Lord 'Charlie' Falconer (Labour) tried to reassure the British public that our Parliament is not corrupt and we should get the expenses scandal in context. Made himself look daft when he passed a view on Clare Short's evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, adding "...but I wasn't in Cabinet". This allowed Clare Short an easy challenge to his credibility on the matter.
Our Rating: 3/12
Theresa May (Conservative) said the public were right to be angry about the expenses scandal and that all MPs have to take responsibility. Seemed to squirm a little when Dimbleby tried to clarify whether she had accused Tony Blair of misleading Parliament over Saddam's WMDs.
Our Rating: 5/12
Clare Short (Independent, ex-Labour) Re-summarised her entire position on the dishonesty around the decision to go to war with Iraq. Her matter of fact style, coupled with a position which has large consensus in the general population, made for a powerful argument. Her position as a key insider and witness to the decision to go to war with Iraq gave her an authority to speak that no-one could easily trump.
Our Rating: 9/12
George Galloway (Respect) said he believes that those MPs announcing that they are stepping down in light of the expenses scandal are denying the public their right to deliver their verdict. Came out with a great one-liner about how Falconer came to be in Parliament, with a follow-up point on democracy. An excellent line when he stated "Iraq was invaded because it did NOT have weapons of mass destruction, North Korea will never be invaded because it DOES have weapons of mass destruction". Was astonished - as was the public, no doubt - when Falconer revealed that no-one in Britain could be prosecuted for war crimes over Iraq, if laws had been broken while acting in supposed good faith.
Our Rating: 9/12
Melanie Phillips (writer) Won the studio audience with pronouncing on the expenses scandal quick lines like: "It may be legal but it's disgusting" and "contrition is the new spin". Very bravely stated that she was and remains in favour of the decision to go to war with Iraq and, while she is not in the populist majority with her case, she spoke passionately and convincingly.
Our Rating: 9/12
- All of the panellists made some very interesting points on a question of assisted suicides. In this blogger's view, it was the most interesting discussion that has been held on Question Time for quite a while. We would welcome far more such mature discussions about matters where a partisan false-left-right paradigm is yet to be established and we can actually learn something as well as have points of view to listen to and consider. Painful topic, but a very interesting discussion.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
This blog seeks to uphold the right to free speech. However, comment moderation is used to prevent the posting of comments which could be considered libelous/offensive etc. We do not, however, guarantee to publish all comments and we reserve the right to refuse to approve any comment submitted at our discretion. Views expressed are those of the comment author and do not neccesarily reflect those of this blog.