Stormin’ Norman Baker, the party’s shadow transport secretary and tenacious campaigner par excellence, is the Lib Dem representative on tonight’s Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm).
He’ll be joined on the panel by Labour’s environment secretary Hilary (“I’m a Benn not a Bennite”) Benn, Tory shadow health secretary since 2003 Andrew Lansley, comedian, columnist and disaffected Labour supporter Frank Skinner, and Plaid Cymru Welsh Assembly member Leanne Wood (who was once thrown out of the chamber for referring to HM The Queen as Mrs Windsor).
Remember, if you’re tuning in, you can join the general debate on Twitter here at #bbcqt, or the LDV debate below.
9 Comments
At last! A Lib Dem on the panel who shows a bit of passion. To be perfectly honest, the only one i’ve seen previously who’s got remotely worked up is Sarah Teather..
Norman Baker is a legend.
Norman Baker is not covering himself in glory over this Iraq question.
Iraq was better before before because it had “order” under Saddham Hussein?
Come on.. We can continue to wallow in our brilliance at opposing the war, but we don’t have to now start apologising for Saddham in a way we never did before.
Frank Skinner has been very impressive tonight.
I don’t think Baker was apologizing for Saddam, as he made clear, but nevertheless he was on stronger ground on the reasons we went in. Highlighting that, to be frank, there were a number of countries we should have gone to before Iraq if humanitarian concern was our top priority..
I’m missing it, but would be interested to hear what the English are making of the General Secretary of the People’s Democratic Republic of Treherbert (aka Comrade Wood) who must be so completely and utterly lost in Great Yarmouth…
Mmmm. I’m astonished at the way in which political people, like LDV posters seem to miss the key points. The most interesting point tonight was Lansley and his directorships; this combined with Pickles and his second home, shows the way in which the Tories are likely to slip from a goodly majority into hung parliament territory as they are exposed to the more critical environment of a General Election campaign.
I’ve maintained for some time that things are not going too well for the Tories and winning the next GE – surely the largest poisoned chalice in history? – could be their death knell.
I agree Martin. Lansley didn’t land himself in it to the same extent as Pickles bombed a few weeks ago but it was such a typical ‘Tory position’ trying to justify a directorship.
Ann-Marie
Lansley did about as good a job of presenting his case on having a second job as he could have done, whereas Pickles made a complete pig’s ear of it. It was interesting to note, therefore, the stony silence that greeted Lansley’s explanation – not quite the derision that met Pickles, but it was reassuring all the same. The public are by no means enamoured of the Tories just yet.