Chloe smith interview in Newsnight

[dev9aug]

Link The interview starts at 6.18.
Do you think she was deliberately sacrificed to the media for this latest u turn? DC and GO knew it would be a difficult interview so why did they not send one of the bigwigs to the interviews, especially when CS had already struggled on C4 news earlier.

I can't quite decide on the reasons, it could be either..

1. she is a newbie or

2. she is female

3. they ran out of ministers to defend their u turns.

Or 4) She's the best minister they've got to deal with Paxo

George Osborne should have done this interview.

Is she the same minister that didn't know the difference between debt and deficit?

I was just about to post something about this - BBC story

I think the bit at the bottom if this ^^ article sums it up.

'Some Tory MPs were said to be furious that they had been told to defend the government's decision not to delay the fuel rise until a few hours before it was reversed.

One told the BBC: "It was absolutely bloody stupid, treating us like idiots."'

Seems it's not just the electorate they treat like idiots then

Guess its just not me who is wondering then!!

m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sdbEOKza18VM5RvM_RnL39w/view.m?id=15&gid=commentisfree/2012/jun/27/fuel-duty-osborne-chloe-smith-newsnight&cat=politics

Perhaps Anne Perkins read this thread?

Poor girl - she's only 30 but looks about 12 despite the severe haircut and glasses. Astonished she's an MP let alone in charge of anything or sent as a sacrifice to Paxo - she read English at York and apart from a brief stint as a management consultant, has no economic or political background.

She's utterly cringeworthy - I had to turn it off as had the urge to hide behind the sofa. Or hide her behind the sofa

So painful to watch.

She played an absolute blinder. Never buckled under the pressure. Paxo piled it on, but the public watching started to feel sorry for her and admired her resilience under pressure. Paxo came out looking a bit unfair, she came out with the public wholeheartedly behind her in her refusal to give Pqaxo a running commentary about who knew what when. Master stroke by her and the Tory tacticians.

Reeled Paxo in with consummate ease. If the Tories carry on like this, the next election may well be a shoo-in.

Apparantly she got the job in the Treasury because Cameron thought she was a qualified accountant.

He rang her up, offered her the job telling her she was idea being a chartered accountant. She had to point out she isn't an accountant but had worked as a management consultant for an accountacny firm.

Cameron is a twat.

Claig I can never tell when you're being sarcastic .

OK, there was a slight bit of levity in there, but the essential point still stands.

She died on the spot, claig, it was one of the most embarrassing performances I've ever seen by a 'professional' politician.

Are you having a funny turn, claig? :)

I reckon her bum cheeks were clenched so tightly she's trying to extract the Newsnight chair from them as we speak

Worst media interview I think I've seen, barring the Thick of It!

And less of the poor girl, she's only 30, just a jnr minister etc. She is paid £90k + expenses to formulate, implement and defend government policy.

She will also have media advisors and trainers and she had 3 hours between her awful channel 4 interview and Newsnight. She could and should have got her lines straight.

As I said on this thread last night and on this thread today it was hilarious and a bit sad she got thrown to the lions. What a shame the shiny headed fuckwit and the slimy weasel don't have her balls. Although Paxo's wearing hers as earrings. :o

A friend of mine used to teach Paxman's DCs. Apparently Mr Paxman is nothing compared to Mrs Paxman .

claig must have been watching something else.

I recognise management bullshit speak when I hear it - obvious she was a management consultant.

I'm still PMSL at mamma's butt clenching comment

But she's come out of it ok as everyone knew she'd been shafted including her and Paxo.

Did lol at "Before lunch or after lunch?!"

OMG I am cringing for her! Ouch, she really needs to get more experience before being set up for a pummelling from Paxman.

It's just a grown up version of "fagging". The posh boys send someone younger and inexperienced in to do the jobs they don't want/can't be arsed to do.

Spot on, headfairy . Though if UnGorgeous George hadn't passed the buck, he wouldn't [imho] have been able to deal with Paxo either.

Although, G.O may have been kept well away from TV interiews, given his lack of charm.

and understanding of the economy

I think it was her hesitation and bad avoidance of the questions which made it so awful to watch.

It would have been passable I think to say that the fuel duty increase was 'delayed' to help families who are struggling. And that if they hadn't have delayed it then Paxman would be saying why are we not helping families in their time of need? The coalition are doing everything they possibly can to help and this sort of announcement shows a responsive government doing their best to help.

Then repeat that the plan is still in place but the plan cannot be blindly executed without consideration to world events which are unfolding.

Of course I'm not sure anyone believes it. I wouldn't. But it probably would have sounded better than the cringeworthy shambles it was.

She could have taken the line that when the budget was passed, the government couldn't have predicted the on-going mess in the Eurozone and that, in light of this, it seems prudent to freeze duty temporarily...

She could have said that fuel duty was being frozen due to inflationary fears...

She could have blamed fuel price volatility as a reason for not increasing duty...

We'd have known, Paxo would have known and she would have known that these excuses above are all just bullshit, but it might have made the decision look like it was a bit more planned rather than a reaction to populist demands and would have prevented her from looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

Alternatively, shock horror, she could have come clean about this and called it exactly as it is - i.e. a giveaway caused by populist demands. She might have been given credit for telling the truth, who knows. One thing is for sure though, nothing is worse for your career than looking like a party wonk resolutely defending the indefensible and parroting the party line. See Ed Miliband's interview or Paxo v's Michael Howard's infamous interview.

Don't understand why she was so deferential. All she had to say is that the decision is right for the country and the deficit reduction plan is intact. The timing of the decision is irrelevent as long as the right decision is made. Would have been better for the Tories if they had not put anyone up. Don't really like Paxman's sneering contempt - a lot of cheap shots in there and the interview did not add to the sum of human knowledge. So apart from making Paxman feel virile what did this interview achieve?