Balanced Question Time panel tonight - of course not! Vol 3
Discussion
I seem to remember a comedy sketch where someone was trying to describe the only person in the room who wasn't white and was going though increasingly bizarre hoops to avoid saying the word "black".
A bit like this:
https://www.facebook.com/bbcthree/videos/quickies-...
A bit like this:
https://www.facebook.com/bbcthree/videos/quickies-...
hidetheelephants said:
Minister for Common Sense is a nonsense anyway, but that it's Esther McVey is full-on idiocracy. Cancelling transport infrastructure projects is a way to improve transport in the North. 
Being reasonably close to the transport thing, it really gets me mad to hear the noise coming out of McVey's mouth. I can totally understand how the headlines are spun to sent a good message with a pretty map of lots of dots on a map of the north v HS2 but the reality is Network North was nothing more than an incoherent bunch of projects thrown at a map, some already completed, some utter non-starters, some having failed business cases time and time again (and every one of the proposed projects will have to go through the regular process of development and business case before getting a sniff of any money, never mind being delivered so you can make your own mind up on how many might actually get delivered). It's well understood that DfT civil servants and Network Rail were caught totally off guard by the announcement and documents, which shoots through any sense that what was published had been done so with any professional strategic thinking.
Yet McVey cries that its the new dawn for the north. Trading a coherent and well developed strategic plan that would provide long term capacity and room for growth on the most congested corridor to the north, with a sweety shop of politically conveniently located alternatives literally decades away from being delivered. All the while Sunak apparently positioning his approach as taking long term decisions. Utter nonsense. The sooner the general election comes around the better.
Have to say that the commentary about the death of Alastair Darling in the last 24 hours brings into sharp focus how far our political leadership has fallen in terms of quality and competence in the last 15 years. And I say that as a traditional Conservative voter. Not next time, no way.
Imperfect as the recently cancelled iteration of HS2 phase 2a was, it actually existed and stood a chance of being built within a decade. The crap thrown at the wall to see what sticks after cancellation is so much fantasy and because none of it could be built much before 2038-40 all the freight capacity that HS2 would have created will not happen and will travel on HGVs to clog the roads instead.
Darling was not infallible nor a seer, but he oversaw the wreckage of Railtrack nationalised and converted into Network Rail and let the relevant professionals get on with the upgrading of the west coast main line despite the delays and technical issues that are inherent with working on the busiest section of the UK network; the extra capacity that construction created is now all used up and HS2 was going to create more.
Darling was not infallible nor a seer, but he oversaw the wreckage of Railtrack nationalised and converted into Network Rail and let the relevant professionals get on with the upgrading of the west coast main line despite the delays and technical issues that are inherent with working on the busiest section of the UK network; the extra capacity that construction created is now all used up and HS2 was going to create more.
crankedup5 said:
I watched it last night mainly because ‘Andrew Neil was on the panel. And of course he was the only panellist who spoke with any common sense. Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem panelist’s were just as expected, pointless.
Agreed. Andrew was the only panelist capable of critical thinking. I would like to see him as the host of this program.stevensdrs said:
Agreed. Andrew was the only panelist capable of critical thinking. I would like to see him as the host of this program.
He would be wasted as host of QT, dealing with audiences of mouth breathers and wrangling panels of dullards regurgitating party lines. Bring back This Week or a something similar where he can do long interviews, 5 minute chats are mostly a waste of everyone's time.hidetheelephants said:
stevensdrs said:
Agreed. Andrew was the only panelist capable of critical thinking. I would like to see him as the host of this program.
He would be wasted as host of QT, dealing with audiences of mouth breathers and wrangling panels of dullards regurgitating party lines. Bring back This Week or a something similar where he can do long interviews, 5 minute chats are mostly a waste of everyone's time.crankedup5 said:
hidetheelephants said:
stevensdrs said:
Agreed. Andrew was the only panelist capable of critical thinking. I would like to see him as the host of this program.
He would be wasted as host of QT, dealing with audiences of mouth breathers and wrangling panels of dullards regurgitating party lines. Bring back This Week or a something similar where he can do long interviews, 5 minute chats are mostly a waste of everyone's time.cuprabob said:
crankedup5 said:
hidetheelephants said:
stevensdrs said:
Agreed. Andrew was the only panelist capable of critical thinking. I would like to see him as the host of this program.
He would be wasted as host of QT, dealing with audiences of mouth breathers and wrangling panels of dullards regurgitating party lines. Bring back This Week or a something similar where he can do long interviews, 5 minute chats are mostly a waste of everyone's time.Thing is Mr Neil will at some point decide to hang up his microphone, irreplaceable ?
No one catch last nights?
They were apparently using an entirely open audience of undecided voters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTKKVlgRZ74
On the panel are: health minister Andrea Leadsom MP; shadow secretary for international development Lisa Nandy MP; chairman of ASDA Lord Rose; and Professor Anand Menon, director of the political research institute, UK in a Changing Europe.
I know Nandy has a lot of fans here, but utterly void of any content whatsoever.
Surprise surprise the non politicians made the most sense.
They were apparently using an entirely open audience of undecided voters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTKKVlgRZ74
On the panel are: health minister Andrea Leadsom MP; shadow secretary for international development Lisa Nandy MP; chairman of ASDA Lord Rose; and Professor Anand Menon, director of the political research institute, UK in a Changing Europe.
I know Nandy has a lot of fans here, but utterly void of any content whatsoever.
Surprise surprise the non politicians made the most sense.
An audience entirely made up of undecided voters.. yet it transpired that a young female member of the audience, by her own admission, wasn't old enough to vote and would still not be for the next election. As for the panel, the politicians were vaccuous and only the Asda chairman was prepared to speak his mind.
PushedDover said:
No one catch last nights?
They were apparently using an entirely open audience of undecided voters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTKKVlgRZ74
On the panel are: health minister Andrea Leadsom MP; shadow secretary for international development Lisa Nandy MP; chairman of ASDA Lord Rose; and Professor Anand Menon, director of the political research institute, UK in a Changing Europe.
I know Nandy has a lot of fans here, but utterly void of any content whatsoever.
Surprise surprise the non politicians made the most sense.
Lisa Nandy is on QT way too muchThey were apparently using an entirely open audience of undecided voters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTKKVlgRZ74
On the panel are: health minister Andrea Leadsom MP; shadow secretary for international development Lisa Nandy MP; chairman of ASDA Lord Rose; and Professor Anand Menon, director of the political research institute, UK in a Changing Europe.
I know Nandy has a lot of fans here, but utterly void of any content whatsoever.
Surprise surprise the non politicians made the most sense.
bomb said:
anonymoususer said:
Lisa Nandy is on QT way too much
Last night she spent far too long telling us what the Tories hadn't done, rather than what the Labour party will do. Full of hot air and no substance. The Asda guy put himself across pretty well (and imo gives a good representation of what the idea of the lords should be about if you get a few more sensible people involved rather than mates of the latest person to land in the hot seat), but both the politicians seemed full of a lot of hot air and very few actual ideas.
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