Tonight’s show, hosted as ever by David Dimbleby comes from Dover. Joining him are Ukip’s leader in the European Parliament Roger Helmer, amusing Spectator columnist Rod Liddle, historian Simon Schama, Labour shadow minister Louise Haigh and Conservative Energy secretary Amber Rudd.
Kick off tonight (Thursday) at 22.35
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BBC charter review up for inspection, the head of BBC television programming, (the loathsome Danny Cohen) about to depart the scene, and all of a sudden we witness a far more right wing looking panel and a more balanced Question Time audience of late……
Or am I just being cynical here?
Three out the five panelists describe themselves as Labour Party voters, so no change in the way the BBC stack the panel. Are 60% of the Country Labour Party voters?
I watched the programme tonight for the very first time in maybe 2 – 3 years. I have to agree with you that the audience in particular are not the same as I would normally expect. In fact, they were probably even half decent to panel members they disagreed with.
*BUT* – towards the end of the programme, maybe the last 15 minutes or so, was there not a most definite outpouring of grief, sadness and woe from a particular section of the audience who had until then tried to keep their peace?
It actually seemed like a new tactic to me – everything oh-so-hunky-dory for the first thirty minutes or so, then BBC producers – “Release your hounds of war!!!” – That’ll stick it up ’em!
(I definitely admired Rod Liddle and all he said!)
Liddle’s description of the emotional incontinence associated with the migrant question as “dianaification” was spot on. What a sickening spectacle that was! Are people really that moved by the “plight of refugees”. It’s all too reminiscent of an orchestrated North Korean blub-fest . Mild concern for strangers might be appropriate, but the idea that one is prostrate with grief over a photo, as Camerloon, was is just hysteria.
Sky News today featured Big Beards from Bolton doing ” charity work” for Syrians in need on a Greek island. Truly comforting to know. The ROP doing its bit, as all true Brits should
The BBC has worked tirelessly to earn your cynicism and mistrust. Don’t sell them short!
I thought the Public Administration Commitee were soft on Yentob today, the Government want Albeeb’s support over the EU referendum, the Tories and the Beeb are currently holding hands. Short term love affair.
I would guess that just about the whole the Dover electorate are anti immigration. Therefore I would expect, given Beeb bias,I expect a 50/50 audience debate on who is for staying in/out of the EU.
Louise Haigh was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership, I wonder how she will explain McDoughnut’s ’embarassing’ austerity change of mind.
Good to see Ukip represented – too infrequent.
His Nigelness himself is on next week. Helmer did a top job on last night’s show though.
Hold the front page…
Adolescent Labour MP sprouts a few pro EU generics audience applauds, completely and conviently ignoring Liddles point that the washed up kids family had lived in Turkey for three years..
Is this really from Dover? because the audience ain’t….
So 16 and 17 year olds get a vote in the EU but not the General Election. Clearly Cameron wants the Left wing teachers to brainwash the young minds.
Whoops looks like I was wrong, another loud mouthed left wing audience in Dover who all love immigrants!!!!!!!!
Lots of left wing females.
Schama bores me and talks for far too long
My old PA looks like Louise Haigh, she was a feisty little strumpet too.
I dont think I have ever swore at the tv so loudly when she started spouting her nonsense. All emotional rubbish and no practical solutions. Lots of we mus, we must, but never how do we afford it. It’s the arrogance that they think they are speaking for us all.
Just logged on to say Schama and that hatchet faced fraud from Labour are a pair of ****’s.
Schama is just not very sharp. Bit of a thicko who thinks emotion is a substitute for statecraft and governing ability. Liddle made him look stupid. The Labour woman likewise. Just not good enough to appear in front of the camera.
The Tory woman also not up to it. Thinks that in education we are doing well and what the voters want does not matter. The old we know best syndrome.
UKip guy was OK . All in all quite entertaining and shows just what a poor lot the liberal apologists are now.
I liked reading some of Schama’s histories, though I must admit I will take future readings with a [rather large] pinch of salt. To my mind, once a person shows untrustworthy views/colours as Schama did tonight, why on earth should I ever trust his views in his books again?
I no longer trust “historians” who wear rose-coloured glasses.
I did know that the UKIP guy as usual was cut off by dimbleby when challenged by that idiot so called historian.
Snapshot of the generic QT audience
Very good Geoff, I liked the picture very much.
Question Time would be much better without an audience. Questions from the public could be submitted.
Needs a better Chair than Dimbleby.
Love to take the credit, alas not my work, but scarily accurate.
Sorry, Geoff, but that is not a true representative picture of tonight’s audience and should not appear here. I do not wish to be associated with ‘nutters’ – neither one way or the other.
Were you there Henry? If so, which one is you? Are you that one with the blue barnet?
Well, there you go. Whilst I was not physically there I watched the whole programme for the first time in years. Comments like yours [and picture posts like Geoffs] do not do the cause much good, TYMMV.
Apologies. I misunderstood your first post.
I personally feel that the picture sums up most QT audiences very well. She was just one of the regular loony-left types that appear to dominate that audience, and they all seem to share the same hatreds, the same mental deficiencies and the same narrow view-points. In effect they are interchangeable and the picture encapsulates that perfectly.
Don’t talk cack, you’re the nutter devoid of being able to see irony or satire.
1) My post said a ‘generic’ QT audience, not specifically last nights, regardless even in Dover it would appear not far from the truth.
2) If you only watched a full program last night (quote) ‘for the first time in years’ how the hell can you judge what the make up of a recent Question Time audience has been?
Oh and your post has got one more upvote than it should, I marked it up in error.
I think it is pretty obvious the picture is meant as a little joke – you know what one of those is, right? No-one is trying to claim that that is an actual picture of the QT audience.
Looks like a humourless, self-appointed, moderator has just arrived.
Very annoyed one of the lefties was allowed to get away with the “refugee who is so desperate he is risking his life holding on to the underside of a lorry” line. This in the Calais to Dover context! Since when has residency in France qualified a person for refugee status?
Time and again Al-Beeb refuses to consider that ‘refugees’ in Turkey, Greece, France and elsewhere are in no personal danger. They choose to put themselves in danger by crossing seas in overfilled boats etc., yet Al-Beeb consistently portrays this as the result of some sort of UK government immorality.
Come on, France isn’t that much of a sh*thole! I’ve even been known to spend a holiday or two there myself before now.
For anyone who stayed on to watch ‘This Week’, credit to Andrew Neil who took on some silly woman called Bea Campbell over Tom Watson’s self-serving treatment of Leon Brittan and pushed her as hard as he could.
In her lack of contrition, we see that a rightful desire to address whatever paedophilia took place unchallenged by the high and mighty in days gone by is very conveniently close to an ‘Operation Discredit Tories’ agenda.
Bea Campbell is a half-witted Left wing, feminist rent-a-gob, much loved by R4.
I see the ranting woman ‘ex Tory disgusted to be losing her benefits’ is being given extra airtime on bBBC today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34548733
When she did it, I thought it felt suspiciously well-rehearsed and convenient.
Now she has had this extra publicity, the whole thing looks like a planned, bona fide, grade A set-up.
‘But the woman’s comments went un-answered as the panel moved on to talk about the “reported chaos in Labour’s policy-making”…..’
No they didn’t go on to talk about the Labour chaos…that’s where the discussion had started and what the question was all about before the ‘Tory voter’ took her opportunity to have a go.
It will be interesting to see what actually happens when she comes to tot up all of the additional support that she will get. The BBC, don’t seem to want to understand that this is all about moving people from being dependent on benefits to being dependent on work when there’s work around.
Shame they don’t report her name, Google can reveal a lot.
When somebody say’s they voted for a given party, they can never be proved wrong. I voted Labour in the last election 😉
But… the article says “A Tory voter in the audience of the BBC’s Question Time…”. Surely they must have proof of this, other than her word for it, otherwise it would be in quotes? Yet they don’t even seem to know her name. Yep, I smell sh*te.
Credit where it’s due. Last night the BBC came close to producing an audience that looked like it was made up of real people, albeit with the predictable smattering of leftie/liberal students etc. as well as a woman who appeared to be an immigrant explaining that the vast quantity of young male immigrants was in fact an able bodied forward line (she didn’t mention that once in the chosen country they might then arrange for the rest of the family to come over)
Ron Liddle – excellent
Amber Rudd- strident and struggling
Louise Haigh – boring and predictable
Roger Helmer- straight forward, clear and cogent.
Simon Schama- a great talker (I am a fan of his programs) but unrealistic and misguided
Sluff,
From my perspective ‘the jury is still out’ on this one. The formidable Andrew Neil followed his script (assisted by Michael Portillo) and launched an attack against Tom Watson/Bea Campbell. The main factor being the inability to produce hard evidence against the accused as well as the regrettable fact that Leon Brittain was not informed that the police had ostensibly dropped the case before he died.
However there is still a shadow hanging over this and that shadow is the fact that when questioned (some time ago) on a TV news report, on the subject of the missing file (which was handed to Leon Britain as Home Secretary) he could not account for it’s disappearance.
Were the BBC doing an establishment closing of ranks or is Tom Watson just an irresponsible trouble maker?