Question Time tonight comes from Sheffield, a city with the world’s first ever official football club, 2 million trees and absolutely no Tory councillors.
On the panel tonight we have David Davis MP, Jeremy Browne MP, Jack Straw MP, Universal Shami (to be fair, she hasn’t been somewhere on the BBC now for, ummm, a whole 10 minutes) and Jon Gaunt.
For those playing the Buzzword Bingo, tonight’s panel has been specifically set up for an argument about coalition “splits” on terrorist Control Orders so we’ll be playing using the Book ’em, Danno, Terrorism One Rules. Look out for extremists and 9/11 but bonus points for stabbing MPs, and using Religion of Peace in a sarcastic tone. This may be a good tactical week to play your Weasel Words joker, as phrases like militants will score heavily, as will painfully convoluted ways to avoid saying Islam and Muslim. Points also for references to Forgemasters being a bad deal and any attempt to blame jihad on Margaret Thatcher.
The LiveBlog will stay open for the anarchic and downright odd This Week with Andrew Neil. Keen followers of the Blue Nun Reference Competition will know that David Mosque and John Ward are in mortal combat at the top of the leaderboard.
David Vance, TheEye and David Mosque will be moderating from 10:30pm.
I’m sure this is just a coincidence, but as of last year 31% of employment in Sheffield is in the pooblic sector. In fact, pooblic sector employment in the Deputy Prime Minister’s constituency has risen by 55% in the last ten years, so wonder it’s the largest employer in town.
One can only imagine the makeup of the audience and line of questioning.
The “World’s Oldest Football Club” mtyh is one that seems to get a lot of play.
Off the top of my head, Guy’s Hospital FC were founded about 1844, and Edinburgh Accies sometime in the 1850’s.
Doubtless there are others.
No – Guy’s was the first RUGBY football club. And the Accies were also rugby, not soccer.
(Everton were one of the original League clubs. They got fed up with their 2nd team, gave them some red shorts and told them to piss off down the road.)
They were all formed as football clubs, not Rugby Football clubs or Association Football clubs. There wasn’t any distinction until the FA formed in 1863 and football subsequently became divided into Association and Rugby codes. Any number of Rugby clubs are so-and-so FC, rather than RU or RFC, especially those formed before the spilt e.g. Blackheath (for whom a more youthful Bug used to turn out), Richmond etc.
In the vein of the Everton thing. Melrose RFC were formed when a number of frustrated Melrosians playing for Gala nicked Gala’s goal posts one night and shifted them to Melrose.
Sheffield FC is officially recognised by FIFA as the world’s oldest club and has a Fifa Order of Merit accordingly.
oldest SOCCER club
Yes, but Guy’s was never a soccer club – it was always the handling game.
Time was, Guy’s fixture list included all the top teams in England, plus they played the Barbarians quite often, I think. The supplied about 100 international players between 1870 and 1970. Indeed in the 1920’s it was reckoned just about the best team in the country. The English rugby results each weekend would include not just Guy’s but also St Mary’s, St Thomas’s and occasionally other hospitals.
Back in the 1960s I remember Guy’s was fielding 5 teams each week. How are the mighty fallen. Bit like Everton, maybe.
Buggy, have you investigated old football teams, because I am looking into it a lot, myself, at the moment.
Yes, plenty of people round here are quite happily sucking at the public tit, and I’ve no doubt the audience will indulge in the usual boos whenever Thatcher’s mentioned. However, nobody says “pooblic”. It’s just “public” with a northern “u”. We may sound quaint or picturesque to you, but your pronunciation isn’t the norm – it’s just one of many.
I only spell it that way because every talking head the BBC brings in to complain about it pronounces it that way. No offense meant.
Point taken!
I know what you mean about the BBC wheeling out its pet northerners – like Ian MacMillan…
I cannot stand Ian McMillan, whiny voice, “professional” Northerner.
Even worse is the totally unfunny Shuttleworth.
Juicy topics could be, Prisoners votes and mad knife wielding muzzie bitches. Oh I forgot The EU and Muslims are Taboo.
So on the panel tonight we have: two members of the government plus a ‘rightwing’ radio show presenter, the director of a cross/non party organisation, and one ‘leftwing’ politician.
Yet for some reason no one seems to be bleating about the invited guests’ pro-government, rightwing bias.
How very strange…
the lib dem mp is left wing, shami bbc is left wing, dumbledore is left wing so it is 2-4 – i.e. bbc balance
I can’t believe Dez could be so stupid as to believe, himself, what he wrote. Chakrabati is well known for being even more left-wing than Gaunt is right-wing, two representatives from “liberal” parties and the extreme left-wing Beeboid Dimbelby. Sometimes recently there has been 5-1 to the left so at least it’s a slight improvement.
The Lib Dem MP is “Minister of State” in the current government. You think we have a leftwing government?
BUZT FAIL.
Shami Chakrabarti was endlessly critical of the last Labour government and has views closer to David Davis than Jack Straw.
You think David Davis is leftwing?
BUZT FAIL.
Oh, if all else fails claim the host and/or the audience/everybody else is leftwing as well.
You do of course have evidence for such an assertion don’t you…
BUZT…
Your argument that the Lib Dem, being in the current government, cannot be left-wing is as specious as me saying that as the Conservatives are in government with the left-wing Liberal Party that Davis cannot be classified as right-wing. Even though they are in government together they still remain as one party from the right (very soft right under Cameron) and one from the left (slightly softer under Clegg, but undeniably left).
As far as the government’s positioning, Cameron has taken on board a lot of Liberal ideas which has placed the governmant firmly in the middle.
As Chakrabati used to mainly attack the old governmant from an even more extreme position, it doesn’t put her to the right. No doubt you have kept a record of the odd occasion when she has attacked the government, on a particular issue, from a moderate position; but one swallow does not a summer make.
As far as the leanings of the audience go, you must notice the “co-incidence” of the places chosen by the BBC to hold the programme. You may well have seen that someone had compiled the list on here recently. It’s no wonder that the audience normally go mad however ridiculous a statement when it is made by a left-winger.
As a point of interest what is this “BUZT”?
Agreed; Left/Right are pretty blunt terms, but the fact remains that on the panel there were two MP’s from the government and one MP from the opposition. That passes by without comment and yet if it was the other way around the squeals of ‘BIAS’ would be almost deafening.
Once you start claiming that there is some sort of big conspiracy to make sure that the audience is biased one way or another; you’re well on your way to la-la land.
That ‘Question Time’ chooses to broadcast from regional centres with good transport links (rather than an empty field in the middle of Kent) is hardly surprising.
And for all the decades it’s been on air how many credible ex-employees of the programme have ever said; “Yeah, we made sure the audience was stuffed full of left-wingers”?
“Buzt” was just me trying to be annoying. Sorry. Sometimes I don’t have to try very hard…
” Chakrabati is well known for being even more left-wing than Gaunt is right-wing”.
Cite?
BUZT…
Even if we accept that what you say about this week’s panel balance is correct, how exactly does one week balance out all the other weeks of leftiness?
Because in the ‘unique’ world some inhabit, ratios of 100:1 do represent an equal split.
And by highlighting the paucity of cases (and failing with the few they think they have), they merely confirm how sad their ‘points’ are.
No Pressure.
Dez
the ‘right wing radio show presenter’ only sounded ‘right wing’ if you were coming from a communist persepctive.
Deborah,
Jon Gaunt describes himself as ‘right wing’. i don’t think he’s a communist 😉
Dez
Shami is left wing, she wants to offer free blow jobs to Moozlum terrorists, I want to execute them.
See left wing right wing, not hard is it?
Martin,
Yes. Sane and insane; not hard at all.
That Shami would look the spitting image of Hitler if she grew a moustache.
What was that cry of “BOO RACIST” about when the Lib Demmer cracked a joke about riding on bikes with onions round one’s neck?
The French aren’t even a race. I can’t help thinking most of these audiences are hand-selected by the BBC.
Which then translates into this story!
Have you noticed the time on that story?
“4 November 2010 Last updated at 22:20 GMT”
Programme aired at 10:30, thought it was live. Plus they couldn’t wait to get the “racist” headline published.
A few years ago, on a football site I frequent, after yet another dive by Thierry Henry someone described him as a “Cheating French ****” . People objected that he was being called French (as being racist) but no-one queried the other words. I’m sure Henry would only have been happy about the French bit.
Lightfoot I think this on the channel that came up with ‘ Ello ello’ is wonderfully ironic !
Oh and dez we don’t need to bleat on about the rightwing bias on this weeks Qt as we have you to do that! our very own token lefty like Andrew Neil is on the beeb ! see our balance is based on the BBC model !
Even if was true which it isn’t – two from the right and four from the left only makes it “right-wing” if compared to some other question times when it’s been 5 to 1.
I watched a few minutes of this before going over to that other pointless waste of time debate on channel four BUT I thought the geezer on the right (not straw) hammered Shami on the prisoner question and he actually scored a few other hits and made a lot of sense.
Also had a laugh at the anti-EU guy as he managed to get his scathing message through a few times but no one seemed prepared to debate him.
And finally…Shami cloth…is it me or is she turning in to a raving loony? The woman is a moron and lost out big time on the prisoner vote question. Even dumbledor had a few digs at her.
But yeah, that show gets my tits up big time! Probably why I dont watch it too often. I leave that torture up to you guys to endure on my behalf! 🙂
Mailman
Even if what you sya is true and QT this week was biased toward the government. Does that mean that the bias has been restored? 1 week for the “right” and the rest for the “left”
“That ‘Question Time’ chooses to broadcast from regional centres with good transport links (rather than an empty field in the middle of Kent) is hardly surprising. “
The audience is picked on the demographics of the city or town where the programme is held. Not difficult to pick a town with the “right” demographics is it?
Was it a coincidence that Middlesborough was chosen in the week Osbourne produced the governments “cuts”. Was it only a coincidence that after 9/11 the audience was stuffed with members of the “religion of peace”?
“.. you’re well on your way to la-la land.”
““Buzt” was just me trying to be annoying”
Don’t agree with the argument – question the persons mental state.
Question Time is usually very biased against Conservatism, which is why most times I watch something else (not much on the BBC these days – mostly rubbish, like ITV and C4).