EARLY ONE MORNING.........................
Liberal Democrat Councillor for Stansted North on Uttlesford District Council and former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Learn more
by Alan Dean on 11 March, 2015
The Prime Minister’s avoidance of a Tv debate unless he is part of a large crowd of party leaders is in marked contrast to his pleas to Gordon Brown five years ago. They say David Cameron has no fixed principles; only temporary tactics for short-term party advantage.
This is what columnist Matthew d’Ancona thinks about the Leader of the Conservative Party.
It will be interesting to see whether local accountability and challenge are dear to the hearts of general election candidates in the Saffron Walden Constituency or whether some candidates, like Cameron, run away from interrogation by their voters and their opponents. It’s a test of whether a candidate thinks his or her personal electability and protection of his or her self-importance are more important than accountability to the public which pays them and so are best served by hiding from public view at public hustings.
3 Comments
Michael Grade also wrote on this issue in The Times today. Unlike d’Ancona he actually has experience of running broadcasting companies and he is highly critical of the way certain elements of the media seem to have forgotten their role in the democratic process, which is to report and challenge, not to try and set the arena for debate.
Cameron has said that he will take part in one debate along with various other party leaders. He is under no compulsion to take part in any, regardless of what any bien-pensant scribbler might wish.
I suspect that the debates, whatever form they take and whoever takes part, will have very little impact on the outcome of the election. The BBC and other broadcasters might do well do consider that most of the public do not share their obsessions or indeed their broadly left of centre political views.
Cameron has nothing to lose by sticking to his guns and little to gain by bowing to pressure from a bunch of broadcasters.
I have to disagree with you, Keith. on one particular part of your post, namely the oft-repeated assertion that the ‘Beeb’ is left of centre. If you were to take a straw poll of those who attend ‘Question Time’ it is almost certainly equally true that those of a left-wing persuasion view the BBC as speaking predominantly for the ‘chattering classes’ and those whose opinions tend to the right.
We in the UK are actually extremely lucky to have in our country the finest broadcasting corporation in the world bar none in terms of the quality of its production and output (and ignoring the Jeremy Clarkson affair which has grabbed the headlines over the past 48hrs!). I might on occasions switch over to CH4 (a good second to the BBC) or even Sky or a foreign broadcaster such as Al-Jazeera to get a different slant on a particular news item. But God save us from Fox News – which, according to recent statistics from the States, provides the larger part of the news-feed for a large proportion of the American public. This statistics from the USA say a good deal about the comparative ignorance of world, and particularly European affairs, of many people ‘across the pond’.
The news and comment we get from the BBC is, by and large, accurate and detailed, and presented by journalists with many years of experience in different parts of the world. Yes, the Corporation occasionally gets it wrong – and invariably issues corrections and updates when it does, but in this instance, is it not reasonable to expect our Prime Minister to carry out his democratic duty by presenting himself and his policies for the examination of the electorate, albeit superficially – especially as all we have to look forward to is yet more austerity and cuts to public services over the lifetime of the next government, which Cameron hopes to lead? Is it not also right that he should be exposed to the criticism of other party leaders?
I think we all need to regard the BBC as one of our greatest national treasures. Unfortunately it’s becoming all too easy to knock it.
With regard to Question Time, that used to be a flagship serious debating programme that attracted serious politicians and an engaged, informed audience in the studio and at home. Chaired by Robin Day it was an opportunity to see serious people discussing serious things and we could learn something from the debate.
It has degenerated into a tedious and infantilised affair, the likes of Grayson Perry and Russell Brand should not be pontificating on the programme, Dimblebore is a lousy chairman and it is interesting to note how few serious politicians bother to take part.
Cameron has nothing to gain from taking part in debates and much to lose. It was debates that brought Clegg to the position he now holds (tenuously, and not for much longer) and how many people believe that that was a particularly good thing? Coalition was a necessity for both parties, the involvement or otherwise of Clegg made little difference.
Also, the tone of the broadcasters leaves a sour taste, they do not set the parameters for such debates and they will not be standing for election.
You and I will have to agree to differ Geoff but I respect your opinion. I hold to my view that the debates, whoever takes part in them, will have very little influence on the outcome of the election.