Two Maulings in One Day - Paxman AND Channel 4

[Beef Oven]

That's the first (and probably last) time that I've ever been accused of that! Anyway, I have no idea whether or not I like you beause I've never met you and don't even know your real name. I really wouldn't worry about such things; it's surely better to concentrate on putting forward your thoughts here.

That jingle you're working on, how's it coming along?

[Panjandrum]

Not all of us....dissing Andy Partridge is close to unforgiveable !!

Bet HE never got involved in semi legal tax avoidance on an industrial scale !

Rog would agree

[Flosshilde]

That jingle you're working on, how's it coming along?

"Must"? No. But he's surely welcome to do so as long as he remains a forum member?

[Beef Oven]

Rog would agree

great vid

[ahinton]

That jingle you're working on, how's it coming along?

Quoi?

[Beef Oven]

Quoi?

No, the other one.

[Pianorak]

I felt sorry for Ms Smith also, and I'm apparently the only one who actually thought she handled herself pretty well on both occasions . . .

No, you are not the only one! Paxman is rude and obnoxious and the other one is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer!

[mangerton]

No, you are not the only one! Paxman is rude and obnoxious and the other one is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer!

Yes, that's possibly true. On the other hand Ms Chloe Smith is fifth Treasury Minister, and is happy to take a large salary from the public purse. She is clearly out of her depth, but then, the whole Treasury - and indeed the Government - are out of their depths, too. I shudder to think that people like that are in charge of the economy and of our lives. A degree in English Literature. What sort of qualification is that for the Treasury?

At the end of the day, though, she should never have been put in that position*. Cameron and Osborne should be utterly ashamed of themselves, but then the concept of "shame" is beyond them.

* Both positions, actually, at the Treasury and opposite Paxman.

[Barbirollians]

She is plainly an idiot but George Osborne evidently panicked and failed to tell the rest of his ministers - a shambles all round.

[pilamenon]

On the other hand Ms Chloe Smith is fifth Treasury Minister, and is happy to take a large salary from the public purse. She is clearly out of her depth, but then, the whole Treasury - and indeed the Government - are out of their depths, too.

At the end of the day, though, she should never have been put in that position*. Cameron and Osborne should be utterly ashamed of themselves, but then the concept of "shame" is beyond them.

I agree with all of that, and have no sympathy for her. People who choose to be deceitful and slippery in order to further their careers deserve to be made fools of.

[Dave2002]

George Osborne's sacrificial lamb, Chloe Smith,
gets a double mauling on TV in one day.

Gripping stuff!

I shall leave watching the Channel 4 clip until later. Chez nous one of us (not me) doesn't like Paxman, one of us (again not me) has met and been interviewed by Paxman, and says he's perfectly pleasant and easy to get on with. I thought the interview with Chloe Smith was OK ish - though clearly the poor lady had been given an impossible job, and knew it, and she stonewalled JP really quite well, and he obviously knew that was what she was there to do, and I thought was kind enough not to actually push her right down to the floor and beat the hell out of her.

I think it's laughable that we are being told, both by Chloe, and also David Cameron, that many of us will appreciate that fuel costs will not go up in the immediate future, yet at the same time we are in such a great financial mess that the number one priority is to reduce deficit. What part of the phrase "number one priority" do these people (and that presumably includes George Osborne) not understand?

[Pianorak]

I thought [Paxman] was kind enough . . .

Killing with kindness springs to mind. What I find so objectionable about JP is his arrogant and patronizing manner. Jon Snow and John Humphrys can be as tough as JP on their victims but always within acceptable limits IMV.

[Resurrection Man]

Oh, dear; would you like me to I leave now?...

Certainly way too many posters who remind me of

[scottycelt]

Yes, that's possibly true. On the other hand Ms Chloe Smith is fifth Treasury Minister, and is happy to take a large salary from the public purse. She is clearly out of her depth, but then, the whole Treasury - and indeed the Government - are out of their depths, too. I shudder to think that people like that are in charge of the economy and of our lives. A degree in English Literature. What sort of qualification is that for the Treasury?

At the end of the day, though, she should never have been put in that position*. Cameron and Osborne should be utterly ashamed of themselves, but then the concept of "shame" is beyond them.

* Both positions, actually, at the Treasury and opposite Paxman.

Yes, mangerton, a bit of me did think along those lines that if anyone (male or female and however inexperienced) accepts the large salary that goes with such a job they should be prepared to take the rough with the smooth.

However, I don't think there is any need for the interviewer to insult the interviewee by saying 'do you think you are incompetent?' and constantly leaning back in his chair and visibly sneering at her in front of the camera. It's all an act, of course ... I'm sure Paxman might well be totally different off-camera ... but, in a way, that makes it all the more irritating and unnecessary. He almost sounds like my old science-teacher at school.

Furthermore, anyone who has worked for a company and is sometimes left to explain sudden previously-derided changes of policy to clients (while the senior management culprits responsible become strangely 'unavailable') couldn't fail to have at least a modicum of sympathy for Ms Smith.

As far as I'm concerned, poor Ms Smith's wretched and unenviable experience said one heck of a lot more about Osborne and Cameron's 'incompetence' in this latest ministerial farce than any particularly apparent in the lady herself.

[ahinton]

No, the other one.

Quoi?