FlyTheNest

Morning all.

Mad Nads v Mariella Frostrup!

To the unfortunate surprise of no-one

RIP Dave Ball. Loved Soft Cell since I was a kid which ultimately led to the hilarious episode where my parents tried to cure me of suspected gayness by taking my Soft Cell posters down and replacing them with (ironically) Samantha Fox.

I guess 66 is no age to be shuffling off this mortal coil but in Dave's case I think it's fair to say he did well to last as long as he did.

Ok, this is the most pathetic thing I've seen in a while

Question Time came tonight from Swindon.

For Labour we had Stephen Kinnock. This may come as a bit of a shock but Stephen was actually quite good. After testing the waters it's clear the 'brexit is shit' message has gone down well with the focus groups so Labour are going in with both feet. The likelihood of Stephen Kinnock going rogue is infinitesimal so you have to presume his utterances this evening were pre-approved. And Stephen really went for it, telling it like it is about small boat crossings being a result of Brexit, going so far as to call them the 'Farage boats' and getting applause for it in leave voting Swindon. Same with the economy, pointing out the damage brexit has done and will continue to do in the future. I must confess I was mildly gobsmacked, not just by what was being said but who was saying it. And you know what the result was? Stephen Kinnock of all people having the most successful night in front of a QT audience that a Labour MP has had in many months.

For the Tories we had Harriet Baldwin. Harriet tried to claim the Rwanda scheme would have been a huge success if it hadn't been for those pesky courts and the Labour party. When asked to give any advantages of brexit Harriet waffled about the American trade deal, got laughed at and squirmed so painfully Fiona Bruce had to step in as an act of mercy. Don't be like Harriet.

For Reform we had Nadine Dorries. If anyone remotely sane in Reform watched Mad Nads performance tonight they'll have had their head in their hands. She got absolutely hammered by the audience and panel alike and rightly so. It's all very good laughing at her but she's so fucking thick some of the idiocy she comes out with is downright dangerous. Take the grooming gangs enquiry. She was rightly accused by members of the audience and panel of blatantly using the suffering of those women for political ends to much applause. When challenged to explain exactly why she was accusing Jess Phillips of lying at the dispatch box despite being given two goes at it Bruce had to eventually step in to put her out of her burbling misery. But the most dangerous piece of abject stupidity she came out with was her idea that the whole enquiry should be live on TV for us all to watch. What the fuck? Apart from a couple most of those women are understandably protecting their identities. Even if you were to blur their faces and alter their voices the evidence they'd be providing would almost certainly make them identifiable. And Nadine in her infinite wisdom wants to dox them.

For all that's good we had Mariella Frostrup. Those of us of a certain age first became aware of Mariella late at night reviewing films in the early 90's and have loved her ever since. I framed this evenings QT as Mariella vs Mad Nads but it was barely even a contest. It's funny isn't it, despite all the polls and doom and gloom about this country lurching to the right put a smart, humane person in front of an audience and let them question the bullshit from the likes of Dorries and Harriet the Tory and look what happens. She wipes the floor with them. And that's not just my utterly biased opinion, the audience loved her. At least most of them, there were a few red faced angry looking gentleman who'd probably just been out painting roundabouts but curiously none of them had the balls to put their hands up to contradict her despite their heroic other lives dressing up as cosplay knights online. Mariella was marvellous, just the right side of mockingly taking the piss while still appearing polite.