David Dimbleby presents this week’s show from Cardiff. The panellists are Ukip’s leader in the Welsh Assembly Neil Hamilton AM, Conservative environment secretary Elizabeth Truss MP, Labour’s Frank Field MP, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville-Roberts MP and far-left extremist Owen Jones. Not too bad a line-up really.
Kick off tonight (Thursday) at 22.45
I believe normal BBC bias has been resumed with three pro Remain and just two for Leave.
This being so.
Running Total
Remain 49
Leave 32
Undecided 4
It would be nice if a representative of the ‘balanced,impartial’ BBC, could explain the anomaly, in terms of the poor representation of the Leave group, on the programme.
Will Owen have grown a beard? With his fund of sharp-end experience, adding gravitas to his performance could be the breakthrough move to improve the fan-base – although, sadly, it doesn’t seem to have worked for Jeremy yet.
Hamilton has been good tonight so far.
Hamilton started off uncertainly with the barbed comments from the Plaid member about her being the only panel member who lived in Wales hitting home. He became more assured. Who knew he was elected the same day as Comrade Corbyn back in the dim and distant past? I liked his final analogy of Cameron as a cork bobbing around in the ocean whose movement was dictated by the tide of public opinion, as he was devoid of any opinion himself. Frank Field, an unusual Brexiter, thought Cameron was done for regardless. RIP Blair’s heir.
It was also interesting that Young Jones was finding it tricky to deal with the fact that he was on the opposite side of the argument to Frank Field, as he is such a very effective and eminent Labour MP, poor Owen is much more comfortable attacking UKIP and Conservative panellists; it was enjoyable watching him struggling to adjust to his revised list of (unexpected) adversaries.
Who is the little boy sitting on the panel fighting for ‘worker’s rights’. He ‘s never had a real job in his life . He should be in bed ready for school tomorrow .
Where is his mam ?
And apparently Master Jones thought long and hard on whether to go with Leave or Remain, and chose Remain in order to save the NHS. A truly patronising Owen Jones moment came when he told the audience that “some of you will have heard of TTIP.” As idiotboy refers to below Owen Jones never fails to evoke a visceral response within the viewer.
Here he is!
http://roxburgh.org/telegoons/Images/Bluebottle_TGUM.jpg
Why does Owen Jones elicit such strong emotions in me, to the extent that my wife of 38 years is moved to remind me to moderate my language.
How do you become such an accomplished twat and still raise yourself to a position of such eminence that you are avidly courted by the national broadcaster, despite clear indications that you are not completely sane.
Precocious children always elicit strong emotions, largely based on clips around the head, but Frank Field delivered a verbal beauty as he reminded Master Jones – who had not graced us with his presence at the time – of those frequent occasions when he and Jeremy voted against EC employment legislation, back in the 70s and 80s, when Corbyn’s principles were less flexible.
You aren’t the only one wondering that mate. Leaving the E.U. is necessary, but by no means sufficient. If we keep electing Blairs, Cleggs and Camerons all of whom are paid-up members of the club that thinks the O.J.s of this world have something meaningful and constructive to say, we’re still buggered. Something in addition to E.U. membership has got to change.
Could Liz Truss be any more irritating?
ObiWan , Sound like some sort of surgical appliance ?
The only thing I can remember Liz Truss saying was how David Cameron was such a wonderful Prime Minister. Enough said. She emitted platitudes with ease and came across as a Cameron drone.
“Could Liz Truss be any more irritating? ”
Yes, she could be Amber Rudd.
Question Time – Car Moron and the EU.
His recent run around the EU leaders getting his ‘big deal’ was really about making sure he had a place in the European Parliament, ready for his next job .
The “Heir to Blair” is probably angling for the Presidency.
He’s f****d one way or t’other.
It all started off with the question of our times. Is the shortage of housing due to immigration or a lack of houses being built by the Conservatives? Of course, it’s a ridiculous question, yet one seized on by the likes of Owen Jones and the Left to show that unlimited immigration is sustainable if only the government would commit to unlimited spending.
I thought Frank Field was easily the most convincing and honest of the panellists. A Labour politician who is not a hypocrite, in fact that rarest of things, a politician of any stripe with a measure of integrity. I fear Neil Hamilton carries too much baggage, and why is he leader of Welsh UKIP? It seems an odd choice.
I’ve never voted Labour in my life, but I’ve always liked Frank Field – and, for that matter, Kate Hoey.
Who would know from the “Conservatives tearing themselves apart” story that they’re both Labour and both anti-E.U. I guess that just wouldn’t send the right message to the peasants.
Just as a minor aside.
The comment from the Welsh panel member about ‘being the only one with an address in Wales’ and the cheer it received gave me these thoughts.
1. The bBBC chooses the panellists and hence where they come from. Who and why exactly was the audience therefore cheering? The Welsh lady versus the rest? Would the bBBC not call that racist in any other setting? Why should other panel embers feel the brunt from the audience of the bBBC’s booking decisions? What they say, yes, but not where they live.
2. Why is there always a presumption that a QT in Wales or especially Scotland requires a focus on issues in those countries? Can you imagine the furore if a QT in England deliberately and unapologetically focussed on only English issues with the casual racism shown in 1. ? The uproar over ‘not representing the whole of the UK’ would be immediate.
Not perhaps a solely bBBC issue but they do contribute to these divisions by the way they set these things up.
To be fair to the BBC they could argue their attitude to Wales and Scotland is not ‘racism’ because its a civic nationalism, a just rockd up Pole or Pakistani who lives in Scotland is as Scottish as one whose ancestors fought at Bannockburn.
Same applies to Wales.
One of the gripes that come from Plaid Cymru is that homes in Wales are being bought by English people, if it is okay for people from anywhwere in the world to come to England and take up property then I can’t see the problem?
Speaking as a true born and bred Welshman, members of Plaid Cymru are ‘well balanced’ people .
They have a chip on both shoulders.
I’m surprised BBC Radio 5live “Question Time Extra Time” doesn’t get more of a mention here even though I think it is far better than Question Time itself. I recommend everyone listens to last night’s programme – it was a classic.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cv2mc
You’ll need to fast-forward to 1hr 15mins.
Enjoy. Lot’s of classic callers!
Please don’t take this personally Edward but.-
Why would I want to listen to a disgusting, biased Fascist like Stephen Nolan?
Having, in the past, listened to his illogical, biased diatribe, I have learned to instinctively go to the off button when he is on the radio.
I understand perfectly, but last night’s programme had some excellent anti-EU callers.
I agree Edward, though it takes some inner fortitude to go from QT on the tv to QT extra time on the radio. I could just about take the Nolan / Pienaar show previously. Unfortunately, my reaction to Chris Mason is on a par with my reaction to Owen Jones – extreme annoyance. Mason’s strange vocal delivery and feeble attempts at humour has me reaching for the off switch pronto. I would like to see Owen Jones and Chris Mason confined in the same room for 24 hours with a constant live feed. A sort of political Big Brother. Would they kill each other, or would they end up in bed together? Now there’s a thought.