Question Time comes tonight from Basingstoke, which is twinned with Isengard and Mordor. Locally known as Gaysinblokes it is a marginally stylish buffer between the twin dumps of Southampton and Reading. It only features a swimming pool, two instantly forgettable colleges and a massive nightclub called Liquid which is populated by tattooed grannies dressed as 17-year olds.*
On the panel tonight we have Dept of Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling, the most self-righteous woman in the entire Universe Shirley Williams, Wee Dougie Alexander, the unpredictable but usual voice of sanity Jon Gaunt and…wait for it…Hugh Grant…
..right that’s right. Hugh Grant. This show has finally jumped the shark. An ugly-cheap-slapper-acquiring bloke who is notorious for trying too hard with high profile “girlfriends” to deflect the fact that he’s obviously gay. He appeared in some B movies. Years ago. Mug shot here, just for fun 🙂
Oh yes. That’s the BBC’s premier political programme tonight.
The LiveBlog will also stay open for the bizarreness of This Week with Andrew Neil, and Michael Portillo. They are joined on the Sofa of Mediocrity by the crater-faced failed postie Alan Johnson and the pompous Max Clifford. Sylvia Syms is promised as an extra (from Ice Cold In Alex? Surely not!), and a political round-up from Guradian bore Nick Watt.
David Vance, TheEye and David Mosque will be moderating the abuse here from 10:30pm. See you later!
* Note to the bloke who emailed me last week about the description of his town – I’ve never been to these places and it’s only humour, eh? *It’s a laugh* Go shoot yourself. Slowly.
You are too kind to Basingstoke. On the west side of the ring road as you head towards Reading off the M3 is a building that looks to have been designed for the Stasi.
A future home for the BBC/Guardian re education teams when they finally get control of the media and internet,
Polly as head warder( the kindly feminine face of tyrrany) .The rest of the BBocracy removing our inappropriate thoughts with extreme prejudice.
Tonight sounds awful.
Too kind? Very true. I wound my neck in because I was shouted at for my description of the venue last week. I should publish the email I received but I’d have to supply the missing punctuation and extra green ink from my own private stock.
I actually went to Basingstoke once, but I’ve had therapy and the nightmares are less frequent now.
Isengard isn’t in Mordor, and frankly I’ve always had a fancy for living in my very own high, Ent-proof tower, looking down on the inferior beings below and breeding Orcs and……….Oh cripes ! Rumbled again…….
Anyway, Basingstoke would probably best Mordor on any level of crappiness you could mention. Plus it’s much more difficult to escape from, and has this bizarre ability to suck in helpless drivers from any road in a 20 mile radius, and that’s truly disturbing.
A fine selection of pond life tonight, I see, plus the estimable Mr Gaunt. Shirley Williams tips me over the edge, though, so I think I’ll be going back to the orc breeding instead.
Of all the shit places I’ve been too High Wycombe was the worst. I nearly got glassed in a pub because my friend was tall and I had some facial hair.
I’ve just cancelled my licence fee payment
Had to laugh at Jon Gaunt’s comment about the 200 out of work journalists. Are journalists the new miners? They work for the NotW for crying out load, Britains best selling newspaper, not bad on your CV. At least they know how to get a story.
How can you expect people to take this site seriously when you’re clearly completely biased towards the right of politics? Of course the BBC’s centrist stance is going to seem liberal to you lot because it is liberal relative to your viewpoint.
To someone from the centre of politics I think I’m in a much better position to judge and to me, the BBC represents the highest standards of journalism, what would you prefer, Fox News?
Oh go on, I’m going to bite.
Nice of you to place yourself as the sole moral and philosophical arbiter of modern British politics.
You smug self-satisfied twat.
The centre of politics as you put it is not an absolutely defined position. One mans “mainstream” is another mans “bugger off you nutter, I’m trying to have a quiet pint“. So get off your high horse and smell the manure.
We support a wide variety of parties on here…many, all and none. You won’t even have heard of the one I belong to. But we are all united around the fact that we shouldn’t be forced *under threat of imprisonment* to pay for something that we don’t want.
“Right wing” is inaccurate. You’ll find more flavours of libertarian on here than classical right wingers. People who would be happy if the broadcasting monopoly could be broken utterly and for good. That a Fox News can be set up for people to watch it if they wish, but a Pravda can also exist, also free-to-air, also alongside it. Or for a subscription that you choose to pay.
We just want to be able to choose. With our wallets as well as just with our remote controls.
“BBCs centrist stance” my arse.
Personally I wouldn’t watch a version of Fox News. Its trendy liberal pinkishness makes my flesh crawl. But others would.
I suspect that what you call your centre ground is so lefty that it would make my nose bleed. But I don’t care. Have your own news channel. The BBC happens to fit your worldview nicely, but that’s not the point.
Enjoy your channel. Just don’t make me pay for it. And I’ll do you a deal…in exchange you don’t have to pay for mine.
Oh, and welcome to the site. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a drink, relax…oh…and stop being a twat.
“The centre of politics”? I refer everyone to Jeff Randall’s quote on the sidebar.
Without the context of a single previous word, it’s an unsubstantiated claim, and one that – in the context of the quotes on the sidebar – is open to suspicion.
It’s a fairly good rule of thumb that anyone who trumpets that they’re “centrist” or “sensible” or “voice of reason” turns out to be a leftie.
Alex, here’s your starter for ten. Just suppose for the sake of argument that the BBC was indeed biased to the left. Where on the political spectrum would most complaints tend to come from?
‘a fairly good rule of thumb’
Meanwhile such gems as ‘You lot’ and ‘I think I’m in a much better position to judge’ narrows a limited field down a fair bit too. Kind of familiar.
Sometimes a poster’s own words serve in argument enough.
Alex, when many moons ago I was a labour leftie, the only real bias I perceived at the BBC was left wing. Now, 30 years later, it’s endemic.
The BBC shouldn’t have any viewpoint whether it be left, right or centre, it should facilitate debate across the democratic spectrum and not take a view. The fact that far more conservatives complain about BBC political bias is proof in itself of just how left wing the BBC is.
Yes.
Which political party would you vote for?
I suspect Alex is a new poster here and I also suspect we shall never here from him again.
“hear” !
I’d like to hear more from Alex… I need a good laugh
“I think I am in a much better position to judge” is a much more appropriate motto for the BBC than “Nation shall speak peace unto Nation”.
Hugh Grant gay?
I am not having it!
Full marks to Grant. I was looking forwards to a hypocritical leftie luvvie performance, but to my immense disappointment he came across as clever, informed and balanced (if still a bit too left for my liking).
john, Your comment about clever and informed has just reminded me of something I had forgotten: Hugh went to Oxford.
“I think I am in a much better position to judge”
There’s a lot of it about, Little ‘Ern..
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100096049/a-very-old-snobbery-lurks-within-the-anti-news-of-the-world-camp/
“I’m not for regulating the proper press, the broadsheet press. But it is insane that the tabloid press is left unregulated.”
Tv broadcast (only) not mentioned.
Someone stepped into my name on that liveblog. I had a tip-off from a reliable source.
I know it’s a common moniker and noone has a monopoly, but that ‘sue’ aint me.
Just in case anyone thinks it was. Or cares.
Same thing happened to me. It seemed pretty random as well. From what I heard, fighting nasty Uncle Rupert really brought out the vicious army that night.
It always amuses me how the far-Left self-righteous warriors always think street gang drive-by tactics will convince anyone of anything.