Rod Liddle article: The dangers of listening to another passenger

[TUC]

No reason for posting this other than that I loved the story!

From Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times:

One way to get a seat ...
In times of a crisis it is always wise to follow the advice of someone who speaks with authority, and has a sense of civic duty.

Meet my wife then. It was approaching midnight, and our packed train to Ashford International was being held for ages at St Pancras, due to some unexplained problem. The missus was on the case, googling away like billy-o on her mobile phone. Finally she stood up and announced: “This train is going nowhere. There has been a major fire at Ashford and no trains are going there tonight. Station staff are lying to you. You must get off and find alternative transport.”

The passengers in our coach trudged off the train and onto the platform. From where they watched, in horror and loathing, as the doors closed and the train, with my wife and me still on it, proceeded, without impediment, to Ashford.

 

[Pete_uk]

That's quite funny. For us!

Not those who got off the train, of course!

 

[oldman]

I once helpfully passed on a PA announcement to an elderly lady that the train we were sat on (the 1515 Queen Street-Edinburgh) had been cancelled. When we reached the platform, it was announced that the train was now the 1530 Queen Street-Edinburgh. She seemed to think it was all my fault .

 

[Fearless]

I was travelling up the ECML in a rather crowded train, and shortly after leaving Doncaster I thought I'd prefer to stand in the vestibule (as I often do). A bunch of squaddies obviously thought that we were getting close to York and that I was getting ready to get off. So they packed up all their stuff and came to stand in the vestibule too, patiently waiting for the train to stop at York... which it did, 20 mins later.

 

[tiptoptaff]

I was travelling up the ECML in a rather crowded train, and shortly after leaving Doncaster I thought I'd prefer to stand in the vestibule (as I often do). A bunch of squaddies obviously thought that we were getting close to York and that I was getting ready to get off. So they packed up all their stuff and came to stand in the vestibule too, patiently waiting for the train to stop at York... which it did, 20 mins later.

Similar thing happened to me yesterday. Just after leaving Newport, the couple sat on the table with me asked if I could get up so they could get their stuff and get off. I told them I would be they were still 15minutes from Cardiff. They said "oh, thanks" and went back to drinking their drinks, whilst 30people stood holding their luggage for quarter of an hour!

 

[Polarbear]

I recall many years ago talking to someone at Chester station, who after a while, began to irritate me with some rather “extreme” views. To say that they were to the right of a certain WW2 leader who spoke German would have been putting it mildly!

Suddenly, he asked which train was his & I pointed to the nearest one, which he gleefully boarded & which soon departed. That it was heading for Rock Ferry when he was going to Llandudno was sheer coincidence...

 

[gnolife]

I recall many years ago talking to someone at Chester station, who after a while, began to irritate me with some rather “extreme” views. To say that they were to the right of a certain WW2 leader who spoke German would have been putting it mildly!

Suddenly, he asked which train was his & I pointed to the nearest one, which he gleefully boarded & which soon departed. That it was heading for Rock Ferry when he was going to Llandudno was sheer coincidence...

I've pulled something a bit like this Manchester Airport, when a similar 'gentle'man asked if a train was going to Piccadilly, cheerfully told him it was, and watched as it set off for Crewe. On a technicality I wasn't lying, given that its next working will have taken it to Manchester.

 

[rg177]

I recall one time someone asking me about trains from Leeds to South Elmsall (he had two kids in tow and was rather lost having just stepped off a coach from London). I told him to get the Doncaster train (meaning the stopper). It was only when I walked away I realised he was probably going to ask for the next Doncaster train and be directed onto a train back to London

I was once also on the platform on Koeln Hbf at the door of an S Bahn train during some disruption. The screen said it was the S11 to Bergisch Gladbach so I was telling everyone who asked that it was the S11. It was a rather ancient BR420 unit with no screens or announcements so it wasn't until I got off a couple of stations down the line that I saw 'S12 HENNEF' on the back of the train as it proceeded to turn in the complete wrong direction

 

[trebor79]

I always suspected Rid Liddle was an obnoxious prat.

 

[6Gman]

I always suspected Rid Liddle was an obnoxious prat.

I read this story and felt it was wrong in so many ways!

1. Using the internet can be useful during disruption, but caution is wise.
2. Phrases such as "it looks as though..." and "from what I can see..." are useful.
3. Why did she feel the need to tell passengers that staff were telling lies?
4. If you're going to advise people to leave a train you really ought to do so yourself!
5. And - finally - why would Rod Liddle feel the need to share "my wife did something stupid the other day which inconvenienced a lot of people" with his readers?

Neither Mrs Liddle nor Mr Liddle come well out of this.

Perhaps Mrs Liddle is as obnoxious as her other half ... ?

 

[TurbostarFan]

I read this story and felt it was wrong in so many ways!

1. Using the internet can be useful during disruption, but caution is wise.
2. Phrases such as "it looks as though..." and "from what I can see..." are useful.
3. Why did she feel the need to tell passengers that staff were telling lies?
4. If you're going to advise people to leave a train you really ought to do so yourself!
5. And - finally - why would Rod Liddle feel the need to share "my wife did something stupid the other day which inconvenienced a lot of people" with his readers?

Neither Mrs Liddle nor Mr Liddle come well out of this.

Perhaps Mrs Liddle is as obnoxious as her other half ... ?

Fully agree. If in doubt say nowt!

 

[TUC]

I read this story and felt it was wrong in so many ways!

1. Using the internet can be useful during disruption, but caution is wise.
2. Phrases such as "it looks as though..." and "from what I can see..." are useful.
3. Why did she feel the need to tell passengers that staff were telling lies?
4. If you're going to advise people to leave a train you really ought to do so yourself!
5. And - finally - why would Rod Liddle feel the need to share "my wife did something stupid the other day which inconvenienced a lot of people" with his readers?

Neither Mrs Liddle nor Mr Liddle come well out of this.

Perhaps Mrs Liddle is as obnoxious as her other half ... ?

Ummm. It's called being funny? Myself and each member of my family I've read this to hsve laughed out loud.

 

[DarloRich]

I read this story and felt it was wrong in so many ways!

1. Using the internet can be useful during disruption, but caution is wise.
2. Phrases such as "it looks as though..." and "from what I can see..." are useful.
3. Why did she feel the need to tell passengers that staff were telling lies?
4. If you're going to advise people to leave a train you really ought to do so yourself!
5. And - finally - why would Rod Liddle feel the need to share "my wife did something stupid the other day which inconvenienced a lot of people" with his readers?

Neither Mrs Liddle nor Mr Liddle come well out of this.

Perhaps Mrs Liddle is as obnoxious as her other half ... ?

You are over thinking it. This is a story that is:

A) easy to write
B) quick to write
C) requires little editing and fills space easily
D) raise a slight chuckle

 

[xotGD]

Perhaps next week Mr Liddle can pontificate on the relative comfort of a range of train seats. That may be more to some people's liking.

 

[CentralTrainer]

I read this story and felt it was wrong in so many ways!

1. Using the internet can be useful during disruption, but caution is wise.
2. Phrases such as "it looks as though..." and "from what I can see..." are useful.
3. Why did she feel the need to tell passengers that staff were telling lies?
4. If you're going to advise people to leave a train you really ought to do so yourself!
5. And - finally - why would Rod Liddle feel the need to share "my wife did something stupid the other day which inconvenienced a lot of people" with his readers?

Neither Mrs Liddle nor Mr Liddle come well out of this.

Perhaps Mrs Liddle is as obnoxious as her other half ... ?

Question is - which wife of his was this? His first, loyal one, or the young one he left her to run off with? ( c. Eamon Dunphy)

 

[zuriblue]

Question is - which wife of his was this? His first, loyal one, or the young one he left her to run off with? ( c. Eamon Dunphy)

Or the one he punched seven bells out of?

 

[6Gman]

Ummm. It's called being funny? Myself and each member of my family I've read this to hsve laughed out loud.

Presumably you weren't on the train?

 

[oversteer]

Was that the same Rod Liddle who wrote a Sun article a few weeks ago, complaining that a Labour MP and Labour Lord would not have gained their positions, “were it not for the colour of their skin” ? Odious man.

https://twitter.com/jessbrammar/status/1070664157278756866

Not even subtle from Rod Liddle in the Sun today. I mean, for christ’s sake, how is this acceptable?

 

[Master29]

A load of rubbish. Do you really think that would have happened. Some old biddy stands up and says the train is going nowhere. Neither funny or true I would think.

 

[yorkie]

Yes, it's blatantly untrue, but I was going to leave it be on the basis that some people may find it funny.

However on further investigation it appears Ron Liddle is a well known misogynist and racist

I'd not heard of this individual before, but now I know how odious he is...

 

[A0wen]

I've pulled something a bit like this Manchester Airport, when a similar 'gentle'man asked if a train was going to Piccadilly, cheerfully told him it was, and watched as it set off for Crewe. On a technicality I wasn't lying, given that its next working will have taken it to Manchester.

Some years ago I was at Stevenage station with a mate heading back to one of the intermediate stations towards KX late at night and there was a bunch of guys on the platform who were arsing around, being noisy and generally p1ssing off all the other punters on the platform. As a result of their pratting about they weren't listening to the station announcements and didn't hear the announcement that the next train to arrive was fast to Finsbury Park...... as it rolled into the platform one of them turned to me and asked "is this one for Knebworth?" - "yes mate, I want the fast London one which is next" I reply - all bar one of them got on and were duly despatched to Finsbury Park to a warm approving glow from everyone else on the platform who enjoyed the rest of their journey in relative peace.

 

[A0wen]

Yes, it's blatantly untrue, but I was going to leave it be on the basis that some people may find it funny.

However on further investigation it appears Ron Liddle is a well known misogynist and racist

I'd not heard of this individual before, but now I know how odious he is...

It's Rod Liddle not Ron - he's one time editor of the Today programme - and it's only Guardian readers and Corbynites who think he's a misogynist or racist - normal people think he's quite good fun and provokes fun at the trendy left - a thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson in some ways.

 

[yorkie]

It's Rod Liddle not Ron - he's one time editor of the Today programme - and it's only Guardian readers and Corbynites who think he's a misogynist or racist - normal people think he's quite good fun and provokes fun at the trendy left - a thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson in some ways.

So you are denying this is true...?

Was that the same Rod Liddle who wrote a Sun article a few weeks ago, complaining that a Labour MP and Labour Lord would not have gained their positions, “were it not for the colour of their skin” ? Odious man.

https://twitter.com/jessbrammar/status/1070664157278756866

 

[A0wen]

So you are denying this is true...?

Given the Labour party have openly promoted people using "positive" discrimination are you claiming it didn't happen in those cases?

One of the problems with "positive" discrimination is it always leaves room for doubt that the person wasn't promoted because of their ability, but instead to hit some ridiculous target.

 

[Esker-pades]

It's Rod Liddle not Ron - he's one time editor of the Today programme - and it's only Guardian readers and Corbynites who think he's a misogynist or racist - normal people think he's quite good fun and provokes fun at the trendy left - a thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson in some ways.

So you are denying this is true...?

See this from the Press Complaints Commission:
http://www.pcc.org.uk/cases/adjudicated.html?article=NjMxNg==

Mr Oli Bird of London complained to the Press Complaints Commission that a blog posting on the Spectator's website, published on 5 December 2009, contained inaccurate information in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors' Code of Practice.

The complaint was upheld.

The piece under complaint was an entry on Rod Liddle's regular blog for the Spectator's website. It said that "the overwhelming majority of street crime, knife crime, gun crime, robbery and crimes of sexual violence in London is carried out by young men from the African-Caribbean community". The complainant said that was not the case and pointed to statistics produced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which showed that in the area covered by the Metropolitan police force, the majority of arrests for notifiable offences were of white people. In categories defined as ‘violence against the person' and ‘sexual offences', black people made up 32% of arrests. 58% of arrests for robbery were of black people but that was not an ‘overwhelming majority'. The MoJ statistics did not give specific figures for knife crime or gun crime.

The magazine provided some evidence to substantiate the figures: a BBC report, which quoted an Inspector in the Trident Unit of the Metropolitan police as saying that ‘for three out of every four shootings...in London, the victim and the perpetrator are from the black community'; a Daily Mail article, which reported that ‘124 out of 225 under-18s legally proceeded against for knife offences in the past three months are from the black community'; and a Sunday Times report which stated that ‘71% of people accused of mobile phone theft were black...' It said that blogging was a conversational medium in which readers were able to disagree with the writer's opinion immediately, as had happened in this case. In that sense, the piece as a whole had been written by the columnist and those who had commented. In addition, it had published a separate blog by another author in which the accuracy of the claim was called into question.

Decision:
Upheld

Adjudication:
The Commission recognised the magazine's argument that the nature of a blog post is often provocative and conducive to discussion. The blog in this case - which had been clearly attributed to the columnist - had certainly provoked considerable debate.

However, the magazine had not been able to demonstrate that the "overwhelming majority" of crime in all of the stated categories had been carried out by members of the African-Caribbean community. It was difficult to argue that the sentence in question represented purely the columnist's opinion, which might be challenged. Instead, it was a statement of fact. As such, the Commission believed that the onus was on the magazine to ensure that it was corrected authoritatively online. It could not rely merely on the carrying of critical reaction to the piece. The Commission upheld the complaint under Clause 1 of the Code.

There are grounds to declare Rod Little discriminatory. This is one example of many.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

It's Rod Liddle not Ron - he's one time editor of the Today programme - and it's only Guardian readers and Corbynites who think he's a misogynist or racist - normal people think he's quite good fun and provokes fun at the trendy left - a thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson in some ways.

Indeed - the Guardian's virtually the Corbyn fan club newsletter these days, to the extent that words like "misogynist " and "racist" are routinely trotted out the minute anyone disagrees with anything Corbyn says.

I agree with AOwen - Rod Liddle is an amusing and provocative columnist who comes up with the occasional amusing anecdote such as this one. Whether it happened or not, I can see the comedy in it!

 

[aye2beeviasea]

I expect if it really happened, the delay to the other passengers' journeys would be more than compensated for by the knowledge that they wouldn't have to share oxygen with that odious tool.

 

[Master29]

It's Rod Liddle not Ron - he's one time editor of the Today programme - and it's only Guardian readers and Corbynites who think he's a misogynist or racist - normal people think he's quite good fun and provokes fun at the trendy left - a thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson in some ways.

A thinking man's Jeremy Clarkson. Now that is amusing

 

[trash80]

Is this the same Rod Liddle who punched his pregnant girlfriend? He is another of those scum provocateurs who make a career about being unpleasant, he is the unthinking man's Katie Hopkins.

 

[edwin_m]

Indeed - the Guardian's virtually the Corbyn fan club newsletter these days, to the extent that words like "misogynist " and "racist" are routinely trotted out the minute anyone disagrees with anything Corbyn says.

Virtually all the Guardian's columnists disagree with Corbyn on the question of a second referendum.