The BBC 1 'Prime Minister' debate

[Serial_Apologist]

"Revealing" and "engaging" aren't exactly the words I would have used about the debate.

I interpreted jayne to mean that as an example of live political presentations at this time, the programme was revealing of the inadequacies of the genre, and that it was the programme that she found engaging, not the participants!

[jayne lee wilson]

I interpreted jayne to mean that as an example of live political presentations at this time, the programme was revealing of the inadequacies of the genre, and that it was the programme that she found engaging, not the participants!

Absolutely... but revealing of personality and character too (in a context unlike the usual news soundbites/interviews etc.), hardly irrelevant to high office... no-one would have expected anything new on policy matters...
BJ looked miserable and repressed, but look at the vote today..... even further ahead for the same depressing reasons as before. The beat-Farage-at-his-own-game-or-join-him candidate.....

With Johnson leading the government, I do think political divisions are going to sharpen even further soon, making careful tactical voting a vital part of the fight back for liberal values, so hard won and so precious. Very tough choices for the Labour leadership ahead too...

(And (one more time) EM is very good in chairing those regular Newsnight discussions, not just in one-to-one...I'm baffled why anyone would find her "intensely irritating".... maybe it's still strong assertive women who are a problem for some people...)...

[johnb]

.... maybe it's still strong assertive women who are a problem for some people...)...

... Oh please, that is a cheap shot and unworthy of you.

We all have different views about a myriad of topics.

[teamsaint]

I’d say there are both irritating and non irritating strong assertive women. Like there are men of both those sorts.

( personally I don’t find EM irritating at all....well except the wall to wall coverage of her book , not really her fault I suppose, to the detriment of other equally interesting books by and about strong assertive women)

[jayne lee wilson]

... Oh please, that is a cheap shot and unworthy of you.

We all have different views about a myriad of topics.

"Completely out of her depth" was excessive to say the least....and I still wonder why you found her so "intensely irritating".....

But who do you (or anyone on this thread) like or admire, as a current affairs presenter/interviewer etc..?

[Jazzrook]

I can't believe that we're going to suffer the abominable 'Boris' as PM who's likely to make a pact with the fanatical Farage.

JR

[LMcD]

"Completely out of her depth" was excessive to say the least....and I still wonder why you found her so "intensely irritating".....

But who do you (or anyone on this thread) like or admire, as a current affairs presenter/interviewer etc..?

Adam Fleming, Kevin Connolly, Jon Sopel and Katya Adler, among others - it's surely no coincidence that they're all based abroad and have embraced a broader, more objective approach to events and our country's often limited influence.

[teamsaint]

Nick Robinson lost any trust I might have had in him when he did a big piece on income tax a few years ago, which failed utterly to address the core issue, which of course is income inequality.

[ardcarp]

Off pists...but should Rory Stewart now jump to the Lib Dems?

[Richard Tarleton]

But who do you (or anyone on this thread) like or admire, as a current affairs presenter/interviewer etc..?

...Laura Kuenssberg, another vote for Katya Adler, Jon Sopel (the BBC "Editors" in other words...), Orla Guerin, Lyse Doucet.... The one the politicians fear most is Andrew Neil.....

[LMcD]

...Laura Kuenssberg, another vote for Katya Adler, Jon Sopel (the BBC "Editors" in other words...), Orla Guerin, Lyse Doucet.... The one the politicians fear most is Andrew Neil.....

Happy to add Orla Guerin to my list - oh yes, and Fergal Keane and The Man Who Liberated Baghdad. For me, Laura Kuenssberg sometimes seems to have an inflated sense of her own importance.

[teamsaint]

Off pists...but should Rory Stewart now jump to the Lib Dems?

He'd be fine there, they all voted for austerity, increased tuition fees etc etc etc.

[burning dog]

He'd be fine there, they all voted for austerity, increased tuition fees etc etc etc.

That's what you get with Coalitions. All parliaments will be like that when we get PR

I remberber Stewart as a hard core neo-liberal if its the same chap

PS Reading about him he seems more "middle of road" in Tory terms

[french frank]

He'd be fine there, they all voted for austerity, increased tuition fees etc etc etc.

Or the Labour party - they introduced tuition fees in the first place. But sadly both major parties are now more concerned to unite their parties than to serve the interests of the country. Understandable, really, given what happened to the Lib Dems …

[Joseph K]

Or the Labour party - they introduced tuition fees in the first place. But sadly both major parties are now more concerned to unite their parties than to serve the interests of the country. Understandable, really, given what happened to the Lib Dems …

Eh? Stewart would be fine in Labour despite Labour's anti-austerity position?

Labour's stance seems more to be about uniting the country rather than party. Many of its policies (e. g. free uni, nationalised utilities, properly funded NHS) are popular. The Lib Dems still want to offload the debt incurred from bailing out the banks onto many of the most vulnerable in society, and as such are complete swine.