Who is the greatest Briton alive?

Maybe Sir David Attenborough?

Or Trevor McDonald
Richard Dawkins
David Frost
Stephen Fry
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
H from Steps 😆

Who gets your vote?

(Not including Sir Neil or your Dad)

David Attenborough
Tim Peake
David Jason

Les Dennis.

I meant to say David Jason on my list and not the departed David Frost.

Got his real name mixed up with his character!

Leon NQAT

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Originally Posted by blueblade

Maybe Sir David Attenborough? Yes, but he believes in Big Foot so 8/10

Or Trevor McDonald - Why? 0/10
Richard Dawkins - 9/10 pips Attenborough
David Frost - Dead 0/10
Stephen Fry - Why? 0/10
Mick Jagger - Good front man 4/10
Paul McCartney - Complete musical genius 10/10
H from Steps ��

Who gets your vote?

(Not including Sir Neil or your Dad)

---

Wouldn't want to go for a musician usually, but McCartney is a genius. Knocked out another really good album in Egypt Station this year. He was, essentially, The Beatles. Lennon did eff all for large parts. "A Day in the Life" is their best song, but mainly because of McCartney's input with the "Woke up...". Tomorrow Never Knows (a Lennon song) is another great track that owes a lot to Macca.

Yeah, Frog Chorus and Ob-La-Di and Honey Pie.... yes he churned out some shit.

But, Ram, Band on the Run, the Abbey Road Medley, Yesterday, Blackbird, Tug of War, Hey Jude. Macca is definitely Britain's greatest musical influence... he just lacks self censorship and Brits love keeping their best talent down so enjoy whittling off Frog Chorus, I Will, . His Bass lines with the Beatles were revolutionary at the time. The Bass on Hey Bulldog is brilliant for example as it is on Come Together.

Then, you have his revolutionary (for pop music) piano playing on Penny Lane. Lady Madonna, Eleanor Rigby, the man is a genius.

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

Nigella Lawson.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

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With all due respect (that's none btw) that's absolute, complete and utter bollocks.

History will view Farage for what he is - a small-minded, self-serving rabble rouser who lied his way to "leading" a country to self-harm through feeding prejudice by the bucket load.

I wonder why you need to be so unpleasant - it doesn't add anything , but it's an interesting contribution because you use similar language to that which would have been used to defend British occupation of Ireland and slavery against Tone and Wilberforce in their day.

I did say that this has nothing to do with whether you like or dislike him, but maybe you didn't understand that ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

I wonder why you need to be so unpleasant - it doesn't add anything , but it's an interesting contribution because you use similar language to that which would have been used to defend British occupation of Ireland and slavery against Tone and Wilberforce in their day.

I did say that this has nothing to do with whether you like or dislike him, but maybe you didn't understand that ?

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Trust me, I wasn't being unpleasant. I can do much worse than that.

I suspect I may be wasting my time here but I'll try to elucidate.

I have no idea why you want to conflate Farage with Wolfe Tone and William Wilberforce. That is clearly totally inappropriate and pernicious. Leave me out of it.

Let's just concentrate on Farage. The pro- and anti-Brexit arguments have been rehearsed on here and other places probably many millions of times now. So let's put them to one side.

What qualities do you think Farage embodies that make him "great"? (That's a rhetorical question BTW.) To my mind he has none; not a single one. The idea that schoolchildren will even know who he was 200 years from now, god forbid raising statues to him, actually makes me want to retch. Actually, on reflection, it doesn't really matter because Farage is a climate change denier so if he gains real power there won't be any kids to laud him in 200 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Gr...10_on_the_list

Frank Spencer???

:wales:

You have to love the populace sometimes: Boaty McBoatface, The Jedi Religionaries, Frank Spencer …

You just can trust the public to be serious when voting ...

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

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Because you are a nutter?

The traditional answer to this question is Tim berners Lee, the guy who is responsible for bringing porn to those too cowardly to buy anything dirtier than FHM in the newsagents.

There are still some of The Few alive (although sadly one has just died) and we've got someone putting forward Farage. Ridiculous.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

---

Local man claims an English fascist as the greatest living Briton. Have you been out in the sun too long?

As for Wolf Tone, you should wash your mouth out. Mentioning Farage in the same breath as Tone is utter bollox.
Tone was Irish, go away with your Briton shite.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick

Because you are a nutter?

The traditional answer to this question is Tim berners Lee, the guy who is responsible for bringing porn to those too cowardly to buy anything dirtier than FHM in the newsagents.

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Do they still sell Escort? The readers wives bit in that was brilliant. Or have I got the wrong tit le?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

---

I despair, I really do. Farage is the epitome of all that’s wrong with the world.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

---

You try too hard.

Farridge is one of the worst of all Britons. He is an embarrassment to millions of us but a hero to the easily led, racists and bigots and the stupid.
David Attenborough for me. A wonderfully inspiring human being who even in his 90’s produces educationally brilliant television about our environment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pearcey3

Farridge is one of the worst of all Britons. He is an embarrassment to millions of us but a hero to the easily led, racists and bigots and the stupid.
David Attenborough for me. A wonderfully inspiring human being who even in his 90’s produces educationally brilliant television about our environment.

---

Couldn't have put it better myself

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Probably Nigel Farage, and I'll tell you why.

Whether or not you like or agree with him, he's done something very unusual in the affairs of man. That is to pursue a campaign which began as very little until he achieved a result which has changed history.

Whatever the result of the current shennanigans over Brexit in the short term, the U.K. will eventually regain its independence because once 52% of a people have demanded such a course , you'll never put that genie back in the bottle.

Like Wolf Tone or William Wilberforce , he's taken an issue which is offensive to the current establishment to the point where it has gathered a critical mass and simply won't go away. Indeed, it might very well be an idea like those of the two men I've mentioned which spreads to other countries and eventually destroys the establishment of the whole EU.

Now, although I do personally support Brexit , I'm speaking objectively here as a student of History. The question isn't about whether you like or dislike the individual , but his greatness.

Why then , would I suggest that this unlikely candidate , disliked by some ,( as were the others), as the answer to the question in the OP ? The answer is that in 200 years he's likely to be the only politician and one of the few individuals that children learn about in their history lessons and read about in literature.
I would imagine that there will be quite a few statues of him and various institutions named after him by that time in the same way that there are after Wilberforce and Tone.

Please don't reject this idea because you like or dislike him, because that's really not the rationale I'm putting forward .

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blueblade

Maybe Sir David Attenborough?

Or Trevor McDonald
Richard Dawkins
David Frost
Stephen Fry
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
H from Steps 😆

Who gets your vote?

(Not including Sir Neil or your Dad)

---

Michael Palin has to be up there, very interesting man from his comedy antic of yesteryear to his latter day documentary making. Also a shout out to Michael Sheen, he’s doing his reputation no harm at all at the moment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pearcey3

Farridge is one of the worst of all Britons. He is an embarrassment to millions of us but a hero to the easily led, racists and bigots and the stupid.
David Attenborough for me. A wonderfully inspiring human being who even in his 90’s produces educationally brilliant television about our environment.

---

:thumbup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blueblade

Maybe Sir David Attenborough?

Or Trevor McDonald
Richard Dawkins
David Frost
Stephen Fry
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
H from Steps ��

Who gets your vote?

(Not including Sir Neil or your Dad)

---

That list wouldn't be allowed, as you have no woman in there. You will be hounded out of all media outlets if you presented them with that list

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blueblade

Maybe Sir David Attenborough?

Or Trevor McDonald
Richard Dawkins
David Frost
Stephen Fry
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
H from Steps 😆

Who gets your vote?

(Not including Sir Neil or your Dad)

---

That list wouldn't be allowed, as you have no woman in there. You will be hounded out of all media outlets if you presented them with that list

My vote is for The Queen

Look at all the stuff she’s done for this country and the Commonwealth alongside Phil the Greek

Peter Whittingham

Paul McCartney.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Armitage Shanks

That list wouldn't be allowed, as you have no woman in there. You will be hounded out of all media outlets if you presented them with that list

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And a few on here

Neil Warnock.

Les Dennis deserves more recognition than he's received in this thread. I'd nominate the recent winner of this year's series of Love Island as the greatest living Briton.

I'm reminded of a recent survey that was published that asked British, American and Chinese kids what they aspired to be. The top pick either side of the pond was to become a youtuber while the Chinese hoped to be an astronaut.

We must wonder how many years it will take before it's the norm for irate Indian and Far East punters to ring UK-based customer service centres to bellow down the blower "you cupid stunt!" or similar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by az city

Trust me, I wasn't being unpleasant. I can do much worse than that.

I suspect I may be wasting my time here but I'll try to elucidate.

I have no idea why you want to conflate Farage with Wolfe Tone and William Wilberforce. That is clearly totally inappropriate and pernicious. Leave me out of it.

Let's just concentrate on Farage. The pro- and anti-Brexit arguments have been rehearsed on here and other places probably many millions of times now. So let's put them to one side.

What qualities do you think Farage embodies that make him "great"? (That's a rhetorical question BTW.) To my mind he has none; not a single one. The idea that schoolchildren will even know who he was 200 years from now, god forbid raising statues to him, actually makes me want to retch. Actually, on reflection, it doesn't really matter because Farage is a climate change denier so if he gains real power there won't be any kids to laud him in 200 years.

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I'm sorry to hear that you are often unpleasant.

It's nothing to do with anyone's opinion of the man, but the fact that his name is etched into history at this point.

You don't have to like him or agree with him to understand that, and the angry outbursts here about him are exactly the sort of stuff their opponents would have said about Wolf Tone and Wilberforce , so you can probably regard that as a test of my assertion.

It's a pity that quite a few here can't separate what should be an interesting and objective chat about the historical significance of people from their own political fanaticism . It's really not supposed to be about who you like most, and it's certainly not another opportunity to vent your arguments about Brexit .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

I'm sorry to hear that you are often unpleasant.

It's nothing to do with anyone's opinion of the man, but the fact that his name is etched into history at this point.

You don't have to like him or agree with him to understand that, and the angry outbursts here about him are exactly the sort of stuff their opponents would have said about Wolf Tone and Wilberforce , so you can probably regard that as a test of my assertion.

It's a pity that quite a few here can't separate what should be an interesting and objective chat about the historical significance of people from their own political fanaticism . It's really not supposed to be about who you like most, and it's certainly not another opportunity to vent your arguments about Brexit .

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TBF he's been funded by people to do a job of rabble rousing. Not sure it makes him great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

I'm sorry to hear that you are often unpleasant.

It's nothing to do with anyone's opinion of the man, but the fact that his name is etched into history at this point.

You don't have to like him or agree with him to understand that, and the angry outbursts here about him are exactly the sort of stuff their opponents would have said about Wolf Tone and Wilberforce , so you can probably regard that as a test of my assertion.

It's a pity that quite a few here can't separate what should be an interesting and objective chat about the historical significance of people from their own political fanaticism . It's really not supposed to be about who you like most, and it's certainly not another opportunity to vent your arguments about Brexit .

---

What has he achieved?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Armitage Shanks

That list wouldn't be allowed, as you have no woman in there. You will be hounded out of all media outlets if you presented them with that list

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Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake and Emmeline Pankhurst would be 2 certs for that list. My vote going for the former. Remarkable woman who’s story is well worth a read👍

Quote:

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Originally Posted by William Treseder

Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake and Emmeline Pankhurst would be 2 certs for that list. My vote going for the former. Remarkable woman who’s story is well worth a read��

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They do trip up on the 'alive' category.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lardy

What has he achieved?

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Well, as I said in the first place, he's promoted a single issue which began as quite obscure to national and international prominence.
The issue in question is very divisive, as we can see here, and quite abhorrent to the establishment of the day, yet it has taken on a momentum which is unlikely to be halted.
We can easily recognise the hallmarks of such individuals in history, and the contraversy they create in their own times amongst supporters of their causes and it's opponents.

How could historians record the present century in Britain and Europe without mentioning Brexit and Nigel Farrage ?

They certainly won't mention David Attenborough much , and how many people will have heard of Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn in 150 years ?

I think my suggestion is both reasoned and reasonable , and it's a great pity that a few people here can't seem to operate on that level.

I don't understand why they need to launch into this hysterical venting of their opinions about the issues Nigel Farage represents or start throwing things at the person who made an observation about his part in making history. Whether we agree or disagree with what Nigel Farage says is of no account whatever in assessing the prominence he will get in history, which isn't a bad way of describing "greatness ".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RonnieBird

Well, as I said in the first place, he's promoted a single issue which began as quite obscure to national and international prominence.
The issue in question is very divisive, as we can see here, and quite abhorrent to the establishment of the day, yet it has taken on a momentum which is unlikely to be halted.
We can easily recognise the hallmarks of such individuals in history, and the contraversy they create in their own times amongst supporters of their causes and it's opponents.

How could historians record the present century in Britain and Europe without mentioning Brexit and Nigel Farrage ?

They certainly won't mention David Attenborough much , and how many people will have heard of Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn in 150 years ?

I think my suggestion is both reasoned and reasonable , and it's a great pity that a few people here can't seem to operate on that level.

I don't understand why they need to launch into this hysterical venting of their opinions about the issues Nigel Farage represents or start throwing things at the person who made an observation about his part in making history. Whether we agree or disagree with what Nigel Farage says is of no account whatever in assessing the prominence he will get in history, which isn't a bad way of describing "greatness ".

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It's probably because he's a ****

I would add Sir Anthony Hopkins to my list of possibles