BBC Question Time: 25th June 2009

Looking at what you've posted on The Talking Clock, after last week's BBC Question Time, Esther Rantzen became to Northern Ireland what Anne Robinson is to Wales. Will any of this week's guests offend any area of the United Kingdom?

Remember, in our review, our marks are out of twelve and based both on what they had to say and on how convincingly they 'performed'.

The official BBC site for Question Time is here.

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In a case of good timing, the Conservatives were represented on the panel by Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, the Shadow Security Minister. She appeared on the same day as David Cameron gave hope to those outraged at Labour's erosion of civil liberties by announcing ways in which a Conservative Government will abolish some of Labour's widely abused dodgy 'anti-terror' powers. Last week, Neville-Jones herself announced that the Conservatives will turn back the tide of 'Big Brother' Britain that has also been set up to intimidate the population by ZaNuLiebour. She started by saying that the key thing to restoring trust in Parliament after the expenses scandal is transparency and said that this "fag end Parliament" needs an election to sort it out. Said that she personally felt that the burqa is a bar to equality, but banning is a serious thing to do and must be reserved for serious issues. However, she said that there are some public roles in which wearing the burqa might be inappropriate. Called for the empowering of Muslim women to take their own decisions. On banks, she pointed out that the public 'are the board' following the bailouts and that the banks have to share some of the pain of the economic collapse.
Our Rating: Came across as intelligent and thoughtful. 8/12

ZaNuLiebour were represented by the Gormless-supporting Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, Jim Knight. Knight said he supported Bercow as Speaker throughout the voting, but said his election alone will not restore trust in MPs and Parliament - trust he says has been "destroyed". Says Labour won't follow David Cameron's lead in which he has ordered MPs to repay expenses and will instead wait for an independent audit. In this context, he accused David Cameron of being 'an opportunist'. Cracked a joke with Dumblebee and asked whether he was being as well paid as his brother. On the burqa, he said Governments shouldn't stick their nose into people's private lives... which is a bit rich coming from a ZaNuLiebour politician - the party of control, civil liberty abuses, police brutality and constant population monitoring. Tried to justify the potential 'good deal' in the vast pay for RBS bosses. Drew groans from the audience when he said that the amount RBS paid it's bosses was up to the RBS board. On Prince Charles, he cracked a joke about the cost of Duchy Original biscuits - but the joke backfired when Dumblebee made reference in that context to MPs expenses. Becoming serious, he spoke in support of the Royal Family and their value for money.
Our Rating: Begrudgingly, he wasn't as irritating as some ZaNuLiebour politicians, we suppose - but out of touch with public opinion on a few occasions. 6/12

The LibDems were represented by Julia Goldsworthy. Said that those MPs who had claimed for mortgages which do not exist are far more important to focus on than those who have claimed for ridiculous things. Dumblebee asked whether she was embarrassed over claiming for "half a rocking chair" to which she started talking about commuting to Cormwall. No, we didn't understand what that had to do with a rocking chair either. Made an interesting point about the amount of money being spent on and through quangos. Said attempts to ban the burqa in France could, at a ludicrous extreme, lead to the 'fashion police' banning 'hoodies'. Said one of Britain's core values is freedom of expression. Openly proclaimed herself to be a Royalist and that the Royals are ambassadors for Britain.
Our Rating: Incredibly confident, even unshaken by questions of her half a rocking chair. 7/12

Plaid Cymru had a representative on this week's panel from... Newquay, Cornwall - Leanne Wood. Said that the UK has a problem with prison overcrowding so we should think carefully before sending MPs with dodgy expense claims to clinky. Called for an election, PR, a review of the whips system and revision of the House of Lords. Said that transparency in BBC spending was especially vital at a time when the public purse is overstretched. Called Sarkozy's bid to ban the burqa in France "ridiculous". Said the huge payment for bank bosses could not be justified. Said the public should have a say in bank finances. Said the UK Government had meddled enough in the Middle East and so we should keep out of Iran's problems. However, she expressed her hope that demonstrators could bring about change. Said we shouldn't spend a single penny on the Royal Family and we could save money by scrapping the Monarchy.
Our Rating: Very much a likeable personality which helped win over the studio audience, judging by their reaction to a lot of what she had to say. 7/12

And the person most likely to add a bit of colour to proceedings was the former editor of The Sun, Kelvin McKenzie. Drew laughter when giving a concise 'no' to the question of whether John Bercow's election to Speaker would sort out Westminster's problems. He said that what was needed instead was a General Election to clear out MPs from what he says will "always be known as 'the Crooked Parliament'". Praised Cameron for steps to repay dodgy expenses of Conservative MPs and called on Labour and the LibDems to follow Cameron's lead. Argued that the BBC should not pay vast amounts to it's 'talent' - especially as we, the licensee fee payers, pay such a large amount in the license fee. On Sarkozy and the burqa, he praised the French President for "raising the flag of a difficult subject" of the role of women in the Islamic faith - an issue politicians in the UK would be too scared to tackle. Spoke in favour and support of the RBS boss - but drew little support for that view from the audience. Said we should support the people demonstrating in Iran.
Our Rating: Not as shockingly outrageous as we hoped he might be. Hey ho... 8/12

One of the biggest audience responses was for a member of the public who, on the issue of the burqa and following a 'when in Rome' point, said he felt that Britain needs to become 'more British again'. There was another huge round of applause for a man in the audience who said someone in Newquay could do the job of the RBS boss for a tenth of the money. Huge applause for the gentleman who said he would rather Prince Charles get his comparatively small amount of public money than see vast amounts of taxpayer's cash be given away to the European Union.