The BBC has become a mouthpiece for Reform and will help win them the next election

He's done a massive U turn on the Iran war, too. I think Reform have peaked and are on the descent, which is being massively assisted by them picking up failed Tories.

Well it reported this week that:

“Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he wishes the party "hadn't bothered" to take minority control of Worcestershire County Council, because of its financial problems.”

So it’s not that much of a mouthpiece. Oh diddums , Nigel, running the local council hard work, is it?!

In any case, let him spout. He’s making an enormous fool of himself.

You wouldn't know, they barely get to speak if they're on the LK show.

There is barely any point interviewing a Labour Minister - they will have a different opinion next week.

Yep zonder for sure. Must be a weird psychology there - like trying to be mates with the confident kids at school. As if in some way that will work out. We should choose the calm clever people but here we are …

I wish!

I think Johnson proved that a good number of people in this country want some kind of entertainment from the leadership, sadly, @Newgirls

the Lib Dem’s might have some good personalities - I’ve barely seen them on tv to judge. Just endless Farage who has an obnoxious personality. Why are we beholden to gobby men? Why can’t we have calm considered intelligent people? Because they don’t make good tv? Are we that daft that we want entertainment more than leadership?

Why is it mainly Tory and Reform supporters that want to get rid of the BBC?

Is it about personalities? Who gets to decide who has personality?

At first I would have agreed with you about Ed D but then I could see LD would have had practically NO coverage if he hadn't made this effort. I'm not LD but I've got a lot of time for Ed.

They do. They seem to lack personalities who will come across on TV and I think Ed Davies may also be paying for playing the class clown at the elections. They don't seem to have been regarded as capable of winning a general election for a very long time and that plays against them too.

Actually I think it’s amazing. Reform should be given as much coverage as possible. Let them speak, the more they do the quicker they’ll dig that hole even deeper. The more support they get the less visible Farage seems to be. If they are a credible contender he will get scared of real work as he doesn’t really want to be PM!

They come out with things they can’t explain or back up with anything. If they are allowed this much airtime by the time of the next GE they’ll have well and truly exposed themselves.

Restore Britain?

Great name isn't it? Restore Britain. Fuck Northern Ireland ....

0/10 for political sensitivity there Rupert.

I guess the only hope to hold onto is that reform and this new restore party will tear each other to shreds. Plus the ten or so others that will pop up in the next three years before the election.

I agree @Newgirls I find the LD example particularly interesting. They get less airtime than Reform with bigger representation in the House of Commons.

Totally agree. Chris Mason is so biased. He’s a small man trying to make himself important by being critical of Starmer. It’s laughable.

if TV coverage was about polling it would feature more Lib Dems who have a large number of MPs and poll a high % of votes in local and general elections.

I've heard that before and I think it's an odd argument. I think some people use examples like HIGNFY and The Mash as examples of the left wing bias. That's nothing compared to the examples I've cited above.

Airing some comedy that could be seen as left wing (although Hislop definitely isn't left wing) doesn't balance out the political programmes I've talked about.

I've given you actual examples. Go and watch QT when there's a labour rep and a reform rep (not difficult to find episodes with both on as reform are very highly represented given the number of MPs they have), or LK on a Sunday to compare when she's speaking to a member of govt with when she's speaking to a Tory or Reform person. Look back on her interviews with Johnson and compare some of those with her interviews with Labour MPs. Look at just about any time Chris Mason is on the news.

I think the fact that the right say it’s left leaning, and the left say it’s right leaning, shows that it’s actually pretty balanced!

That's why I said I don't just suspect. I wasn't guessing.

Like I said, I'd be happy to read of actual examples that don't just criticise the amount of air time or complain about current Cabinet Members being given a harder time than those not actually in power.

You wouldn't need to guess I am right wing, I have already stated on other politics threads, if not this one, that I'm a small c conservative, though my vote is waiting for a party to show they deserve it. I'm also a Benthamite, for completeness.

It's interesting @Imdunfer that you think my post was because of their economic literacy. It wasn't. It was to do with Laura's interview style and how she changed approach depending on who she is interviewing. Chris is a whole different matter.

Of course I don't just suspect you have a right wing slant.

Also it's not about not seeing Reform. It's about the amount of airtime given to them, and the style in which they are presented. I'm hoping you can understand this rather than trying to pretend it's something to do with RW having greater intelligence or understanding economic literacy better.

I think you've probably got a left slant yourself? I suspect there are some words missing from your statement. Nobody on the left can watch them without noticing they have a right slant. The opposite is probably also true 😁

I also think Kuenssberg and Mason's economic literacy is also mistaken for a right leaning slant. Anyone who believes that you cannot go on borrowing more and more money without limit is accused of being right wing.

I'd be happy to read some examples of their right slant other than complaints that popular parties are given too much time and serving cabinet members are quizzed more heavily than has beens and wannabees.

It seems to me from this forum that there is a section of society who loathe Reform and its supporters and think that their own loathing should translate into not seeing that party on the BBC in proportion to its ratings in the polls.

@5MinuteArgument Show me the stats on “nearly all”. I don’t believe that at all. Where did you get that assertion from?