Question Time 26th September 2019
(The Surrender Edition)
Panel:
Gina Miller (Humbug Merchant)
Mark Reckless (BXP)
Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Shadow Solicitor General and Surrender Monkey)
James Cleverly (Tory fall guy to be attacked by Miller, Price and Thomas-Symonds)
Venue: Cardiff (voted 60% Remain)
Firstly, a thank you to Flying Hippo for picking up the QT baton while I was away sailing to and from the Med. I have returned with a stinking cold and cough courtesy of fellow travellers but I have tied myself to the figurative mast and will bare the teeth at the QT gale before me.
Three Remainers, two Leavers – comforting to know we’re back on the regular QT bias. It is only to be expected that the BBC, already stoking up the boiler of Orwellian hatespeak, has Fiona Bruce taking on the Lady Bracknell role, shaking her pearls and wringing her hands not about the “handbag” but the “humbug” and worrying herself stupid about unparliamentary language even though the majority of people outside the Westminster bubble can see straight through the delaying tactics of the Opposition benches. So, let us see how much hypocritical hot air will be blown over the Cardiff audience by the three Remainers. I only wish there was a more robust spokesman for the Brexit Party than Reckless who has always given off the air of a decomposing lettuce found at the bottom of a fridge drawer five days after it should have been thrown away.
On with the motley…
Needless to say the sainted Jo Cox was dragged into the first question by a member of the audience concerning the language being used in Parliament. It is interesting, if not deeply annoying, to see how those who do not keep their hair net jammed to the vestry door of politics depend on the BBC for their information. This audience member believed it was Boris who quoted Jo Cox and not the Labour munter who waved the shrouds. See how easy it is to twist the news?
Interestingly Gina Miller got a rougher ride than she probably expected. Confident in her peroration to begin with she stumbled somewhat when an audience member accused her directly of being the cause of the present impasse. It was a sweet moment when a metaphorical pitchfork branded by a horny handed son of the soil swayed in the air and I wondered if Miller caught the whiff of revolutionary grapeshot flying across her bow. One sincerely hopes so.
Cleverly batted well against Miller and the other serial interrupter Bruce. He had hardly got 10 seconds into his first answer before Bruce was at him – an exercise she resolutely failed to replicate with the other panellists. There is something that is deeply annoying about that woman that only increases every time I see her on QT. Not only is it the patronising gurning at the camera but also the attempt to appear “knowledgeable” and politically aware when, in truth, she has a tangential grasp of current affairs. This became very apparent when the discussion was mired in the intricacies of parliamentary procedure and she began to fumble in her notes about something John Major had been burbling on about earlier that evening. She had no idea what it meant but attempted to force Cleverly to explain it. He, to his credit, declined.
The Plaid Cymru fellow had an easy time of it serving up platitudes. Ah, but then he made a fatal mistake. He came up with a policy. And that was to have a second referendum “which would be binding and final”. Cue hoots of derision and general catcalls from the audience. What a wazzuck. Has he never watched previous QT programmes and seen the reaction of the public to such suggestions? I don’t wish to tarnish all Welsh people with the same brush – we have some fine Celts among our GP readers and contributors- but boyo, the previous holder of the office of leader of Plaid Cymru was deficient in the brain cell department and Adam Price isn’t much better.
The Labour fellow got little support from what would normally be a safe Labour area and had nothing to add generally to the conversation. It is little wonder that Labour are shying away from a General Election as the runes must be telling them that the wooden spoon has their name on it.
Which brings us to Mark Reckless. I was a little harsh on him at the start of this review and he does increasingly have the appearance of the vicar from “Dad’s Army” but he presented his views well – if a little dispassionately- which had the audience clapping. And in a 60% Remain constituency that has to be a significant step up.
On the scale of 1 to 10 I’d put this QT at 3. Get rid of Fiona Bruce and have Andrew Neil in place and we could be hitting much higher. Next week we are in Wallasey.
TTFN
© Roger Ackroyd 2019
Roger’s book.
The Goodnight Vienna Audio file
Will update if I can get it to work.
