Only Fools On Horses

I know that comment was designed to make me bite - but I'm not going to ignore it.

The CA are 'knobs' for encouraging people to raise more money for charity? Get a hold of yourself, for God's sake. Some perspective, please!

Besides, please enlighten me as to the other "not the first time the CA have attempted to do something like this"?
 
I think the Times reported they did something similar last year - can't remember what comp it was though.
 
Oh, no, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - not more bandwidth on the CA vs the Rest, guys, please! We live in a democratic society - the CA is legal and the fact that SOLOMON is a Hunter is utterly 'so what'? You might as well turn it on its head, and say that hunting helped raise thousands of pounds FOR Sport Relief in that case.

I don't think that for one tiny nanosecond any child who now receives an education, and doesn't have to grub on a rubbish tip for a few coins to keep itself alive, will give a flying fart whether the nice horsey is a Hunter or not. Let's not get so up our Little Britain arses over this, please - the affiliation of fans is not what this show was about.
 
Yep there were no doubt fans of Blue Peter voting
Gardening fans voting
Radio One fans voting
People that like interior design voting....
and so on...... :blink:

Infact all the competitors no doubt had their own "followers", and maybe, just maybe some may have just voted for who they wanted to actually win the competition or is that a bit far fetched?. <_<
 
Here is the story from the Times on Saturday


The Times July 15, 2006

Hunt supporters jump on to Fools on Horses bandwagon
By Valerie Elliot
The BBC reality show has been hit by bote-rigging claims
HUNT supporters have mounted an attempt to rig the voting for the BBC’s latest reality show Only Fools on Horses.

The Countryside Alliance sent a round-robin to activists yesterday urging them to vote for Sara Cox, the radio DJ, who is riding Solomon, a horse that regularly rides with the Oakley Hunt in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.

The pair won through to tonight’s final despite having performed poorly in one of the rounds. The result was dependent upon a mixture of the judge’s marks and the public voting.

A message to supporters said: “Solomon has spent many an hour in the hunting field and you can support Solomon and Sara by voting for them on 09011 322208.”

Another pro-hunt group, Action for Hunting, also circulated an e-mail urging supporters to vote for Ms Cox. Huntsmen and women hoped that the spotlight would be put on their banned sport if Solomon got through to tonight’s final. Nick Onslow, a hunt campaigner, told supporters that “Action for Hunting has a favourite — a horse called Solomon, owned by a hunt farrier and properly hunted.

“Incidentally, Solomon is ridden by Sara Cox, who apparently plays popular gramophone records on the wireless! If Solomon wins then there are those who will ensure that his other life does not go unremarked!! so please check (and vote) daily.”

Hunt campaigners denied trying to fix the result. Tim Bonner, a spokesman for the alliance, said: “We are not trying to rig the vote. We are just trying to get people involved in a worthwhile cause. Surely everyone should be happy in our supporters giving money for Sport Relief?

“This is just a bit of fun to encourage our people to engage with the programme.” However, it seemed clear to many involved in countryside activities that the real aim of the campaign was to keep hunting in the public eye and boost the morale of hunt supporters after last year’s ban.

The alliance was embroiled in controversy this year when it successfully encouraged supporters to vote for hunting as a national icon.

Last summer it rallied supporters to try to save the gay black Tory activist, Derek Laud, former Master of the New Forest Hunt, from eviction from the Channel 4 show Big Brother.

A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports said: “They have a history of this sort of thing and it’s about the only tactic they’ve got left. But when it came to the real vote to end foxhunting they lost.”

The BBC was unaware of Solomon’s links with hunting. A spokeswoman said: “We were not aware of the any connections with hunting and there is no evidence they are unduly influencing the vote.”

THE RIDER

Sara Cox, radio DJ and TV presenter, hosts the afternoon show on Radio 1 on Saturdays and Sundays. She grew up on a farm in Lancashire, but until the show she had not been on a horse since the age of 12. She left school at 18 with four A levels but did not go on to university, deciding to become a model instead.

THE HORSE

Solomon is 11 years old, stands 16.2 hands, is a regular hunter with the Oakley hunt and has a lot of friends in the industry. He likes eating anything and everything, including his reins, but strong mints are his favourite treat. He hates whips and, as a sensitive soul, he also dislikes being shouted at.
Click to expand...
 
This was just an entertaining way of raising money. Anyone getting too exercised about skill levels, block voting or Angus Deayton being used as a huckster to get more votes in should really consider whether this was a sensible betting vehicle in the first place. Fine to see it as an interesting diversion but, really, the horses were taking he Michael for most of the time with all of the passengers/riders.

On the other matter - a group of people protesting about what they genuinely see as a threat to their way of life and/or livelihood but led by politically driven bigots. In opposition a bunch of politicians who are bent on class warfare and don't understand that threatened way of life. Sounds like the Miners' Strike of the 80s in reverse.
 
I have to say that I agree with Kathy on this one - Blue Peter viewers, GMTV viewers, Gardener's World viewers, Radio One listeners et al will all have been urged to vote for their particular representative. It all raised more money for charity - as Archie rightly says, it was an entertaining way of raising money so surely anything that does benefit the charity[ies] is a positive?

Really, people should lighten up rather than using a non-story as yet another tiresome excuse to have a political dig in their ridiculous propagation of class warfare.
 
Guilty M'Lord :shy: I've taken to reading The Independent of late and thought Songsheet may like a change too.
 
I would like to call, here and now, for a few moments of reflectful silence: Shadow has just agreed with Kathy about something, and none of us should let that spark of accord pass without acknowledging it for the very fine thing it is. See, something really good's come out of Sport Relief already! :D
 
For those who can't remember, last year the CA hijacked a poll to try and make fox hunting the epitome of all things British.
 
For those who don't know what the hell they are talking about, last year it was the "Fight The Ban" campaign (an organisation that has nothing whatsoever to do with the CA) that encouraged people to vote for hunting as an "icon of Britain".
 
Yes, yes - in YOUR esteemed opinion, as we all know. However something that generates more donations to charity cannot be a bad thing, can it?
 
How can you disagree with people standing up for what they believe in. What about the thousands of people who voted for someone other than sara cox because the horse she was riding was a hunter. Does this not take away from what sara managed to achieve on the show. I have hunted since I was a child but I still wanted Anna RR to win because I felt she was the most natural rider. What good would sara cox winning have done for the cause. People will have forgotton in a week and be talking about something else. The money was all for a good charity and if people wanted to vote because they liked the fact that the horse was a hunter then at least they raised more money.
 
Something generating money for charity can never be a bad thing. People standing up for what they believe is one thing, Skyliner but as far as I know, most hunting still goes on legally now so why the need to keep ramming their "cause" down our throats?
 
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