Burying bad news: the defeat of People’s Democracy

boaty mcboatfaceThe elections have proved a good day to bury bad news. Not the minor issue of a government U turn on the decision to make all English schools become academies but rather the scandalous decision to defy the democratically expressed will of the British people.

I refer of course to the scandal of the naming of the new Polar Research Ship. This is going to be named RRS (Royal Research Ship) Sir David Attenborough. Previous ships have been named after explorers such as Ernest Shackelton and James Clarke Ross.

The public poll announced to name the new ship resulted in a clear victory for RRS Boaty McBoatface which has now been dropped for RRS Sir David Attenborough. Apparently one of the new ships remote controlled submarines will be called Boaty but this is a poor substitute especially as the internet is now suggesting the much better name of Subby McSubface. The only hope is that there is now a petition to rename Sir David as Sir Boaty McBoatface.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.