Pirate's Cove

Is this a case of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome, or something real?

UK ministers ‘too scared of Donald Trump’ to back levy on TV streaming giants

British ministers are “running scared” of Donald Trump in their refusal to force US streaming services to fund more UK-focused shows, the director of the BBC’s Wolf Hall has warned.

Peter Kosminsky said a “supine and terrified” government was worried about anything that might upset the “bully in the White House”.

He said programmes that spoke truth to power were needed amid global tensions and political division. However, he said important UK dramas were “under threat as never before”, with the BBC and ITV struggling to fund shows and cautious about productions that did not appeal to audiences outside Britain.

Kosminsky is calling for a 5% levy on streaming companies – to be spent on UK-focused television – and said a similar surcharge had been adopted by 17 other countries.

But he accused UK ministers of being afraid to follow suit because of the US president’s threat to impose huge tariffs on films made outside the US.

“We’re running scared of Donald Trump and his tariffs,” he said in a speech last week, reproduced in Radio Times.

Wow, now that is a whole mishmash of crazy. There are plenty of UK focused movies and TV shows on streaming services, though some, like the newest Doctor Who, were pure garbage. What Kosminsky really wants is to put the levy on streaming services which are producing content people want to watch and use that money to produce content at the BBC that people do not want to watch.

He added: “If you care about public service broadcasting, if you care about the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, I would beg you – get out there and campaign for the government to stand up to the bully in the White House and protect the 100-year tradition of public service broadcasting in this country, of which we are rightly proud, before it is lost for ever.”

Do British citizens care? Especially the younger ones? They have way more problems with the government importing too many people who refuse to assimilate into the UK.

Worth reading that whole story, which includes

Violence against women and girls in London has increased sharply and remains “endemic”. Homelessness and rough sleeping are up. Violent offences in London are up 35 per cent on a decade ago. Knife-crime surged by over 20% in the last year alone, as gang violence has become a depressing, everyday feature of London life.

While ‘theft from the person’ fell across England last year, by 14 per cent, in London it rocketed by 41 per cent. Robberies are also up 10 per cent. ‘Moped-enabled crimes’ are booming. Pickpocketing is up 38 per cent in a year.

Londoners surely do not care about the whines of the public broadcasters. And those around the nation are seeing this same thing grow.