactly.

[Nizzy]

Ah yes all those well fed beggars who seem unable or unwilling to claim governmant benefits.

Once again, I'd like to draw everyone's attention to the posts where you commented on Gill's 'sweeping generalisations' and 'umbrella statements'.

[Nizzy]

I bet he's a c**t though.

So, you don't really know anything about him then?

[Lisa Cuddy]

I bet he's a c**t though.

Posh stuck up c**t who would never have been successful if he had the misfortune to be born and brought up there.

That article is offensive and I don't know how it got past the editor.

Let's sit back in our fancy Edinburgh town house that Daddy bought me, along with my education, and laugh at hopeless people with no chance of a decent future.

Despite me not being entirely happy about the article, I don't believe that was the intention at all. I think it was more of a "Why are these people so loyal to Labour when Labour really are just a bunch of arseholes?" kind of article.

[djn]

This thread sums up so much that is wrong. First of all, Bloobell's title might as well have been "poor Catholics - lolz", since that's presumably what we're meant to feel. The working class used to have dignity - now they are "point and laugh" material, like some grotesque comedy charecters.

Secondly, people are more outraged about the article than the fact that people in Glasgow have such poor life statistics. Surely we should save our rage for the powers that be, the people who have let the living standards slip downwards (whilst the rest of the UK has improved).

Wow, first of all, The Gray Ghost has to agree with Nizzy and the points he is making. Sorry Nizzy.

I'd agree too - Nizzy seems to understand the article for what it is. Text without context is pretext - to read the article at face value misses the point, and who it is written for.

Right first of all, why do you speak of yourself in the third person?

And why do you change the colour of the text you are posting?

Are you new? The Grey Ghost has been doing this since nineteen eighty something or other

I'm sure it is an attack on the Labour Party

YES. Not an attack on the people in the East End of Glasgow, but the people in power who have let their life expectancy etc slip backwards so it's poorer than some "third world" countries.

No, it was started as a "Let's point and laugh at the people of Shettleston" and questioned our right to vote, which is more insulting than an article saying we have faces like melted funeral candles.

The melted candles/ low clouds metaphors seem to be taken literally by some

I do not think the introduction of hard drugs (the main reason in the drop of life expectancy) can be blamed on the labour party

Were hard drugs intoduce since May 1997?

my conclusion that the article is trying to be controversial, and that the author is just being spiteful.

Have you never heard of AA Gill before?

It was a labour heartland, are you suggesting that because of this is it somehow should have benefited from the labour party being in power? It is treated the same as constituencies that are not controlled by labour, or at least that's how it should be.

Of course it should have benefitted from Labour being in power! Otherwise, what's the point in these people voting Labour? What's the point in a Labour government if it's not to try and improve the life for people at the bottom of society? If the Tories come to power, they'll look after the upper/ middle class. If Labour get in, you'd expect them to try and help the poorest... (I thought you Economics lecturers understood? )

[pollymac]

The world, the universe, everything

So you can't tell me what you find funny. Instead you post some drivel that has no relevance to either the question or the subject matter.

You're a bit like the dopey guy at school that laughs out 'Uhuhuhaha' randomly during lessons and everybody looks at him whilst thinking "What a fucking idiot".

[DAFC]

His Dad worked for the Scotsman and was a succesful film maker.

He studied at art school and become a jakey, his second wife was a Tory.

Had it all given to him and still ended up an alky.

Is he any better than the people he is talking about?

I would say no.

Edit: Take a look at him ffs