Ken Loach: The Old Oak, the Labour Party, and the BBC

As his latest feature film goes on general release, we're grateful for another interview with director Ken Loach who tells us why he made The Old Oak. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Ken's work has been inspired by a range of social issues such as poverty, homelessness, and labour rights.
In The Old Oak he tells the story of Syrian refugees who find themselves relocated into the heart of a northern working class community. Ken also talks about his support for Labour Against the Witch-hunt, political bias in the BBC, and the future for the left in Britain.
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[@carrie4558]

Ken should be on our screens more, he is a legend 👏🏻

[@arthurfrancisd.murphy1643]

Ken Loach is a truly great director

[@carolbriselden3166]

Thank you ken a breath of fresh air

[@darvil4]

Thank you, Ken A shining diamond in the dark

[@maxhobby1701]

Who Ken Cockroach you mean

[@darvil4]

Bot................

[@annieschiefer4114]

Beautiful movie portraying displacement, survival, hope and love… thank you Ken !

[@darvil4]

Thank you, Jackie, for guiding us through these times

[@AlGorithm-n6q]

Well said. Thank you, Jackie.

[@Ginnettefrances]

Thank you Jackie and Ken. You help sustain hope for desperately need Change.

[@annenunney9907]

This is a really good video I am a real fan of Ken his films are brilliant but also he is a real labour man and in any interview he does I just listen to every single word because he speaks so much common sense just like Jeremy does thanks for this Jackie

[@italgong]

Great interview... no waffle, straight talking, no sound bites, just good honest decent calm clearly understandable truth!

[@californiadreamin8423]

He’s an ex public schoolboy , who has made a living producing gritty films about the plebs, and like Anthony Wedgwood Benn , knows very little about poverty and working people. He’s blowing smoke in your eyes.

[@jackiehilton9670]

Not at all. You don't have to be poor or homeless to have solidarity.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@jackiehilton9670 Solidarity my derrière , to achieve what , and who for ? I’m poorer , I’ve lost my rights, and I’ve lost my freedom of movement……that’s the false solidarity , a la 3 line whip, to support the Tories get Brexit done.

[@davidlongthorn5571]

Thank you both.

[@AlGorithm-n6q]

Admiration for Ken and his incredible volume of work is universal. He has been and still is one of the most important filmmakers this country has produced. His integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively will never be forgotten. Thank you, Ken. ❤

[@PatTigue]

One main reason ken was pushed is because he made a film about what the Irish war was really like ,and that twat in charge of labour anti Irish ,they also got rid of earlier man that met Adams and MC Guinness years ago just because he spoke to them years ago ,so the Labour leader better not come Ireland or he'll be sent back fast !!! He'd be more at home crying at walls 😂

[@maxhobby1701]

Who Ken cockroach

[@AlGorithm-n6q]

@@maxhobby1701 Thanks for your contribution but it lacks creativity. Try this. You are a fart factory, slug-slimed sack of rat guts in cat vomit. A cheesy scab picked pimple squeezing finger bandage. A week old maggot burger with everything on it and flies on the side.

[@PatTigue]

@@maxhobby1701 if you don't know who he is your on the wrong planet

[@Ginnettefrances]

Brilliant analysis Ken. So spot on. Makes me weep at times. I felt that I could not remain a Labour Party Member, after 2019😢😢😢

[@janewright2800]

Ken is a hero of mine. Not just because he is a wonderful director but also for being a genuine honest compassionate human being. Thank you so much Jackie and ken for an inspiring interview that gives me hope 👏💚looking forward to seein the film

[@mikereed7887]

Absolutely brilliant 👌👌...Ken Loach is a working class hero ...

[@christopherwb1]

I just saw The Old Oak this afternoon - it's bloody masterpiece, mate! If that is Ken Loach's idea of "throwing it together," I'll watch him throw together anything at any time, at any place. Just let me know. Cheerio!

[@pongnose]

Good interview Jackie, thanks

[@strangetrip837]

Working class hero ✊

[@californiadreamin8423]

Dummy. Ex public schoolboy , makes a few film about the plebs….and they are so orgasmic they can’t see the smoke he is blowing in their eyes.

[@johnfoster9395]

A millionaire living in his mansion in Bath. Very working class.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@johnfoster9395 Exactly.

[@stephenwaters1242]

Loved the show keep fighting for truth.

[@andrewhoult4630]

well said 👏👏👏

[@user-hl7mc8mm6x]

Ken Loach, the sort of man one would love to sit in the pub with and learn so much from, all the while feeling good about being with decent human beings 😌

[@kingneptune8937]

Thanks for such an informative video. Never give up the fight.

[@tomfinney3416]

i dont think my heart can take the whole movie the trailer alone grabbed me , but im certainly gonna watch this asap ,

[@suzannelooms7658]

You seem to forget that Lord Gibb (May's former Director of Communications) sits on the BBC Board. He is now co-owner of the Jewish Chronicle and has declined to say where the funding came from to buy the newspaper. Imagine if the owner of the Guardian sat on the BBC Board. There would be an outcry about lack of impartiality.

[@jonathaneffemey944]

thanks so much for posting

[@andrewhoult4630]

great man 👍

[@psstblue]

Brill video! Saw the film today! Absolutely brilliantly made

[@valeriecamroux4197]

Terrific video. Thanks for that. Really very thought provoking.

[@mickmerrifield6583]

A living treasure,

[@jamieashton3835]

Ken you are a real hero to me

[@TheKeggie]

The recent Telegraph piece on Ken Loach was absolutely disgusting. They are going for all the critics of Israel which is a form of fascism and shutting down any one who expresses basic factual based commentary.

[@Lee_303]

He wasn't expelled from Labour, he was expelled by New Labour.

[@californiadreamin8423]

Either way, good riddance.

[@mickmerrifield6583]

He left.

[@mickmerrifield6583]

@@californiadreamin8423 Aww diddums.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@mickmerrifield6583 A champagne socialist if there ever was one. Net worth £5 million…..Eckythump, where there’s muck , their brass…..and lots of mugs to con.

[@mickmerrifield6583]

@@californiadreamin8423 Eee by gum you don't understand socialism, do you.

[@johnpinto1216]

Another great interview by Jackie Walker. Her empathy and experience of being witch-hunted by the UK Labour Party (with no support from faux left in the Labour Party and UK: the gutless Momentum, Campaign Group of Labour MPs and Novara Media), which has not embiitered her, comes across in all her interviews. Novara Media can learn about solidarity from her.

[@stevenhodgson4227]

Thanks for this Mr Loach. Seems a shame that the next election will be between Tories and Tories. What to do?

[@andrewwalsh2755]

The Zionist Labour Party isn't the true Labour Party... it's the antithesis of Labour values. The closest thing to true Labour values atm is the Green Party. Lies, deceit, dishonesty, creeping fascism and Kier Starmer is worse than the Conservatives (that's just how bad it is).

[@EggBastion]

vote tory? hard tory . . ? soft tory..? _oven ready tory?_ Oohh!

[@AK-np4rp]

​@@Bryan-Paulvote Green. Don't reward Starmerites. Send them a message that they need to earn your vote.

[@kyllerbuzcut]

​@@Bryan-Paul I know you're coming from the right place but that idea is dead wrong. You can't reward labour for turning Tory! Just vote for any small party or independent you have in your area. You've got to vote though. Don't vote Tory, which also means don't vote red Tory/Labour. Not voting is what they want you to do. The Tories won't be winning. So there's no "gotta vote for the lesser evil, or you let the Tories in" nonsense this time around. The Tories can't possibly win a majority and that's that! Which lets another tactic into play: We go out and vote for whichever small party or independent is in our constituency that looks best placed to possibly cause an upset. Obviously, vote for someone actually on the left if they are available, but if you have no other options, then hold your nose and vote Lib dem even. It's a one off election, and you're not voting FOR them, you're voting to take a vote AWAY FROM the 2 main Tory parties. You've got to register that displeasure. Simply not voting, or spoiling the ballot paper doesn't work. Starmer would LOVE you to do that, as it doesn't take a vote away from him, and makes his vote share look good. The aim of this is to achieve a hung parliament. That's what you're attempting to vote for here. So returning a few small party/independent MPs means that can happen. With a hung parliament, Starmer has to find coalition allies, who would all be demanding implementation of PR voting reform. And THAT is the real prize we are aiming for here, because by holding your nose, where necessary, for just one election. We will have no more (99% certainty) Tory governments ever again, and for every election after that, we will truly be able to vote for who we really want, instead of "who will keep the other guys out". The alternative is Starmer gets 5 to 10 years implementing right wing policies, before the public get fed up, then the media and Tories blame all that went wrong on "the left", then the Tories get in for another 10 to 15 years, and then we're just right back here where we started. Except the Overton window will have moved even further right, the country will be even more screwed, and a lot more poor and vulnerable people will have died for nothing.

[@oneoflokis]

#DontVoteTory !

[@sheilapetersen]

As the newest Ken Loach film will not be on mainstream circuits - does anyone know where his latest film will be screened - in fact as a great admirer,of his work l would like the opportunity of watching all his films by way of a Ken Loach film festival - could that not somehow be arranged? There must be someone out there on the left who could arrange this - l am sure it would be very much supported - it is such a shame that the films of this brilliant man should only be shown and awarded overseas like Cannes !

[@kerryburns6041]

The BBC sees to it that when the world looks at Britain, it sees Suella Braverman, not Ken Loach. He is Britain, she is not. Meanwhile, Priti Patel has just eaten Michael Gove ... More on that story later.

[@markusgeiger727]

Patel wll get serious indigestion. Well done

[@EggBastion]

The Ken Loach? Proudly featured in a programme on Radio 4 this week? They ran trailers for it! This man who is 'supposed to be challenged' at every opportunity Go on then, let's have it.

[@anthonydavies6021]

What a super man - a national treasure dare I say. No-one could accuse him of being a rabid anything, although his values shine through his work. Yet as he points out the BBC have effectively octracized him. If we could go back to the 60s and 70s and the days of Cathy Come Home and other great drama, I think we would see a more independendent broadcaster. But look at who the chairman and managing director are these days and it's "bleedin' obvious" that its independence has gone under right-wing influence. I used to be a great Radio 4 listener, but it doesn't interest me now that they are an organ of the establishment as Ken points out. Likewise television, I only watch Match of the Day (good old Gary Lineker), Only Connect and nature documentaries. It's a kind of tragic loss in my opinion, how a truly great institution has been neutered and turned into just another channel full of populist pap and bland news coverage at best.

[@oneoflokis]

Yeah. The BBC are really a shadow of what they were in the old days. So is the Times newspaper under Murdoch - but then, my dad made the latter point in his day! 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@TERRYKATHCHICAGO]

Lord Gibb (May's former Director of Communications) sits on the BBC Board. He is now co-owner of the Jewish Chronicle and has declined to say where the funding came from to buy the newspaper.

[@Gwalion]

Funny how the "clarifications" always come after the fact.

[@d23bw]

Thank's for this excellent conversation from two passionate people. A shout out to Elon Musk for "deplatforming" the Twitter monster.

[@jackiehilton9670]

I wonder if he would cover the Waspi scandal?

[@user-zy8ov7it5e]

Go and watch the film before you ask any questions

[@andrewhoult4630]

And sky news BBC GB news

[@damienflinter4585]

New £abour.

[@andrewhoult4630]

problem is starting to happen in Britain today my platforms always be monitor and being stopped sending messages or messages filtered so they look stupid

[@Johnconno]

Yeah, working mens pubs and Islam, that's a miraculous connection.

[@stan4723]

How Proportional Representation can be corrupted .

[@sidevans1]

You didn't ask Ken about the McDonalds ads Jackie. While he was filming their propaganda, Keir Starmer was taking them to court.

[@californiadreamin8423]

Public school boy pretends he understands working people. Let’s make a film about injustice …..we’ll set it in Geordie land where we can always find stupid Geordies .

[@stanby2712]

So are you suggesting that he shouldn’t speak out because o his social background? If you look at members of labour cabinets since WW2, there are plenty of “ public school boys” who made massive impact. Background doesn’t define conscience.

[@keithparker1346]

Pretends? If so he's been doing it for decades

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@keithparker1346 Yes, he’s been pretending for decades, and you’ve been taken in for decades.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@stanby2712 I’m not suggesting that at all, but treating him with reverence is absurd, if not idolatrous. I maintain he is totally out of touch with the lives of real working people….like 2 ‘O’ level Corbyn. Hell I didn’t receive a private education, and I have 8, and an Honours Degree in Engineering, unlike dosser Corbyn, who has milked “socialism” for every penny he can get.

[@davidparry5310]

@@californiadreamin8423 🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱

[@izzytrue8630]

What the F is she talking about!!1

[@leedsguyuk69]

Stop smoking that shit 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@izzy6590]

It would interesting to know what you are talking about, have you posted this comment in error?

[@erebusvonmori8050]

In respect to what?

[@andrewashdown3541]

Strength led to the union domination of the 1970s - Thatcher woke the country up to reality - that you need to generate wealth. The unions would not have existed - the mines the industry - without 'capitalist' entrepreneurs. We cannot go back to the 3-day week and Red Robbo, Scargill & Scanlon. Yes we need unions and we need planning & state intervention - but not socialism, please.

[@PatTigue]

Tatcher woke no one up only her wallet good riddance look wat happened her statue and the Irish wud toss it into woods ,but then again Churchill another wasp ye keep proping up donkeys never get sense ,more like Corbyn needed in world ,loach I alert man knows what's happened

[@user-lt2rp3kd3d]

The Labour Party as far as I'm concerned is extinct, under the kid starvers guidance, it no longer supports the working class and has forgotten the main reason that the party was created, to fight against the oppression of workers, and the unfair treatment they had to endure in the workplace,and the party have betrayed them,and its obvious that they have now joined the tories, there's no difference now between them,

[@californiadreamin8423]

Twaddle.

[@splinterbyrd]

They're not the Labour Party. They're Liberal capitalists in disguise.