Having watched the three party leaders, questioned by the BBC Question Time audience, and then later Nigel Farage's questioning, it would seem to me that it was Farage who gave the most straight forward and common sense answers.
Quite agree, aog. What really struck me, though, was the unbiased nature of the first audience. No SWP boo boys, just polite applause all around. So despite BBC denials of audience bias they've obviously overhauled the selection
process.
Even Farage's audience, though hostile at first, were reasonable enough to listen. Hence they almost carried him around the studio on their shoulders by the end.
Couldn't say the same for the presenters. Dumbleby, for a change, didn't interrupt the first 3 and we could hear what they had to say. However that dreadful communist harpee wouldn't stop interrupting 'Nige', especially when he was winning the audience around. We, I anyway, tuned in to hear him, not her.
I'm afraid for once I got bored with Nige extolling the virtues of Europe and switched off.
Did anyone ask him if UKIP would give the British people a referendum on the EU and where the money for their manifesto pledges would come from if we stayed in?
I keep meaning to ask our UKIP candidate that but I'm concerned I'd end up on their mailing list
I know you like to imagine that you're the only person in the country who has discovered a massive hole re. finances in the UKIP manifesto. Don't want to burst your bubble but don't you think if their 'bottom line' was contingent on us leaving the EU, one of the team of experts who signed off on their 'costings' might have noticed. Or one of their political opponents might just have picked up on the same. The BBC and MSM have teams dedicated to the destruction of UKIP and the continuation of the corrupt status quo but they all missed it? Rather unlikely, don't you think.
Anyway, just keep voting for the legacy parties. They've been doing such a fantastic job, after all. (joke)
aog
Very much agree,
I recall that the 3 had to be steered back on course sometimes by Dimbleby like they were evading the question because they were caught on the back foot.Red ed certainly caught his back foot on his scurried exit from the lectern.
As always Nigel Farage looked his questioner in the face and gave direct answers to the questions put to him with no provarication or umms and errs.
A far better ,confident speaker who has nailed his colours to the mast and knows what his party has to do for the people he would represent given the chance.
So Svejk can you explain how UKIP are going to square the issue of financing their manifesto if we don't leave the EU or problems arise with us suddenly unilaterally deciding to stop paying our bills. It's certainly 'costed' but presumably it wasn't the business of the costers to comment further ...
And as far as anyone else is concerned given there is no chance of it coming to pass maybe they just can't be bothered worrying about it :-)
No, I haven't studied it in any depth. I'm just presuming that others have.
You think there's no chance of us leaving the EU?
If you mean there's no chance of UKIP forming the government, I'd agree with you. But then there's no chance of any party except Labour or Cons. forming the next government. They still produce manifestos so people know what 'they're about'.
I've not studied it in depth either but a huge percentage of the funding would come from non payment of EU subscriptions. A large part of their immigration policy depends on us leaving the EU which could not happen any time soon.
UKIP I would be the first to admit have some good and worthy policies such as the help for ex service folk etc but they also have a lot of extremely backward ones such as abolition of primary school sex education and the reintroduction of smoking in pubs. I'd be interested to know if those were mentioned last night.
Smoking in pubs was saved by the *BBC as the 'coup de grace' to finish Farage off. Unfortunately for them, Nigel already had the crowd eating out of his hand and was able to hoist the question away for another six.
*Early on, some lad tried to bring smoking into the debate but Joco pounced on him and said 'we're not talking about that now, ask him something else'. Surprise, surprise, right at the end BBC plant whined about us returning to the dark ages and other such hyperbole re smoking in pubs. Nigel made her look as foolish as she deserved to be.
I thought Nick Clegg got a particularly nasty grilling over the "leaked" plans about Child Benefit. Fourth question I think. Wonderful insight shown by that particular questioner. Bethany, I think her name was.
The Lib Dems are positioning themselves as the junior partner in a Coalition -- would other parties be so keen on joining with them if behind-the-scenes discussions are leaked?
/// but they also have a lot of extremely backward ones such as abolition of primary school sex education and the reintroduction of smoking in pubs. I'd be interested to know if those were mentioned last
night. ///
Sex education in primary schools wasn't why should it be?
This is what UKIP's Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall said back in September.
*** We need a return to a more traditional primary education, with ‘the three ‘R’s. ***
*** Scrap sex and relationship education for children under the age of
11. ***
Smoking in pubs was, and Nigel Farage pointed out that Germany took a sensible approach to smoking in bars, mostly in special set aside rooms.
He asked the questioner "would he class Germany a backward nation"? (or something similar)
But why are these two subjects so important in the scheme of things.
Note what he said on defence, immigration, the NHS etc etc.