The British Politics Thread
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The catch is that if the interviewer gives the politicians too hard a time, they simply won't do that show again, and the show would rather have these pointless 'big name' interviews than none at all.
For the most part, even Paxman only really differed from other interviewers in his use of the derisive sneer at the end of an answer, otherwise he mostly let things slide as well. -
If giving them a hard time was standard they would have to do it and we would have a better standard of politician.
I know what you mean and that is their excuse but it shouldn't be, same goes for May choosing what debates she wants to do. Fuck that. -
You need Vincent Brown from RTE over there. He wouldn't let the cunts away with it. -
Liveinadive wrote:Didn't listen I'm so can't really comment on that interview but it surprises me that journalists and presenters let so much slide so often. People praised Paxman (sounds like a charity) but all he really did was repeat the question until they answered or looked stupid, that isn't hard. The only other outlet that seem to actually press for an answer seem to be C4 news.
Robinson kept pressing for an answer to his single question. The standard way of dealing with this to date has been to repeatedly ignore the question and spout the party line, and use it as an opportunity to deliver whatever sound bite you wanted out there.
Gove has developed an exciting new twist on this strategy which is to..
(a) Give the answer he wants to give, as above but also...
(b) Explain that he's doing this because that's what the interviewer's question really meant. Then...
(c) Patronise the interviewer for giving him such predictable questions, and tell him how much they love coming on the Today programme for that very reason. Essentially doing a verbal victory lap at the end of the interview, in a desperate attempt to persuade the listener that he was anything other than dire.
(Actually, I've thought for a long time that the Today is "predictable" argument is true. Today is a very easy experience for a halfway seasoned politician, and the Paxman style of questioning is particularly easy to manage. The interviewer continues with the same question, which means the interviewee is free to spout off any crap they like, essentially ignoring the interviewer entirely - happy in the knowledge that whilst the question may have done them some harm, they won't be getting any more hits to deal with as long as they persistently don't answer.
A better technique, rarely employed, is to actually listen to whatever bullshit answer is given, and rip it apart. But the interviewers rarely know enough about the subject to do that with any authority. Gove for instance, illustrated in his interview that he doesn't remotely understand even the basic notions behind what the "5p bag tax" is supposed to achieve, yet Robinson didn't pick him up on it, as he was so busy trying to get the slippery bastard to answer the question presented to him...) -
When he referred to himself as "Govey" I nearly disabled the airbags and drove the car into the nearest wall.
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Gove is the new govt mouthpiece now that Fallon's gone. He probably got slapped on the back by his colleagues for his punchy performance and avoiding the question entirely about whether people would have to pay more for about 8 minutes. He is completely shameless.
Evan Davis is quite good. Rather than try and skewer people he often builds in a bit of understanding into the question, trying to create the space for a politician to admit there's compromises or drawbacks. Sometimes this works really well. But can be pretty toothless if the interviewee isn't bothered with discussing it at all and just sticks to the lines they've been given. -
Andrew Neil is about as good as it gets now. He's done his research, knows the govt position in advance, has facts ready to point out the flaws in their argument. As a result, no one of consequence ever agrees to be interviewed by him and he spends most of his time ripping apart backbenchers for decisions made by other people.
John Humphries is abysmal. On any subject he sounds like he's got no more information than the sheet of paper in front of him. It's quite an achievement to appear so ignorant across so many different areas when you've been in the job for as long as him. He's also incredibly easy to sidetrack. I bet someone like Gove whoops with delight when he hears it's going to be Humphries. Or whatever posh boys do when they like something. A hearty huzzah. -
Unlikely wrote:When he referred to himself as "Govey" I nearly disabled the airbags and drove the car into the nearest wall.
Oh God, I was trying to forget that bit.
monkey wrote:Evan Davis is quite good. Rather than try and skewer people he often builds in a bit of understanding into the question, trying to create the space for a politician to admit there's compromises or drawbacks. Sometimes this works really well. But can be pretty toothless if the interviewee isn't bothered with discussing it at all and just sticks to the lines they've been given.
Yeah, Davis can sometimes get them to relax enough to start giving honest answers. I've heard people criticise him for not being "hard" enough, but really, if you want to catch someone out, you don't do it by making them defensive. -
What was the question Govey avoided answering? -
There'll always be softer options though, or outlets such as sympathetic newspapers which they can use instead to get their ideas across.Liveinadive wrote:If giving them a hard time was standard they would have to do it and we would have a better standard of politician. I know what you mean and that is their excuse but it shouldn't be, same goes for May choosing what debates she wants to do. Fuck that.
The whole thing is a farcical catch 22 though. Major current affairs programmes need to interview ministers to have the appearance of being serious and important. But the ministers will only be interviewed if they know they won't get a really serious grilling. Programmes therefore have to have relatively soft interviewers, which means the content they broadcast is never really serious or important. -
In various forms, will consumers pay more for your environmental plans in the same way that they now pay for plastic bags. Govey rambled on about environmental standards being necessary for prosperity rather than costing people money in the long-run (words to that effect anyway). Then it was suggested that, in line with alcohol pricing, sugar tax and something else I can't remember, the govt had plans but had to abandon them because they couldn't get their whole party to agree to them. Why should people listening now believe you will see this through? The reply was more bullshit about how great he was, what Nick Robinson really meant by the question, then back to the prosperity stuff.WorKid wrote:What was the question Govey avoided answering? -
Usual stuff then. Ta.
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Private Eye has a story about Toby Young attending a Eugenics conference at UCL - hence his resignation.
EDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT:
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Oh God, Farage is right. A second referendum would have Blair and Clegg spearheading Remain. We'd be doomed.
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Today should use James O’Brien when dealing with squirming politicians. He knows his stuff and tends to give politicians a particularly hard time. -
One of my close mates is called James O'Brien and seeing the name throws me every time. Especially as my mate regularly posts videos of the other J O'B on Facebook.
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His name is fucking Pob, he oughta know that by now. -
Gove I mean, not your close mate Liv.
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Aaron Banks has backed a second referendum as well so that’s the game revealed. Banks has been wanting to start a new party to target working class Brexit types, a people’s party or whatever. This would be their launchpad.
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He's a dangerous cunt him.Come with g if you want to live... -
Never ever going to happen though. Not even May is that stupid.
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I've seen lots of reports on this NHS crisis over the last few days and not one of them has even broached the subject that the government may not be adequately funding the service, like not even mentioned or considered the possibility - just a load of nonsense about 'new NI contributions' (National Insurance already goes towards the NHS I think, or would do were Cruella and co not in charge), a possible 'new health tax' or a load of weasel words from the government ("sorry your Nan died on a trolley in a draughty Hospital corridor but we're still sorting out the fucking mess Labour left us eight years ago").
It's been obvious for years that this government would privatise in a shot were it not for the general outrage and negative PR it would cause them, so why not treat us like adults and acknowledge this fact? -
Yeah it's a massive scandal. I can't believe that the papers - even the right-leaning ones - aren't all over this. Especially since May has kept Hunt in role despite it being in such a fucking mess.
Makes you wonder how bad it needs to get before there's a reaction. -
An NHS tax is what they should do tbh.
OK the Tories are mishandling it but even if it was handled perfectly honestly it needs more money. The population is larger and people are living longer and as such have more ailments. Acceptance of "we can't do anything" isn't there anymore. The NHS is more expensive per person than it has ever been ( I assume) tbf).
A ring fenced forever NHS tax calculated in the exact same way as NI alongside a promise to phase out private contracts (with legally binding targets) would get my vote. -
Bollocks to that. Put corporation tax back up a couple of percent. Maybe raise the higher rate one penny.
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That only works if they bother collecting it from the big fish.WorKid wrote:Bollocks to that. Put corporation tax back up a couple of percent. Maybe raise the higher rate one penny. -
I agree. I mean that's generally how tax raising works.
There are plenty of ways of raising money. Inheritance tax again. End the stupid triple lock. A levy on big IT firms.
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