UKIP lady has a go at George Osborne MP on BBC

Britannist · 22-04-2006, 05:30 AM

* A supporter of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) asked George Osborne, the Conservative opposition (Shadow) Chancellor, if he “was one of those who advised David Cameron to attack UKIP.”

Mr. Osborne was appearing as a panellist on BBC 1 Television Question Time at 11.02 pm on 20.4.2006, when a middle aged lady in the audience posed the question (which followed David Cameron’s unprovoked attack on UKIP in which he called the party a bunch of fruitcakes and closet racists). The panel on Question Time had been debating the new campaign of the governing Labour Party against Conservative leader David Cameron (in which Mr. Cameron is depicted in a 2006 local election party election broadcast as a chameleon).

The UKIP lady in the audience said “David Cameron showed great immaturity by making the remarks about UKIP” George Osborne answered “An attack in a radio interview is different from one in a party political broadcast. UKIP responded to David Cameron’s criticism by saying that they would not tolerate being called racist – but didn’t mind the other criticism (David Cameron’s claim that they are fruitcakes).That says it all.” Janet Daley, the newspaper columnist, who was also on the Question Time panel told George Osborne in a disapproving tone “Your party Chairman has reiterated his support for David Cameron’s verbal attack on UKIP in an interview he gave on the radio this morning.”

michael mcgough · 22-04-2006, 08:14 AM

If I may just add the point that Janet Daley also made the point that Francis Maude clearly had time top think before his statement proving that Tory slurs were part of a strategy.

kernow · 22-04-2006, 10:42 AM

I was disappointed that no one in the audience appeared to give the lady any support, a bit like don't mention the war!

Aardvark · 22-04-2006, 11:51 AM

QT is a numbers game.

To get on to the programme you can apply through the BBC website. You get sent a whole lot of forms to fill in and you select the programmes you prefer to go on. Everybody is asked who they would vote for. The idea of QT is to get a fair mix. I assume that they base their figures on latest election results and therefore in an audience of 200 we will probably not get more than half a dozen known supporters. QT make an effort, based on the people who apply, to reflect the mix of society.

I was on in Newbury, about 30 miles from where I live, and the audience was mainly white middle class as you might expect. Chikrodah was on in Birmingham so the mix would have been different. We both got to ask questions from the floor, but were not amongst those selected to initiate debates - again done by everyone filling in forms with their questions and current topics being selected. Disabled applicants are allowed, but in Newbury we had none since none had applied.

I thought the programme was well run and didn't feel that I was victimised because of my views. I got a round of applause for my points, but we were not discussing a party political issue.

The lady who spoke the other night would have been in an audience with 70 odd Tories, 30 or 40 Lib Dems and 70 Labour and a few others. Hence the lack of support.

mkpdavies · 22-04-2006, 03:28 PM

Osborne was very weak on QT. A Tory (wavering) at work couldn't hide his contempt for the guy.

His words exactly

"People are sick of Blair style politics and this idiot has embraced them fully".

I couldn't agree more.

marsipan · 22-04-2006, 03:55 PM

Question Time is a programme that I cannot be bothered to watch anymore, such is its bias against anti-EU / pro-British views.

I too have been on the programme. Prior to the taping of it there was a question and answer session with a producer of some description (to test the sound/mics).

It was ever so jolly and light-hearted until I asked why the show was so biased ie the way the panel is always overwhelmingly pro-European/EU.

Stopped the pompous sod in his tracks and he had to 'call-up' for the Executive Producer to come down and state the case.

"What do you mean?" he enquired.

"Simple", said I. "Why is there never a majority on the panel who want Britain to leave the EU? There is always a majority the other way round with the token euro-sceptic given the occasional spot"

"We had Kilroy on recently and the leader of UKIP is going to be on shortly" said he (clearly missing the point). Then in a piece of breathtaking logic he said the programme tried to reflect the parties in Parliament, to whichI replied there are plenty of sceptics to choose from on both sides of the house.

He simply lifted his shoulders and eyebrows

He used that same logic to justify not allowing representatives of the BNP on the show even though as the questioner pointed out it would give others a chance to demolish their arguments in front of millions.

That's the BBC for you. That's Question Time folks.

22-04-2006, 05:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 23,176	UKIP lady has a go at George Osborne MP on BBC * A supporter of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) asked George Osborne, the Conservative opposition (Shadow) Chancellor, if he “was one of those who advised David Cameron to attack UKIP.” Mr. Osborne was appearing as a panellist on BBC 1 Television Question Time at 11.02 pm on 20.4.2006, when a middle aged lady in the audience posed the question (which followed David Cameron’s unprovoked attack on UKIP in which he called the party a bunch of fruitcakes and closet racists). The panel on Question Time had been debating the new campaign of the governing Labour Party against Conservative leader David Cameron (in which Mr. Cameron is depicted in a 2006 local election party election broadcast as a chameleon). The UKIP lady in the audience said “David Cameron showed great immaturity by making the remarks about UKIP” George Osborne answered “An attack in a radio interview is different from one in a party political broadcast. UKIP responded to David Cameron’s criticism by saying that they would not tolerate being called racist – but didn’t mind the other criticism (David Cameron’s claim that they are fruitcakes).That says it all.” Janet Daley, the newspaper columnist, who was also on the Question Time panel told George Osborne in a disapproving tone “Your party Chairman has reiterated his support for David Cameron’s verbal attack on UKIP in an interview he gave on the radio this morning.”

22-04-2006, 03:28 PM	#5 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 32,078 Party: Libertarian Party	Osborne was very weak on QT. A Tory (wavering) at work couldn't hide his contempt for the guy. His words exactly "People are sick of Blair style politics and this idiot has embraced them fully". I couldn't agree more. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Lib Dems

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22-04-2006, 08:14 AM	#2 (permalink)
michael mcgough Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Essex Posts: 1,254	If I may just add the point that Janet Daley also made the point that Francis Maude clearly had time top think before his statement proving that Tory slurs were part of a strategy.

22-04-2006, 10:42 AM	#3 (permalink)
kernow Uber Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 5,288	I was disappointed that no one in the audience appeared to give the lady any support, a bit like don't mention the war!

22-04-2006, 11:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
Aardvark Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Oxonia Posts: 4,256	QT is a numbers game. To get on to the programme you can apply through the BBC website. You get sent a whole lot of forms to fill in and you select the programmes you prefer to go on. Everybody is asked who they would vote for. The idea of QT is to get a fair mix. I assume that they base their figures on latest election results and therefore in an audience of 200 we will probably not get more than half a dozen known supporters. QT make an effort, based on the people who apply, to reflect the mix of society. I was on in Newbury, about 30 miles from where I live, and the audience was mainly white middle class as you might expect. Chikrodah was on in Birmingham so the mix would have been different. We both got to ask questions from the floor, but were not amongst those selected to initiate debates - again done by everyone filling in forms with their questions and current topics being selected. Disabled applicants are allowed, but in Newbury we had none since none had applied. I thought the programme was well run and didn't feel that I was victimised because of my views. I got a round of applause for my points, but we were not discussing a party political issue. The lady who spoke the other night would have been in an audience with 70 odd Tories, 30 or 40 Lib Dems and 70 Labour and a few others. Hence the lack of support.

22-04-2006, 03:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
marsipan Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 70	Question Time is a programme that I cannot be bothered to watch anymore, such is its bias against anti-EU / pro-British views. I too have been on the programme. Prior to the taping of it there was a question and answer session with a producer of some description (to test the sound/mics). It was ever so jolly and light-hearted until I asked why the show was so biased ie the way the panel is always overwhelmingly pro-European/EU. Stopped the pompous sod in his tracks and he had to 'call-up' for the Executive Producer to come down and state the case. "What do you mean?" he enquired. "Simple", said I. "Why is there never a majority on the panel who want Britain to leave the EU? There is always a majority the other way round with the token euro-sceptic given the occasional spot" "We had Kilroy on recently and the leader of UKIP is going to be on shortly" said he (clearly missing the point). Then in a piece of breathtaking logic he said the programme tried to reflect the parties in Parliament, to whichI replied there are plenty of sceptics to choose from on both sides of the house. He simply lifted his shoulders and eyebrows He used that same logic to justify not allowing representatives of the BNP on the show even though as the questioner pointed out it would give others a chance to demolish their arguments in front of millions. That's the BBC for you. That's Question Time folks.