Monthly Archives: May 2010

Lib-Con Negotiations Stall Over BBC Question Time

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Humour Alert: Courtesy of the excellent Man Widdicombe blog.

Talks between David Cameron and Nick Clegg have broken down this afternoon, much to the shock of pundits and journalists. Most of the major hurdles; voting reform, taxation, education, and immigration, had been overcome and both parties were heading confidently towards a formal coalition for stable government.

Then the question of BBC Question Time was raised.

Both leaders agreed that if they were going to jointly form the government then it would be ‘unfair’ to have two seats around the table on a Thursday evening but the question of how to allocate representatives from both parties have lead to difficulties. The Tories are adamant that they should have 6 out of every 7 weeks while the Lib Dems are holding out for alternating appearances on the show.

Meanwhile we have learned that when Gordon Brown tried to derail the negotiations he offered to arrange a permanent seat on the panel for Sarah Teather in exchange for replacing Dimbleby with Charlie Whelan. We have to assume from the angry outburst reported from the leader of the Labour Party that this was turned down.

Both teams have returned to their respective parties to discuss their options and to see if there are any suggestions to move the negotiations forward. Senior Tories are looking at the idea of arranging for Lembit Opik to be the showbiz correspondent for the This Week show, now that he is no longer required to attend Parliament, as a way of resolving the impasse.

An announcement is expected soon.

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BBC GOES LIB-DEM CRAZY..

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If anyone else listened to Today this morning, wasn’t it interesting to observe the sheer excitement from the BBC commentators that Clegg is king-maker? The BBC doesn’t dwell on such pesky facts as the Lib-Dem losing seats at the GE, the mood music remains the same as it did during the TV debates when it comes to our Nick. I have argued that the BBC itself is more pro Lib-Dem than pro-Labour since the former have the more lunatic leftist policies but at the moment the visceral swooning over Clegg and his fellow political whores in the Liberal-Democrat Party has reached unbelievable heights!

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The Brown Stuff

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Immediately following Gordon Brown’s announcement that Labour and the Lib Dems have decided to screw the Tories and fuck the country up the arse with red hot pokers wrapped in barbed wire, BBC News had a panel ready and waiting – two Labour guys (Lord Adonis, Alastair Campbell) and one Lib Dem (David Steel) all spinning the message that a LibLab coalition was the best way forward. Hilariously, at one point Huw Edwards – lacking an opposing viewpoint – even turned to Adonis and asked if he agreed with what Alastair Campbell had just said. Like he was going to say no!

Next up was another Labour rep (Douglas Alexander) – parroting the same message. Then, two more supporters of an anti-Tory coalition – Labour MP John Mann and someone from the SNP, rubbing his hands at the prospect of screwing the English for more and more taxes. And finally – 45 minutes after Brown had spoken – BBC News gave us the first opposing view in the person of Tory MP Nigel Evans.

And I see Nick Robinson is already speaking as if it’s all now a done deal – “historic realignment of politics”.

Update. I don’t think the voters in my constituency of Thirsk and Malton (we haven’t had our say yet – May 27) will take too kindly to the prospect of a progressive coalition of the losers and yet another unelected Labour leader. I predict a massive majority for Tory candidate Ann McIntosh. (Update 2 Unless of course the Cameroons turn up and start canvassing with a message about the Big Society and similar toss like that.)

Update 8.20pm. BBC News just had Prof Simon Lee on from a studio in Hull and he went at it from the word go, savaging Gordon Brown’s record as PM and Chancellor. Unsurprisingly the BBC decided to cut him short after a few brief seconds.

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Green Zone

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Further to Robin Horbury’s comments about the BBC’s joy over Caroline Lucas winning her seat – here’s a wishful exchange from Friday morning’s post-election Today programme:

Listen!

Evan Davis: I love the idea that the first Green MP is possibly going to hold the balance of power in the House of Commons…

John Humphrys: Wonderful thought. Wonderful thought.

Evan Davis: … control the entire operation.

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CALEDONIAN LEARNING

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I enjoyed this headline from the BBC this morning…a Caledonian learning?

Can Conservatives learn how to negotiate a deal with Lib Dems from the Scottish experience? Liberal Democrats and Labour governed in Scottish coalition for two terms until 1997. Jack McConnell, former Labour First Minister, explains how it could work.

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BIODIVERSITY AT THE BEEB..

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Had a laugh at the BBC report this morning on the Today programme 7.18am mourning the failure of “the world” to meet a UN target on declining biodiversity. It seems that this decline is every bit as deadly as global warming, according to the strictly unbiased Tom Fielden, and as a consequence, we should instantly ignore such drivel.

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FARCICAL…

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The EU’s “rescue” of the Greek economy has become a naked attempt by the Brussels machine to extend the powers of our EU government so that it will regulate all 27 economies on an unprecedented scale. The UK – still represented by the Brownite squatters – is powerless to prevent this happening, and is saddled with a bill that is estimated will cost the UK taxpayer £43bn. Meanwhile, the BBC report on the fiasco as if it were about events in a different country. Following on from my post yesterday, Dave’s policy towards Europe is shown up to be the obscene shambles that it is; he shunned a pre-election deal with UKIP – calling them “fuitcakes and loonies” – and lost at least 20 seats as a result; and now he’s cobbling together a coalition with the mosty Europhile party of them all, the Cleggmaniacs. To the BBC, this is an issue that does not even register; they long since took the Brussels shilling.

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