Talk:John Bird, Baron Bird

Quote

In an Observer article published in August 2006, Mr Bird said: "I'm middle-class. I got out of the working class as quickly as I could. The working class is violent and abusive, they beat their wives and I hate their culture."

John Bird has said rather a lot of things over the years. I fail to see why this out-of-context quote should be included here in isolation, in what is a very stubby article. 217.155.20.163 21:13, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

half sentence

The article says In December 2007 he controversially agreed with Westminster Council who declared that they were opposed to the presence of soup kitchens on the streets of London. He said:

But it doesn't continue and there's no source. Does anyone know what it's supposed to say?92.236.151.82 (talk) 13:49, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

The missing quotation appears to be near the end of the preceding section, where it doesn't follow. I was slightly concerned that there was undue attention paid to his 'soup kitchen' views. But maybe less so if it's moved. More generally - what about his life from the sixties to the nineties? Anyone know? Oli — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.180.222.20 (talk) 22:19, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

I've tried to sort that now (still wondering about his middle life though) Oli — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.180.222.20 (talk) 22:23, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

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Life peerages & infoboxes

Please do come along and discuss at: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom#Life peerages & infoboxes DBD 18:54, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

"Working class Tory"

A supposed quote published by the Express has no business being in the article. Please leave it out.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 15:34, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68 and CodeTalker: as far as I can tell and contrary to what the IP claimed, John Bird did indeed describe himself as a "working class Tory". Here are two extra sources[1][2] that confirm it. M.Bitton (talk) 22:15, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

Their source is "a 2010 interview", which happens to be the year that Express bit is from. I'm unable to find anything which does not lead back to there.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 12:21, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

That bit in the Express appears to be little more than a gossip column.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 13:11, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Apparently, he didn't deny saying it and the fact that it is/was mentioned in Wikipedia doesn't seem to bother him either. M.Bitton (talk) 13:12, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

In regards to the Express: "he commented that the press has a tendency to run with a quote out of context." Not all that different from the IP's claim.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 13:33, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

He did indeed, but he never denied saying it. As it is repeated in various sources, perhaps the context should be clarified and his new position (a "working class Tory with Marxist revolutionary tendencies") should be added. I'll leave that to you. M.Bitton (talk) 14:05, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Which he calls a "real mix-up." I think you're grasping at straws here.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 17:18, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Something from him other than vague comments about mix-ups and quotes taken out of context would be nice. Him confirming that the quote is accurate would be even better.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 05:56, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

@Skywatcher68: I will repeat what I said on the other discussion that you started: I think the best way forward is to simply hand this over to the community. Could you please suggest how the RfC should be formulated? Thanks. M.Bitton (talk) 12:33, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

I believe this is more appropriate for WP:BLPN so I started a discussion there.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 15:34, 23 July 2023 (UTC)

I restored the content per the discussion on WP:BLPN (which has been archived). M.Bitton (talk) 08:51, 2 August 2023 (UTC)