Question Time & This Week

Baxter said:
Rees-Mogg is a liar. So simplistic.
Click to expand...

Rees-Mogg is the only plain speaking voice on the panel with regard to Brexit. The rest are either fudge merchants or schemers.

He's wrong on foreign aid however. 0.7% spent wisely, is an investment in the future and a safety net in the present.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Rees-Mogg is the only plain speaking voice on the panel with regard to Brexit. The rest are either fudge merchants or schemers.

He's wrong on foreign aid however. 0.7% spent wisely, is an investment in the future and a safety net in the present.
Click to expand...

That's the point. Brexit isn't about 'plain speaking'. It's way too simplistic. It isn't just about in or out. There is so much that it encompasses and to merely have it boil down to that because it's 'plain speaking' is wrong.

I agree on foreign aid. 0.7% is nothing at all with the benefits it can bring.
 
Whether you agree or disagree with student loans it is disgraceful that the interest will be 6.1%, so the government is actually making money out of the loan. Why not charge interest at CPI inflation, that's good enough for pensions and stuff? Or maybe even cap it at 1%, which seems to be the ideal for public sector pay?
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Rees-Mogg is the only plain speaking voice on the panel with regard to Brexit. The rest are either fudge merchants or schemers.

He's wrong on foreign aid however. 0.7% spent wisely, is an investment in the future and a safety net in the present.
Click to expand...
Watching on delay, but I think it was the vapid Labour guy pointing out that the foreign aid budget has no bearing on funding elsewhere.
JRM right there's no soft Brexit.
Odd leftie Brexit crowd again.
 
Jippy said:
Watching on delay, but I think it was the vapid Labour guy pointing out that the foreign aid budget has no bearing on funding elsewhere.
JRM right there's no soft Brexit.
Odd leftie Brexit crowd again.
Click to expand...
He is one of the least impressive politicians in parliament. Never seen someone consult their notes as constantly on QT, I'm not sure he'd be able to conjure a single point on any question without consulting his bullet points.
 
Christ, Julia Hartley-Brewer on. Great to see it back...
 
This Week with AN back next week. He's given up Sunday Politics, but will rejoin Daily Politics in October. I think Jo Coburn is better actually, just hope she doesn't get over-confident and go all Paxman-ish or anything.
 
712 said:
This Week with AN back next week. He's given up Sunday Politics, but will rejoin Daily Politics in October. I think Jo Coburn is better actually, just hope she doesn't get over-confident and go all Paxman-ish or anything.
Click to expand...

I'm all about AN, I like Jo but I enjoy Daily Politics less when it's just her.

That's a shame about SP, do we know who's replacing AN or have they cancelled the show?
 
Sarah Smith, who according to a quick google is the daughter of the former Labour leader John Smith. So another Jock, but whether she leans left like her dad or not I don't know. Andrew Neil is Tory of course, and I read somewhere that since Cameron's time every single news editor and sub-editor of the BBC is or has been a member of the Conservative party. That might be bollocks though, I don't know, but if true a bit of balance might be a good thing.
 
712 said:
Sarah Smith, who according to a quick google is the daughter of the former Labour leader John Smith. So another Jock, but whether she leans left like her dad or not I don't know. Andrew Neil is Tory of course, and I read somewhere that since Cameron's time every single news editor and sub-editor of the BBC is or has been a member of the Conservative party. That might be bollocks though, I don't know, but if true a bit of balance might be a good thing.
Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks. AN is without doubt right of centre and has ties with Murdoch etc. but the fact that in this knowledge I can see him properly examining the position of any representative of any section of the political spectrum makes me respect him all the more.

There was that 'controversy' a while back about Jo doing some work at a Labour meeting in London and some right wing news sources were giving it 'BBC left wing/liberal bias!', but surely we don't expect political journalists, even those at the BBC, to be politically inert robots with no opinions and biases? I appreciate that BBC guys can have their leanings and affiliations but still be fair and balanced in their lines of questioning on shows like Daily Politics.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I've always thought AN does a good job in trying to be impartial, no complaints there. Unlike Dimbleby, incidentally. I've not detected anything in Jo Coburn, so I suppose that's hopeful.
 
Well who'd have guessed it. Telegraph Brexit editor woman doesn't seem to have any understanding of what's going on at all. I can see her going the whole program without giving a single opinion. Which from her point of view is probably the best strategy to be honest.
 
Phillips is painful. Mason and Cable have been alright.
 
Who was that dickhead at the end who said she'd managed to pay off her house by the age of 21 because she'd been working hard since 16?

Would love to see what her parents are worth.
 
esmufc07 said:
Who was that dickhead at the end who said she'd managed to pay off her house by the age of 21 because she'd been working hard since 16?

Would love to see what her parents are worth.
Click to expand...

Does that really matter? She's worked hard either way, and made a worthwhile point about the necessity of attending uni. There is a pressure put on young people to go, yet a fair number might be better suited to other qualifications/apprenticeships, or delaying higher education till they are older.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Does that really matter? She's worked hard either way, and made a worthwhile point about the necessity of attending uni. There is a pressure put on young people to go, yet a fair number might be better suited to other qualifications/apprenticeships, or delaying higher education till they are older.
Click to expand...

The uni point itself is fair, but the house point isn't necessarily that great without context as to where she's buying, how much support she's had etc.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Does that really matter? She's worked hard either way, and made a worthwhile point about the necessity of attending uni. There is a pressure put on young people to go, yet a fair number might be better suited to other qualifications/apprenticeships, or delaying higher education till they are older.
Click to expand...

I… How… How do you know that?

Plus her point about the necessity of attending Uni was entirely self-centred. "I didn't go to uni and I managed to buy a house" isn't exactly solving the country's productivity crisis.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Does that really matter? She's worked hard either way, and made a worthwhile point about the necessity of attending uni. There is a pressure put on young people to go, yet a fair number might be better suited to other qualifications/apprenticeships, or delaying higher education till they are older.
Click to expand...

She was being a dick. Trying to insinuate owning your own house relies purely on 5 years of hard work. At 16.

No, it more than likely required a huge financial boost from parents/family which most people don't have.

Of course you dont have to attend uni and many people don't and have successful careers. No one is disputing that.
 
Untied said:
I… How… How do you know that?
Click to expand...

I don't...know, obviously. I am choosing to trust her though, not having any reason to do otherwise. What is your basis for doubting such?


Untied said:
Plus her point about the necessity of attending Uni was entirely self-centred. "I didn't go to uni and I managed to buy a house" isn't exactly solving the country's productivity crisis.
Click to expand...

In the context of a British audience her measure of achievement is one which many others share. Nor does the existing culture surrounding university have skills and productivity at its heart; rather one of politics and simply getting students through the doors.
 
Last edited:
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
I don't...know, obviously. I am choosing to trust her though, not having any reason to do otherwise. What is your basis for doubting such?




In the context of a British audience her measure of achievement is one which many others share. Nor does the existing culture surrounding university have skills and productivity at its heart; it rather being a combination of politics and simply getting students through the doors.
Click to expand...
A combination of housing market knowledge plus the average salary of 16-20 year olds?

Even if she lived rent free and didn't spend anything on her(him?)self in 4 years then that wouldn't be enough to fully pay off a house. So either that person got a lot of help to do so or has a very successful business at a young age which is very, very rare.
 
Snow said:
A combination of housing market knowledge plus the average salary of 16-20 year olds?

Even if she lived rent free and didn't spend anything on her(him?)self in 4 years then that wouldn't be enough to fully pay off a house. So either that person got a lot of help to do so or has a very successful business at a young age which is very, very rare.
Click to expand...

Yeah, quite possible she's done well for herself, but even then a ton of people who succeed have a lot of luck along the way as well. Not everyone's so fortunate.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Does any of this odd questioning of her character actually detract from the point she made?
Click to expand...

Not the part about plenty of people who go to university not needing to, but the argument that she was able to pay off her own house by 21 is very dependent on circumstances/location etc.
 
Dobba said:
As Question Time appeared to have accidentally taken place in a venue that was double booked by a Britain First meeting, I'd be more disappointed if they'd agreed.
Click to expand...

And the second week in succession I've called it wrong, because after that the audience weren't too bad.
Must learn not to speak too soon.
 
712 said:
Audience laughing at Labour guy. That's bad. Indicates their prospects aren't as rosy as they think they are.
Click to expand...

Of course, they weren't inside the 'Conference bubble', some reality crept in.
No doubt we will see the same sort of preaching to the converted at other Party Conferences, but maybe with less of the football chants!
 
These Brexit debates are essentially an extended way of everyone saying they've not really got a clue.
 
Government took a battering on UC, no surprise there.

Labour and the Lib Dems came under an onslaught from the audience for being alleged Brexit saboteurs.
 
Nick 0208 Ldn said:
Government took a battering on UC, no surprise there.

Labour and the Lib Dems came under an onslaught from the audience for being alleged Brexit saboteurs.
Click to expand...

Really just more proof that the electorate don't understand the issue.

It's like the financial crash all over again - where people assumed (or were persuaded) that a country's finances are just like their own. Now we have people treating the negotiation process like buying a second hand car, where if you walk away you haven't actually lost anything.

But there is no status quo to fall back to for the UK. Even the WTO will necessitate extracting our tariff quotas from the EU's, something which is already being disputed.

And of course most Brexiter's are so blinded by their distaste for the EU that when they see the negotiations going badly they assume it is the EU's fault, whereas of course it is the UK's fault for initiating the Article 50 countdown before it was in any way prepared, wasting time on an election, agreeing to the phasing of the talks and giving up all leverage it had in negotiations apart from the ability to pay a huge amount of money to the EU, something which is completely unpalatable to the Leave vote.

As such we are actually careening towards the utter madness of no-deal. We're not at 50/50 odds on that yet, but they are definitely shifting in that direction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.