Thursday 26 January 2012

Question Time update


David Dimbleby is joined in Plymouth by Jeremy Browne MP,met him a few times. Nice chap.. for a Liberal.He has one of those ministerial jobs that is just 'whatever is left over that no one else fancies.'
David Lammy,MP for Tottenham, and far too sensible to be in the Labour party.
Liz Truss,new breed Tory MP who wants a more business friendly society.
Mark Steel , one of my favourite comedians. Like to do historical sets.
Wrote a book on the French revolution that I didn't much agree with, but was very funny. For an ultra socialist he comes across as quite balanced, which is good.
and Melanie Phillips. British journalist who is regarded by the left as a traitor since defection from the Guardian to the Daily Mail. Considered by everyone except herself as ultra right.


BQ THINKS 1. The benefit cap and the barmy bishops. {Think on this Bish. If child benefit is included on top of the £26,000, then those on the highest rate are in danger of being given child benefit whilst those who work to earn the same equivalent amount not only pay 40% tax, but can't receive their own child benefit as they are considered too rich. Madness!} 2. Iran and oil. Is the west about to attack another poor defencless country to seize their oil? 3. -0.2% growth says Britain is heading for disaster/recovery. Is it time for plan A/B? 4. Devo-max/Independence. Is the wording important? 5. NHS leaked report. the NHS is not safe in the government's hands.

26/1/12
Cityunslicker - 18
Miss S-J - 16
Nick Drew 15
Dick the Prick - 14
Malcolm Tucker - 13
Measured -12
Timbo614 -12
Botogol - 11
GSD - 11

Sebastian Weetabix - 10
Amy 10
Hopper - 10
Bill Quango MP - 10
Jan - 9
Budgie - 9
appointmetotheboard - 9
Philipa - 8
Hovis - 7
Andrew - 6
Measured - 6
Miss CD - 5
Mark Wadsworth -1
Dearieme - 1

CU is romping away. He was 200/1 before the start.
{any errors report to the steward in the comments}

22 comments:

Nick Drew said...

1) Should UK foreign policy be limbering up to take on Iran ? Key-word = Israel

2) Should Cameron be lecturing the euro-wallahs in Davos, or back here getting on with Cleggy’s plan for tax reductions ?

3) Should NHS treat fatties et al differently ? Indeed, given the new heart-attack stats, are we as lardy as all that anyway - or just a fatty time-bomb ?

4) What hope for Blighty with £1 trillion of debt round our children’s necks ?

5) Ethical questions around the Benefits Cap, taking our cue from various troublesome clerics

James Higham said...

For an ultra socialist he comes across as quite balanced, which is good.

Believe that when I see it.

CityUnslicker said...

- Evil Tories drive us into recession, need to borrow more to get us more in detb etc
- Evil Tories plan war with iran, everyone to hate mad Mel as she gets branded a zionist
- benefits cap -um, the audience go for the out of touch politico's.
- harry redknap, tax dodgin', rich are scum, especially RBs abnkers question thing at the end.

measured said...

The failings of league tables in schools. Perhaps this has to do with the failings of students. Is being unable to write a good excuse to be a tax dodger? If so, lets forget those tables. Redknapp can be a role model. Move over, Mr Role Model Lammy, though I  bet you tell us how you achieved. (Will you tell us of the senior figures that supported you and gave you good advice? Nah, didn't think so.) 

So £10k tax threshed will lose us £7.5bn tax revenues? Where will you raise the money? I vote foreigners who own UK property... er, but they are outside the jurisdiction. Problem. Big problem. 

With you on the barmy bishops. They can't work out population control.

What are we going to do if Iran accidentally nukes that part of the world? Solves Syria at least. 

Raising Nelson's ship. Is it a grave or a victory for the treasure hunters?

Miss CD said...

- The Trillion pound debt
- turning failing state schools into private ones and league tables
- MOD cutting ever more jobs as conflict grows ever nearer
- Inmates sprung from security vans. How safe are they?
- Should everyone just forget about the cost and enjoy the Olympics?

Hopper said...

1. Benefit cap; why are the Tories so keen to drive children into poverty? Hoping at least one panellist references the median wage.
2. MoD job cuts: is it right that serving soldiers get P45s while civil servants are safe? (I'd be in favour of redeploying some Plymouth bootnecks to DE+S Abbey Wood to kick some bottoms)
3. Davos summit: have the politicians lost touch, can the world be saved? (Will the Chinese pony up a wad of cash?)
4. One trillion in debt, but our credit is still good; should we spend more?
5. Wildcard with a Commando theme: SEALs and pirates, do the Americans have the right idea? Is qat chewing bad for your health?

Botogol said...

1 - Debt has reached a £1tn, is it all actually out of control, is it possible that we simply can't pay it off?

2 - at what level would the panel impose a benefits cap?

3 - Is is right to allow abortion clinics to advertise?

4 - Is the unelected House of Lords a hero, thwarting the democratic will of parliament, and is it tie it was stopped?

5 - now that you can get on a list for doing so, would the panel turn down an honour ?

Dick the Prick said...

Benefits cap - gotta be

Defence cuts in the face of Arfie aggression as it's Plymouth.

Negative growth - Plan A isn't working etc yet Labour concurs...

NHS reform - is it bollox?

Bankers bonuses - corruption and Herr Redknapp's dog.

Malcolm Tucker said...

1. Does the MOD really believe it can defend the Falklands with just secretaries, personnel assistants and heads of departments?

2. -0.2%growth. Is it time the government started cutting payroll taxes to boost business.

3. What's the point of CRB checks if Head teachers don't respond to paedophile concerns?

4. Benefit cap. With 78% in agreement why does the Labour party think its such a bad idea?

5.Mr Hester gets a £900,000 bonus. Is he worth the money?

Jan said...

1. Is the raising of the tax threshold to £10K a good idea when the UK's finances are dire?

2. Could the Falklands Islands become a millstone around our necks if the Argies decide to get nasty?

3. What is the point of Davos?

4. Should we be concerned if there is no growth in the economy?

5. Are our kids being failed by the present school system?

Timbo614 said...

Evenin' All

1) Police Number at lowest when we probably need them to be at the highest, Riot AAnyone?

2) 1,000,000,000,000 Quid in debt? Are the numbers too big yet?

3) Hester's pay seems like my & BQ's pricing... Make it a tenner, no make it £9.63 - It'll sell better! Will this sell to the public? I doubt it.

4) No growth, in fact decline, is austerity working for us or for the super-rich who are newly worried about the inequality it's causing?

5) Cleggy wants us to have 10 Grand tax free now! - in our dreams?

appointmetotheboard said...

1. GDP figures. Does it even matter if we are technically in a recession or not? National borrowing may top £1 trillion, but anyone else notice City AM (don't know their source) reports the bank bailouts at £1.3 trillion...

2. Davos. Do we / should we care? Does / Should Europe care what DC has to say? Anyone else notice that Cameron mentioned debt per person is up €4,500 in last four years? What's happened in the last four years I wonder...

3. 10k tax threshold. Makes sense to me - As low earners spends such a high proportion of their wages, HMRC will get a load back in VAT
receipts anyway...

4. Given the state of the nation's finances, should we sell Argentina the Falklands?

5. Will Stephen Hester's bonus top a million?

Urgh. Melanie Philips. Could be another Newsnight night...

Philipa said...

1. Interns, (you can't discipline them as not paid?), 'fraping' & writing your own tweets/speeches.

2. Bankers bonuses & government promises.

3. Eurozome crisis.

4. NHS

5. Welfare reform, how much is too much?

Miss S-J said...

1]Zero % growth! Does George now regret openly laughing at Gordon when he said it? How long can the coalition go on claiming it has the answers when there is no growth and increased debt.

2]Benefits cap. Is the House of Lords the last or the least sane place in the country?

3]School league tables. So many schools not even getting 55%. Instead of going on strike for higher pensions shouldn't the teachers be staying late and doing some revision?
{I'm a volunteer teacher's assistant. Its not really the teacher's fault. But they should stop bleating about how hard they work. }

4]RBS and Hester's bonus. Its in shares and its a lot less than the old regime used to get paid. highest/lowest pay discussion

5] Cameron bashes the EU at Davos. {just for Melanie}

GSD said...

Hi all.

1) MoD job cuts - (compulsory from the ranks vs natural wastage from the civilians). Is that the right way to do it?

2) Iran. Will the eu sanctions have any effect or will the china/russia just buy more?

3) Euro : Should the ECB do more before the IMF steps in; leading onto: is the IMF too EU orientated?

4) Hester's 963K bonus - which government muppet OKed that contract then? key-phrase "rewarding failure".

5) proposed 10k tax threshold vs the 26k benefits cap. Why are they different?

Budgie said...

1. RBS chief gets whacking great bonus whilst deserving poor get their benefits cut - typical unfeeling Streeperist Tory-led Coalition tactics.

2. Education system under uncaring Tories denies lagging pupils the chance to catch up. Schools which let pupils down will be tackled sometime after he moves to another post says Minister Nick Gibb.

3. UK debt with attitude: should Boy Dave be lecturing anyone at Davos when we have £1 trillion (official) debt and are heading into recession territory with 2011 Q4 at -0.2%?

4. Greek debt: to default or not to default? Will the eurozone pull through with its sovereign and banking debt crises? Will Greece default and/or leave the euro? Will the UK and USA prop up the euro (ans: yes).

5. I'madinnerjacket dumped by China and is now ready to revive talks. EU sanctions (oil contract ban) will not affect me says the President of Iran. Nuclear program for peace and energy he says. Camerkozy says it will all end in tears.

Mark Wadsworth said...

I'm staying on the bench this season with a metatarsal injury.

Bill Quango MP said...

1st Q: Who is more in touch with the public's view of benefit capping - the Bishops or David Cameron and the Coalition?

Melanie sounds quite reasonable. Most vicars earn less than £35,000.
Mark Steel being very populist but less good. Shame.
"Won't someone think of the children!" came up. Jeremy Browne did ok.
Lammy sounded OK. Got a bi mixed on his own party being for and against the cap, and claimed that families would be move out to the edges of London. Maybe. Or maybe rents would fall. This cap affects 67,000 households. That's a lot of empty property.
Truss is ok too. Commuters commute because they can't afford to live near their workplaces.

2. Is the government doing enough to address the excessive bonuses of the finance sector? Lammy blames Cameron. He forgets it was GB and AD that wrote Hester's contract and agreed his bonuses. Still. Its hard to accept that banker's deserve their bonuses, even the best of them. And even harder to defend when the bank only exists by taxpayer bailout.
Browne is honest. Truss bashes the RBS too. MP says he shouldn't take his bonus. And then defends banks too.

I'm getting concerned I'm agreeing mostly with her.

The panel's position is probably the same as the countries."When you've paid back all the cash and are taking bonuses wholly from profits, then take what you like. Until then..You can't have anything."

Q: Is Richard Branson right in saying drug users should not go to jail? - unusual Question . Beardie made more noise with his airport talk.
Was tweeting with Philipa and so missed the answers.

Considering no evidence of Iran having number of nuclear weapons Israel has, will UK back Obama if he decides to attack Iran? bit Anti anti-Israel? There'll be letters BBC.

"Bombing Iran is the most appalling prospect... but the alternative is worse," says mel.
"If only there was a precedent for recent times," says mrmarksteel.
"The example we should look at is Libya," says @trussliz

Discussion breaks down into rubbish. We have nukes, why cant they? We just follow USA. Its all about obtaining the oil wells and so on.

On twitter its worse. CIA is a terrorist state. Doesn't even make sense?

Good panel, audience and good show. Nice one Dave.

Bill Quango MP said...

Important bit. Scores
Only 4 questions asked.
Cap/Bonuses/drugs/Iran

BQ - 2
ND - 5
JH - you were right. Mark Steel was being a typical left wing comic. Shame. He really is very good..usually.
CU -4 + 4qs = 5 {on a roll}
Measured - like me -2
Miss CD - another bad week -1
Hopper - hmmm -2
Botogol - same -2
Dick the Prick -3 {in generous mood}
Malcolm Tucker - good - 5
Jan - went for the less obvious. - Just 1
Timbo614 - 3 {and yes, re your comment, the numbers are too big. I'll look at it again}
appointmetotheboard Really good questions. - I agree with the 10k starting rate too. But not all came up - 2
Philipa - yep, close enough -4
Miss S-J - VG -5
GSD - VG2 -5
Budgie - also good -4
MW - you get a point for the bench -1

Botogol said...

hmm, I am losing touch. What has happened? new editor this season ?

hovis said...

damn and blast missed it ...

Bill Quango MP said...

Sebastian Weetabix
Hovis

everyone gets a point just for showing up.
I'll add yours next week.