9 Comments

• liberalone 7th Nov '06 - 1:29pm

  I have just finished watching it. It’s absolutely fascinating and well worth watching. Whatever one thinks of Mark and I do like him, it is clear that he, and Belinda, have gone through a torrid time, but that they have both emerged stronger. Mark will be a loss to the Party, but I fully understand why he feels he has to go. I wish him well.

  As a ps: this programme has demonstrated to me why 18DS may well change the face of political TV in this country. A good, long, good-humoured interview, where once a question is asked, the participant is allowed to give a proper developed answer without interruption. I’m a convert

• liberalone 7th Nov '06 - 2:34pm

  A second comment as I have just seen the poll which is running on the site. As you seem not to have actually watched the interview I think this is a terribly unfair question. As part of a long interview Mark spends some time discussing the impact that being in the public eye had on him as well as some more general lessons for politicans and others as well as the role and importance of an investigative press. What it was not was him discussing his personal life.

  I really do not think that this question is fair or will actually deliver an answer which is of any benefit to anybody.

• Rob Fenwick 7th Nov '06 - 2:41pm

  I have watched the interview through in full.

  I thought very carefully about the wording of the question and thought the easiest way to keep it fair was to keep it short! I have tried to be fair in posing a question with no loaded opening statement.

  I think an unfair question would have been “Do you think Mark Oaten’s self-serving interviews are damaging the party? Yes / No”

  I think it’s clear what is meant by “personal life” in the question – re-living the events surrounding the NoW splash, references to ongoing counselling, the fact he no longer enjoys being in Parliament, the discussion of his life after Parliament.

  And there is potentially one great benefit – if the poll returns a “no” he might take the hint from the party, and cut it out.

• Jonathan Sheppard 7th Nov '06 - 3:23pm

  A good interview- but I would say that wouldn’t I.:o)

• David Spender 7th Nov '06 - 6:48pm

  As a Winchester LibDem I feel so much better having watched this interview. It was so good to see the old Mark again, getting the chance to talk with passion and commitment about politics and liberalism. This is the man we’ve worked with for all these years, not the apparently sorry character of the past 9 months. I hope Mark continues to have a role within the party even after he stops being our local MP.

• Angus J Huck 23rd Nov '06 - 5:58pm

  I didn’t even know the interview was taking place, so missed the dubious treat of watching it.

  What really gets me about Mark Oaten is not the fact that he paid two male prostitutes to defecate on him (I can live with that), is is his total lack of dignity and self-respect. What wouldn’t this man do for a minute’s air time? How about a trawl through Mark and Belinda’s laundry basket for the post-headlines spot on Newsnight? Oh yes. Terribly therapeutic.

  The most sickening thing of all, to me at least, is Oaten telling us he is bored with being an MP. He isn’t bored accepting the salary, is he?

• Rob Fenwick 23rd Nov '06 - 6:03pm

  Hi,

  re defecation: You should be careful not to libel anyone. So far as I’m aware, nothing’s been proved on that score, it’s just an interpretation of what the papers meant when they talked about an act too disgusting to describe.

  R

• Angus J Huck 23rd Nov '06 - 7:12pm

  Well, I’ve described it. So I guess the newspapers were talking about something more disgusting still.

• hywelmorgan 23rd Nov '06 - 10:08pm

  I’d pull that comment PDQ if I were you!