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Question Time Tonight


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David Dimbleby presents Question Time from Newbury in Berkshire.

On the panel are Conservative health secretary Jeremy Hunt MP, Labour's shadow leader of the commons Angela Eagle MP, former leader of the Liberal Democrats Ming Campbell MP, author and commentator Isabel Oakeshott and broadcaster Giles Fraser.

In a week when one of the big parliamentary issues has been Scottish devolution, it is a pity the BBC is once again giving a platform only to Unionist parties - the 'three cheeks of the same @rse' as the Rt Hon Member for Bradford West might say - and no voice to any pro-independence party. Even accepting the location in the south of England, the English Greens could have provided some sort of balance. What's more, if it's going to be an all-Unionist panel, in England, then including yet again a Scottish Unionist seems puzzling... like last week's Malcolm Bruce, it allows free potshots at parties like the SNP, with no right of reply.

Isobel Oakshott seems to have been to school and worked for a local newspaper in Scotland; for the Daily Record, and also for the Daily Mail. Not sure of her politics but on the independence issue, but she implies a yes result would be a 'potential catastrophe', refers to the yes side as 'separatists', and refers to 'intimidation of unionists by over-zealous and menacing Yes campaigners on social media'.

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/isabel-oakeshott-if-scotland-breaks-away-the-pms-number-is-up-9733351.html

She did say this though:

Media, Yes & No campaign all have interest in exaggerating prospect of Yes vote. Media for the story; Yes for momentum; No to boost turn out

And signed off on Sept 18th with:

Scotland, my spiritual home, thank you. Never thought you'd leave but it came so tremblingly close. Salmond can be proud of incred campaign

https://twitter.com/IsabelOakeshott

Let's see her take on devolution...?.

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In a week when one of the big parliamentary issues has been Scottish devolution, it is a pity the BBC is once again giving a platform only to Unionist parties - the 'three cheeks of the same @rse' as the Rt Hon Member for Bradford West might say - and no voice to any pro-independence party. Even accepting the location in the south of England, the English Greens could have provided some sort of balance. What's more, if it's going to be an all-Unionist panel, in England, then including yet again a Scottish Unionist seems puzzling... like last week's Malcolm Bruce, it allows free potshots at parties like the SNP, with no right of reply.

Isobel Oakshott seems to have been to school and worked for a local newspaper in Scotland; for the Daily Record, and also for the Daily Mail. Not sure of her politics but on the independence issue, but she implies a yes result would be a 'potential catastrophe', refers to the yes side as 'separatists', and refers to 'intimidation of unionists by over-zealous and menacing Yes campaigners on social media'.

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/isabel-oakeshott-if-scotland-breaks-away-the-pms-number-is-up-9733351.html

She did say this though:

Media, Yes & No campaign all have interest in exaggerating prospect of Yes vote. Media for the story; Yes for momentum; No to boost turn out

And signed off on Sept 18th with:

Scotland, my spiritual home, thank you. Never thought you'd leave but it came so tremblingly close. Salmond can be proud of incred campaign

https://twitter.com/IsabelOakeshott

Let's see her take on devolution...?.

Would you bang her though? I would.

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Here's an insight into how journalism (including the BBC) works - just another arm of the establishment.

http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2014/778-the-establishment-andrew-marr-and-owen-jones.html

Really interesting, to be filed alongside Monbiot's How the media shafted Scotland.

If all these news organisations are 'at it', it reinforces the importance of the independence of the internet, even if a large proportion of it is rubbish.

A cybernat claiming 'Cameron is a f@nny' may be crude but at least it is an honest point of view not masquerading as something else. More than can be said for Mr Marr & co.

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Just got round to watching QT on iplayer. As far as I can tell, the issue of devolution didn't even come up.

What did come up was a question about whether the Greens, SNP etc should get a look-in on the TV debates.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04lx1nr/question-time-16102014

(The question starts about 40:18.)

And what do you know?

Ming Campbell says the SNP should not appear on an equal footing with the UK-wide parties.

So that's 2 weeks in a row, we have a Scottish Unionist using QT as a platform to knock the SNP, and even stifle Scottish voice on the UK stage.

What's more, if it's going to be an all-Unionist panel, in England, then including yet again a Scottish Unionist seems puzzling... like last week's Malcolm Bruce, it allows free potshots at parties like the SNP, with no right of reply.

But ironically Ming still can't help pontificating about the importance of public scrutiny, and the importance of the debates being 'absolutely essential to ensuring we have a modern democracy...' !

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What did come up was a question about whether the Greens, SNP etc should get a look-in on the TV debates.

And what do you know?

Ming Campbell says the SNP should not appear on an equal footing with the UK-wide parties.

The SNP should call his bluff and threaten to field a candidate in every UK constituency in that case. They'll have enough in the bank to fund it now...

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Even if not literally practical, it makes you think how valuable it would actually be. Imagine if that did buy the SNP a UK wide platform, and equal billing with the UK party leaders - at least, the three amigos. To have a shot at the three stooges, head to head and face to face, finally against Cameron, and the three of them all on one side - reawakening the impression of Labour in bed with the Tories. And what if this was not just the TV debates two or three dates in the election run-in - but if it forced equality of coverage for all national news bulletins and all political programmes. Question Time with an SNP person on every week. You could say 'money couldn't buy that publicity' - maybe it could, in this case, and maybe it would be worth it after all.,,

Except you can imagine they'd change the rules, and invent some other reason why they wouldn't get that level of exposure.... After all, strictly speaking Ming is wring, as Labour, Tory and Lib Dem are NOT UK-wide parties, as they don't stand in Northern Ireland. Together, SNP, Plaid and say SDLP could claim they stand in three of the four 'nations' and so deserve an equal footing.... Not going to happen, of course, but shows how the entrenched Unionist parties will use any argument to cling to their existing advantages.

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Cameron's biographer - canne mind her name - wid get it.

I kept expecting one - at least - of her baps tae fall oot!

They never, so I went on the interweb and made my own arrangements! :blink:

Edit: Oakshit, that was her - oh, yes!

Squeal piggy!!!

Cam's been baw-deep in that, but i wid - after I'd had her bathed and sent to ma tent!!!

Edited by Wibble
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Cameron's biographer - canne mind her name - wid get it.

I kept expecting one - at least - of her baps tae fall oot!

They never, so I went on the interweb and made my own arrangements! :blink:

Edit: Oakshit, that was her - oh, yes!

Squeal piggy!!!

Cam's been baw-deep in that, but i wid - after I'd had her bathed and sent to ma tent!!!

Haw ah saw her first. Ye can stir ma custard if ye want.

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£300,000 down the drain. That's if the deposit is still £500, and I reckon there are close to 600 seats outwith Scotland.

We can do a lot more with that kind of money that throw it away.

Presumably wouldn't have to stand in every constituency. Anyhow thanks to the growth in membershp it would only be £3 each.

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I think the snp should put a candidate up in London, for the London assembly, it is a PR election and with the scots down there they would get a seat or two and a lot of publicity and tv/radio. paper appearances...

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I think the snp should put a candidate up in London, for the London assembly, it is a PR election and with the scots down there they would get a seat or two and a lot of publicity and tv/radio. paper appearances...

:guitar:

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  • 3 weeks later...

From Middlesbrough:

On the panel are former leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy MP, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander MP, Conservative housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis MP, Times columnist Melanie Phillips and comedian Matt Forde, who describes himself as one of the last defenders of Tony Blair.

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