BBC Question Time: open thread
Written by Stephen Tall on 13th December 2007 – 9:55 pmCharles Kennedy, former Lib Dem leader, is one of the panellists on tonight’s edition of Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT).
He’ll be alongside Hazel Blears, Labour’s secretary of state for communities and local government; Lord (Chris) Patten, former Tory party chairman; Piers Morgan, former Mirror editor; and Kirstie Allsopp, TV presenter and celebrity Tory.
If you’re watching, and want to sound-off, please feel free to use the comments thread.
Posted in Lib Dem TV
13th December 2007 at 10:07 pm
Great! I love the clothes Kirsty wears! All those big buttons and knitted cardigans!
13th December 2007 at 10:35 pm
Ooh, and Vince on Strictly afterwards!
13th December 2007 at 10:36 pm
Is someone running a book on how many times Hazels Blears says “the people of this cüntré”?
13th December 2007 at 10:39 pm
I can’t, I don’t have an umlaut.
13th December 2007 at 10:39 pm
Oh God! Hazel Blears and Piers Morgan on TV at the same time! Someone pass the indigestion tablets!!
13th December 2007 at 10:39 pm
Hazel Blears’ eyeshadow/jacket combo is scary.
Charles is balanced but not very snappy on Brown & EU.
Kirsty gets the first round of applause being more populist on Europe than Charles.
Chris Patton makes the McCavity point.
13th December 2007 at 10:41 pm
Kirsty now gone over top claiming we won’t have parliamentary system soon - no applause for that.
Hazel Blears has just got all muddled over Maastricht.
13th December 2007 at 10:43 pm
Piers Morgan: ‘I’m on a different planet to everybody else’
Uh-huh.
13th December 2007 at 10:44 pm
They always wheel out Hazel to defend the indefensible.
13th December 2007 at 10:45 pm
My love for Kirstie is in ruins. Wot a prune.
Enough already with the who-signed-what-when shenanigans. Bored.
CK = calm rational voice of authority. Mind you, not hard among this shower.
13th December 2007 at 10:48 pm
HB: ‘Tough choices’, ’slippery slope’…
13th December 2007 at 10:52 pm
Good point made by the police officer in the audience. For the sake of a small amount of money the Government has lost the trust of police officers.
13th December 2007 at 10:53 pm
i agree with Alix, Kirstie is ruined for me now…not that i like her that much to begin with.
And why is Piers Morgan there, apart from the fact that he loves the sound of his voice.
13th December 2007 at 10:54 pm
Great stuff from Piers Morgan. Take away Jacqui Smith’s police protection. Why didn’t I think of that?
13th December 2007 at 10:55 pm
I really LOVED her
13th December 2007 at 10:57 pm
Ok, I have gone right off her because she is a horrible old Tory, but an excellent point by Kirstie about not picking fights with people who can’t fight back (i.e. the police don’t being allowed to strike)
13th December 2007 at 11:00 pm
why dont we just pay government ministers/the cabinet less, and give the remaing money to nurses, and police officers
13th December 2007 at 11:01 pm
Stephen> here here!
13th December 2007 at 11:05 pm
Yay! Round of applause for the guy who says we should stop bloody talking about Diana.
13th December 2007 at 11:07 pm
perhaps they should stop talking about Dianna on this show and get back to politics
13th December 2007 at 11:09 pm
Good point from Kirstie re uniqueness of London in the world as brand (as one would hope). Why do I have to come from one of the three most ridiculous cities on earth?
13th December 2007 at 11:12 pm
Chris Patten has definitely seen the Long Johns sketch!
13th December 2007 at 11:13 pm
He must have watched it on LDV!
13th December 2007 at 11:15 pm
Why the hell is Piers Morgan talking about interest rates? The question was about tax law. Obviously it all just lives in the “financial stuff” box in his head…
13th December 2007 at 11:16 pm
yes great idea Kirstie! Piers bugger off to another country
13th December 2007 at 11:17 pm
Biggest cheer of the night for Sir David telling Piers Morgan to move to Panama and not come back!!
13th December 2007 at 11:18 pm
CK: We’re obsessed with home ownership to a far greater extent than our continental neighbours.
This has always interested me. I can feel a blog coming on.
13th December 2007 at 11:20 pm
isnt the other problem with housing is all the abandoned terrace houses that just sit there without use for years on end
13th December 2007 at 11:23 pm
Vince Cable for England manager?
13th December 2007 at 11:24 pm
CK good on national identity. CP good on dying governments.
13th December 2007 at 11:25 pm
is Hazel Blears sat down, or is that her actual hieght?
13th December 2007 at 11:27 pm
Hey Stephen don’t miss with short redheads
13th December 2007 at 11:28 pm
Phase in LVT and all those empty dwellings will be filled, land banks brought into use and enough revenue raised to eliminate income tax for minimum wage earners.
13th December 2007 at 11:31 pm
Is there a prize for getting to 33) on an LDV thread before someone mentions LVT?
13th December 2007 at 11:32 pm
Yes - and I CLAIM IT
13th December 2007 at 11:33 pm
Chris Patten looking weary as Kirsty does her sixth form Conservative future bit…
13th December 2007 at 11:36 pm
OK, so as a round up:
Piers> as smug and annoying as ever.
Charles> some very good points on identity
Kirsty> embarassing
Hazel> messed up the police pay bit but otherwise did fine
Chris> reasonable and measured with a spot of humour thrown in
13th December 2007 at 11:37 pm
What was Kirsty trying to say about Iraq?
13th December 2007 at 11:37 pm
Bridget does that really count as a prize?
13th December 2007 at 11:37 pm
We were watching the latest Harry Potter film at the weekend.
Is Hazel Blears actually Dolores Umbridge?
13th December 2007 at 11:41 pm
Geoffrey> I seriously have no idea! I wonder if she knows what her point was, she seemed to be reading off the pad in front of her a lot…
13th December 2007 at 11:42 pm
“Is Hazel Blears actually Dolores Umbridge?”
Anyone remember Monty Python’s general election night?
‘Mary Whitehouse has taken Umbridge.’
13th December 2007 at 11:43 pm
i think Kirstie’s point was “I’ll say Iraq and get a cheer of some sought”
14th December 2007 at 9:36 am
Is Kirsty Allsopp a candidate for the Tories? She was utterly hopeless on the show last night.
14th December 2007 at 11:32 am
i dont know if she is a candidate for them, but she is advising David Cameron on Housing policy
14th December 2007 at 11:40 am
45 - dontcha luv it. There is an affordable housing crisis across the country, so what does toff Cameron do?
Appoint the daughter of some grand aristo, who is a multi millionaire commercial property developer (on top of her no doubt large inheritance) to advise him on housing!
Street homeless? Don’t worry - buy at auction and put in an IKEA kitchen and make a quick £20k!
Overcrowded and damp? Never mind - have you thought about buy-to-let? Northern Rock have some great offers!!
Domestic violence? No matter. Catford’s a great up and coming area - this ex-Council flat would be a great first time deal!!!