Question Time last night

[SambuccaKelly]

Apologies if there is already a thread about this - I couldn't find it.

Did you watch it last night?

Government refused to have anyone appear on the show because Alistair Campbell was on the panel.

A new, inclusive politics, not based on the old, bitter feuds, eh? Well that lasted a long time, didn't it?

He may be all of those things in your opinion, Cammelia, but Campbell 'deserves air time' because he has been extraordinarily influential in successive governments since the early 90s, and remains a huge influence within the main opposition party in our country.

I always thought Dimbleby was a Tory, too.

Sambucca - going back a bit...

Sorry, by 'send', I meant, whilst QT obviously asked Campbell (not Cameron, Duh), I'd have been surprised if they'd turned down a shadow cabinet member if offered (maybe they did for the entertainment value, as you say). It still seems odd to me that, when Labour want to put on a new shiny face, they didn't offer up a shadow minister, but someone to indelibly linked with spin. But then I'm an old cynic about all parties...

In all honesty, I'm not sure why that is either@Ribena.

smallwhitecat - do you seriously think that there are no 'unelected' counterparts working behind the scenes for the Tories?

I think Labour didn't want to put anyone serious on while they're going through the leadership selection process.

I don't even believe Campbell was put on by the Labour party, I think he was just representing himself, as usual.

I don't understand your 'point', smallwhitecat. You don't like Campbell. OK. That's clear. He's not elected. Right. And?

FFS indeed.

Cammelia - I don't think the Labour party put Campbell on either. He likes to keep himself centre stage of whatever is going on and , let's face it, he doesn't know which way the wind will blow and whether or not he will keep hold of the power he has enjoyed hitherto.

Is Alastair Campbell an official Labour spokesman?

Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet are bound by collective responsibility. Elected MPs are bound by their manifesto commitments, even if they are backbenchers.

Journalists like Piers Morgan and Max Hastings - however distasteful you might find them - are obviously commentators. They come with their own prejudices, usually further from the centre ground than the political debate itself, but they do not speak for any party.

"Party grandees" are the worst type of QT panellist.

But Question Time itself is well past its sell-by date. Krishnan Gurumurthy did a brilliant job moderating the first Chancellors' debate on Channel 4 - and Andrew Neil was superb for the Daily Politics debates for the BBC. Both were far better formats, in my opinion.

I don't think Campbell was represeting the LP on question time. The fact the govt wouldn't send a rep on is frankly pathetic, whether you love or loathe AC.