political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Interviewing Vince Cable
Tomorrow morning I am interviewing Vince Cable for one of my IN CONVERSATION pieces for the next issue of Total Politics. Feel free to suggest questions you think I should ask him.
Do you think Lib dems are freer (particularly in terms of media coverage) to play about with radical ideas, because there is no chance that they will ever be in power.
Would you accept an offer from Gordon Brown to become Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Do you regret not being leader of the Liberal Democrats?
Who was the greatest Liberal/Liberal Democrat leader in your opinion?
Can you forsee a hung Parliament/ If so which party would you prefer to support?
Would you appear as a contestant on Strictly come dancing if asked?
Do you think the bear pit of the House of Commons which you all facing each other, adds to a proper and effective debate?
Would you agree that the Houses of Parliament should be re-housed in a modern purpose built building in the centre of the Country?
Do you believe that we will see BNP Members of Parliament at the general election?
If the Conservative and the Labour Parties are not the answer how would a Liberal Democrat Government be different. Would you, for example, promise in your manifesto a referendum on the EU on the simple IN or OUT question Nick Clegg believes to be the only sensible question to be asked?
Now,...What are you going to do? On; The economy Immigration Illegals Blair & Brown treasonous immigration policy Clegg Education Crime Young violent offenders Old violent offenders/child abusers/killers Prison overcrouding Clegg Banner waving nutters Afghanistan Tether Clegg.....there That should keep him occupied. Love you
"What do you think of Andrew Neather's allegations that the current massive problems caused by immigration are the result of deliberate Labour party policy?"
Ask him where he and the LibDems stand on the Smoking Ban Experiment. They voted overwhelmingly for the ban but would a LibDem government give back choice to the businessman/woman as to whether he/she allows smoking on their premises.
What does he think about the Andrew Neather revelations; that Labour deliberately engineered mass immigration for their own political purposes against the countries interests.
The latest opinion polls suggest that an alliance of the Left would comfortably beat the Conservatives in a General Election (Labour+LibDems+Greens). Don't you owe it to those who dread a Conservative government to work with other parties of the Left to establish a basis for cooperation?
1. State pension liabilites 2. State second pension liabilities 3. State employee pensions liabilities 4. Gilt debt 5. Nuclear decommissionings.
7-8 trillion of debts and liabilities.
How is it going to be paid?
Should people get an itemised statement as to their share?
If he denies the level of debt and restricts it to gilts, the push him. ie. Why should the only debt be government bond borrowing? So the lib deb plan is to default on all the state pensions. Should people be told?
Next one. Why aren't MPs being prosecuted for Fraud? What about Lords and their little frauds?
Why should it be Parliament that sorts it out and not the courts and a jury?
If he mentions retrospection, push him to tell us which written part of the Green Book and Code of Conduct has been changed. If its gardening, ask him which page of the Green Book the gardening allowances are mentioned. They aren't.
Should MPs who pay back money pay interest on what is an interest free loan? If not its a benefit should it be taxed? You might ask it the other way round. Its more of a trap.
And lastly the Skinner question. When will he resign.
If the Lib Dems can accept an impermissible £2.5 million donation from a convicted fraudster and claim that it is alright because it was accepted in good faith, what does that say about their probity and competence, and why should we trust them to run the country?
You left out the bnp in your list of alliance of the left. Why? The bnp are the most socialist of all of you and it's also where a huge majority of Labour's working class vote has gone
Well, you could ask him what he thinks about uncontrolled immigration. Or what he thinks about Royal Mail privatisation, or what he thinks about the dependency culture, or any number of other questions. But what is the point? You will just get the usual lies, prevarications & obfuscations.
I am sick to death of the politicians, the 'Westminster village', the fawning journalists. All of them have no connection whatever to what the majority of the electorate thinks. They think the electorate is beneath contempt, their only concern is to bamboozle it.
I cannot even begin to express the level of loathing I feel. Our politcal system is nothing to do with the electorate, democracy has long been dead. The one time nascent hope of Cameron has degenerated into central control and all-women shortlists. What hope of localism there?
And what about the EU? Any attention to the wishes of the electorate there? In our dreams! Just more weasel words.
However you vote, Labour, Conservative, LibDem, Green, UKIP, BNP, you are casting a vote for central control, thought police, and an overweening arrogance that discounts the electorate.
I do know a little bit about this. I resigned my position as Secretary of my local Conservative Association many years ago because I was SO disgusted at its attitude to the voters. I happen to be a voter.
Ask him also whether Rennard still does the campaigning part of his job for the Lib Dems. He may not do the chief executive stuff but I think he is still deeply involved in the campaigns side of things.
Ask him what role Rennard has now at Lib Dem HQ.
It will be interesting to see if you nail him down on that what he says. If Vince says the wrong things you can nail him!
In the event of a hung Parliament next summer, what pressure would the Lib Dems exert to end the post-code lottery of education funding in England? #handsup4devon
Ask him why he was a complete failure as a local councillor when representing the Lib Dem's in a Maryhill (Wynford) ward in Glasgow. This is especially important as Labour controlled about 90% of the council and ran the city into the ground. I do not remember him even being mentioned as a force in this cities politics.
Every extremist politician in Europe has been elected by proportional representation. We are now seeing this here with the BNP. How can the Lib Dems still support an electoral system which will elect communists and fascists to Parliament?
That should make him squirm and was one of the issues totally missed on QT.
Do you think that staying out of the euro was a good idea as a lot of economists now think?
Is it true that you were the person who encouraged your party to drop its pledge for the 50% tax rate?
Do you think that bringing in a continental style health insurance scheme(liked suggested by Chris Huhne, and also in "The Orange Book" pamphlet) would be a good idea for the NHS?
Did you enjoy your interview with Andrew Neil on Straight Talk(I think you lost a couple of pounds due to the amount of sweat you produced)?
Please ask him to answer questions without a load of old flannel and to speak the truth. Ask him if he wants to see the population of this country grow by ten million. Ask him where the jobs are, how the infrastructure of health,education,housing,travel and social policy are to cope, can be afforded ,and what benefits can possible accrue from this mass increase in population. Never forgetting that we already have water shortages,electricity and power supply problems and no housing for the indigenous folk.
Cable needs to be challenged on a number of issues which he has 'Flip-Flopped' with. Although he speaks with the gravitas of an experienced businessman, he is really not much more than a jumped up academic who has never managed anything in his life and he should never be let near any position of influence or fiscal power.
I am araid he is just typical of all LibDems who pontificate about what they think they know best and what they would do in power but knowing full well that there is not a remote possibility that they would ever have to deliver !
Cable seems to have acquired the 'rent-a-gob' skills of his fellow LibDem MP, Norman Baker,probably Westminster's most loathed MP !
Ask Cable why he spoke of the Government's plans re Quantitive Easing in Jan 2009 as:
'The Robert Mugabe School of Economics'. Why did he 'flop' and change his mind in Sept 2009 and say 'The Authorities threw the kitchen sink at the problems and were right to do so....creating money, quantitive easing...'
Ask Cable whu he dismissed an IMF warning in 2003 that UK borrowing and asset prices were too high. He went on to say that we should not be panicked by the IMF into tightening our belts.'
Here we go again with another 'flop'...Now he says that he was really arguing for interest rate policies to deal with housing inflation and that we needed to change the ways the Bank of England operated'
Here is another 'Flip'. Subject matter Cash Stimulus. Cable...2008..'It is not possible to run massive budget defecits because Government's Public Finances will not allow it'. Also in 2008...'It is entirely wrong for the Government to stimulate the economy by yet more Public Spending'.
'Flop'....Feb 2009...'We believe the Government stimulus is right and necessary'.
Another 'Flip' Sept 2008..subject matter Bank of England Independence..'The Government must not compromise the Independence of the Bank by telling it slash interest rates'...
Another 'Flop'ONE MONTH later..Cable urges the Chancellor..'to write to the Governor of the Bank of England demanding a large cut in interest rates'
Why did Twickenham’s Lib Dem MP Cable refuse to help his constituents who were protesting against part of Twickenham Riverside being lost to concrete? Was it because the council in question is currently run by his Lib Dem colleagues?
And why did Twickenham Lib Dem MP Cable claim he didn’t get involved in council matters – yet was perfectly capable of going to his former Labour council seat – in Glasgow – in March of this year – for a photo-op to protest against possible school closures made by the Labour council?
BTW – No thanks to Cable, his council colleagues have been forced to make their ambition of concreting over part of Twickenham Riverside an election issue.
I see you had strong labour leanings in your younger years , and with experience behind you now, do you still have an affinity with labour and have you considered switching parties?
Ask him why he keeps going around spreading the myth that Thatcher made Scots "guinea pigs" for the Poll Tax (the last time was in his Daily Mail article on 15 September -
I wasn't a Thatcher fan, far from it, but endlessly regurgitating things proven to be myth is a very lazy and stupid thing to do.
And also please ask why he's so anti-democracy for England. Ask him why he thinks the West Lothian Question and Barnett Formula are perfectly fine, and why England must put up with everything to keep the Union.
In his 15 September Daily Mail article, Cable said:
"We ignore Scottish politics at our peril. The future of the Union could soon emerge as a big issue in British politics."
Well what about England and a fair political system for England?
I think Cable is a hateful little man, Iain. I'm afraid I wouldn't be terribly coherent if I had to interview him. Good luck.
I voted Lib-Dem at the last election. Hindsight shows that I wasted my vote.
To me getting this disastrous lying Labour party as far away from the reigns of power as is possible, is the most important issue of the next General Election.
If I were tempted to vote LibDem again I would have to resist this temptation as I have no guarantee that in a hung parliament the LibDems would not keep the crooked Labour agenda in power (as recommended by Paddy Briggs above). Leaving the formation of a future administration to a cosy chat after the next GE is far too risky.
Hence I would have to discount the LibDems right from the start no matter how much I might agree with their main policies.
Do you think Lib dems are freer (particularly in terms of media coverage) to play about with radical ideas, because there is no chance that they will ever be in power.
ReplyDeleteWhere does he stand on Royal Mail privatisation?
ReplyDeleteWould you accept an offer from Gordon Brown to become Chancellor of the Exchequer?
ReplyDeleteDo you regret not being leader of the Liberal Democrats?
Who was the greatest Liberal/Liberal Democrat leader in your opinion?
Can you forsee a hung Parliament/ If so which party would you prefer to support?
Would you appear as a contestant on Strictly come dancing if asked?
Do you think the bear pit of the House of Commons which you all facing each other, adds to a proper and effective debate?
Would you agree that the Houses of Parliament should be re-housed in a modern purpose built building in the centre of the Country?
Do you believe that we will see BNP Members of Parliament at the general election?
If the Conservative and the Labour Parties are not the answer how would a Liberal Democrat Government be different.
Would you, for example, promise in your manifesto a referendum on the EU on the simple IN or OUT question Nick Clegg believes to be the only sensible question to be asked?
Now,...What are you going to do?
ReplyDeleteOn;
The economy
Immigration
Illegals
Blair & Brown treasonous immigration policy
Clegg
Education
Crime
Young violent offenders
Old violent offenders/child abusers/killers
Prison overcrouding
Clegg
Banner waving nutters
Afghanistan
Tether
Clegg.....there
That should keep him occupied.
Love you
What do you think of Tory policy on Lisbon.Assuming they have one!
ReplyDeleteHas the bailout of the banking sector been a success?
ReplyDeleteAsk Vince to clarify whether they stillplan to continue to increase NHS spending
ReplyDelete"What do you think of Andrew Neather's allegations that the current massive problems caused by immigration are the result of deliberate Labour party policy?"
ReplyDeleteThat should do it...
What's the point in being a Liberal Democrat, since your party hasn't been anywhere near being in power for decades?
ReplyDelete(Seriously)
Ask him where he and the LibDems stand on the Smoking Ban Experiment. They voted overwhelmingly for the ban but would a LibDem government give back choice to the businessman/woman as to whether he/she allows smoking on their premises.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly has he been, as he has claimed, proven "right" on the nationalisation of the seemingly never-ending burden on the taxpayer Northern Rock?
ReplyDeleteWhat does he think about the Andrew Neather revelations; that Labour deliberately engineered mass immigration for their own political purposes against the countries interests.
ReplyDeletePete-s
Do you model yourself after "The Cable Guy"?
ReplyDeleteOr, on a more serious note, do you support Labour's 50p tax rate?
What did you think of the way Question time was conducted with the BNP.
ReplyDeleteAre you happy with the amount of imigration these has been in Britain in the last 12 years.
Do you think we should halt imigration till what we have, have integrated more.
Do you feel some of our towns and cities have become imigrant Ghettos
The latest opinion polls suggest that an alliance of the Left would comfortably beat the Conservatives in a General Election (Labour+LibDems+Greens). Don't you owe it to those who dread a Conservative government to work with other parties of the Left to establish a basis for cooperation?
ReplyDeleteAs there won't be a LibDem government, would he serve in a Tory government if asked, if so what position would attract him most.
ReplyDeleteGovernment debt.
ReplyDelete1. State pension liabilites
2. State second pension liabilities
3. State employee pensions liabilities
4. Gilt debt
5. Nuclear decommissionings.
7-8 trillion of debts and liabilities.
How is it going to be paid?
Should people get an itemised statement as to their share?
If he denies the level of debt and restricts it to gilts, the push him. ie. Why should the only debt be government bond borrowing? So the lib deb plan is to default on all the state pensions. Should people be told?
Next one. Why aren't MPs being prosecuted for Fraud? What about Lords and their little frauds?
Why should it be Parliament that sorts it out and not the courts and a jury?
If he mentions retrospection, push him to tell us which written part of the Green Book and Code of Conduct has been changed. If its gardening, ask him which page of the Green Book the gardening allowances are mentioned. They aren't.
Should MPs who pay back money pay interest on what is an interest free loan? If not its a benefit should it be taxed? You might ask it the other way round. Its more of a trap.
And lastly the Skinner question. When will he resign.
If the Lib Dems can accept an impermissible £2.5 million donation from a convicted fraudster and claim that it is alright because it was accepted in good faith, what does that say about their probity and competence, and why should we trust them to run the country?
ReplyDeleteYou could ask him why he has such a high opinion of himself?
ReplyDelete65k a year plus benefits for making up the numbers, is that a cushy number or what?
ReplyDeleteWhy did you sell us out on our referendum?
Do you think the media view of you economic opinions is just a trifle overblown?
ReplyDeleteCan you ask him if he thinks the banks should have failed and what provision would have been made for savers with deposits if he says yes.
ReplyDeleteCan you ask him how he thinks we should pay off government debt.
Damn.....too late
ReplyDelete@Paddy Briggs
ReplyDeleteYou left out the bnp in your list of alliance of the left. Why? The bnp are the most socialist of all of you and it's also where a huge majority of Labour's working class vote has gone
Well, you could ask him what he thinks about uncontrolled immigration. Or what he thinks about Royal Mail privatisation, or what he thinks about the dependency culture, or any number of other questions. But what is the point? You will just get the usual lies, prevarications & obfuscations.
ReplyDeleteI am sick to death of the politicians, the 'Westminster village', the fawning journalists. All of them have no connection whatever to what the majority of the electorate thinks. They think the electorate is beneath contempt, their only concern is to bamboozle it.
I cannot even begin to express the level of loathing I feel. Our politcal system is nothing to do with the electorate, democracy has long been dead. The one time nascent hope of Cameron has degenerated into central control and all-women shortlists. What hope of localism there?
And what about the EU? Any attention to the wishes of the electorate there? In our dreams! Just more weasel words.
However you vote, Labour, Conservative, LibDem, Green, UKIP, BNP, you are casting a vote for central control, thought police, and an overweening arrogance that discounts the electorate.
I do know a little bit about this. I resigned my position as Secretary of my local Conservative Association many years ago because I was SO disgusted at its attitude to the voters. I happen to be a voter.
What does he think the upper limit for the UK's population size should ? Under EU rules over 400 million could move here.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have a Question:
ReplyDeleteDoes he thinks he looks like Yoda?
Obviously he is not Green (Or the bits we can see but I do think he looks like him!).
I dont think he is a Yoda in being a wiseman as he chops and changes policy and position every other day!
Ask him also whether Rennard still does the campaigning part of his job for the Lib Dems. He may not do the chief executive stuff but I think he is still deeply involved in the campaigns side of things.
ReplyDeleteAsk him what role Rennard has now at Lib Dem HQ.
It will be interesting to see if you nail him down on that what he says. If Vince says the wrong things you can nail him!
In the event of a hung Parliament next summer, what pressure would the Lib Dems exert to end the post-code lottery of education funding in England? #handsup4devon
ReplyDeleteSignpost or weathervane?
ReplyDeleteAs a former Glasgow councillor, would you cut the GARL and if not what would you cut instead?
ReplyDeleteWhy have the LibDems gone so quiet on Calman?
Would you recommend that Tavish Scott offers a multi-choice referendum deal to the SNP?
1. How many of your constituents live in houses that would qualify for paying the mansion tax?
ReplyDelete2. Does that worry you?
3. If not, why not?
Ask him why he was a complete failure as a local councillor when representing the Lib Dem's in a Maryhill (Wynford) ward in Glasgow. This is especially important as Labour controlled about 90% of the council and ran the city into the ground. I do not remember him even being mentioned as a force in this cities politics.
ReplyDeleteEvery extremist politician in Europe has been elected by proportional representation. We are now seeing this here with the BNP. How can the Lib Dems still support an electoral system which will elect communists and fascists to Parliament?
ReplyDeleteThat should make him squirm and was one of the issues totally missed on QT.
Why did he renege on the EU referendum manifesto promise?
ReplyDeleteWhy is his party denying Scotland a referendum on independence? Is this either Liberal or democratic?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that staying out of the euro was a good idea as a lot of economists now think?
ReplyDeleteIs it true that you were the person who encouraged your party to drop its pledge for the 50% tax rate?
Do you think that bringing in a continental style health insurance scheme(liked suggested by Chris Huhne, and also in "The Orange Book" pamphlet) would be a good idea for the NHS?
Did you enjoy your interview with Andrew Neil on Straight Talk(I think you lost a couple of pounds due to the amount of sweat you produced)?
Why dont you ask him some of the questions that Andrew Neil did recently...he seemed to choke on them..
ReplyDeleteWhy do you let earthquakes happen?
ReplyDeleteWhy did not he and Alan Beith take over the Lib Dems 20 years ago?
ReplyDeleteDear all seeing one. . .
ReplyDeleteWhat are next weeks lottery numbers?
Ask him what it's like to have 20/20 hindsight
ReplyDeletePlease ask him to answer questions without a load of old flannel and to speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteAsk him if he wants to see the population of this country grow by ten million. Ask him where the jobs are, how the infrastructure of health,education,housing,travel and social policy are to cope, can be afforded ,and what benefits can possible accrue from this mass increase in population.
Never forgetting that we already have water shortages,electricity and power supply problems and no housing for the indigenous folk.
Cable needs to be challenged on a number of issues which he has 'Flip-Flopped' with. Although he speaks with the gravitas of an experienced businessman, he is really not much more than a jumped up academic who has never managed anything in his life and he should never be let near any position of influence or fiscal power.
ReplyDeleteI am araid he is just typical of all LibDems who pontificate about what they think they know best and what they would do in power but knowing full well that there is not a remote possibility that they would ever have to deliver !
Cable seems to have acquired the 'rent-a-gob' skills of his fellow LibDem MP, Norman Baker,probably Westminster's most loathed MP !
Ask Cable why he spoke of the Government's plans re Quantitive Easing in Jan 2009 as:
'The Robert Mugabe School of Economics'. Why did he 'flop' and change his mind in Sept 2009 and say 'The Authorities threw the kitchen sink at the problems and were right to do so....creating money, quantitive easing...'
Ask Cable whu he dismissed an IMF warning in 2003 that UK borrowing and asset prices were too high. He went on to say that we should not be panicked by the IMF into tightening our belts.'
Here we go again with another 'flop'...Now he says that he was really arguing for interest rate policies to deal with housing inflation and that we needed to change the ways the Bank of England operated'
Here is another 'Flip'. Subject matter Cash Stimulus. Cable...2008..'It is not possible to run massive budget defecits because Government's Public Finances will not allow it'. Also in 2008...'It is entirely wrong for the Government to stimulate the economy by yet more Public Spending'.
'Flop'....Feb 2009...'We believe the Government stimulus is right and necessary'.
Another 'Flip' Sept 2008..subject matter Bank of England Independence..'The Government must not compromise the Independence of the Bank by telling it slash interest rates'...
Another 'Flop'ONE MONTH later..Cable urges the Chancellor..'to write to the Governor of the Bank of England demanding a large cut in interest rates'
Enought said !!
What's Liberal or Democratic about the EU ? Please explain.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Twickenham’s Lib Dem MP Cable refuse to help his constituents who were protesting against part of Twickenham Riverside being lost to concrete? Was it because the council in question is currently run by his Lib Dem colleagues?
ReplyDeleteAnd why did Twickenham Lib Dem MP Cable claim he didn’t get involved in council matters – yet was perfectly capable of going to his former Labour council seat – in Glasgow – in March of this year – for a photo-op to protest against possible school closures made by the Labour council?
BTW – No thanks to Cable, his council colleagues have been forced to make their ambition of concreting over part of Twickenham Riverside an election issue.
I see you had strong labour leanings in your younger years , and with experience behind you now, do you still have an affinity with labour and have you considered switching parties?
ReplyDeleteAsk him why he keeps going around spreading the myth that Thatcher made Scots "guinea pigs" for the Poll Tax (the last time was in his Daily Mail article on 15 September -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1213014/Crunch-time-Scottish-grumblings-bad-divorce.html
I wasn't a Thatcher fan, far from it, but endlessly regurgitating things proven to be myth is a very lazy and stupid thing to do.
And also please ask why he's so anti-democracy for England. Ask him why he thinks the West Lothian Question and Barnett Formula are perfectly fine, and why England must put up with everything to keep the Union.
In his 15 September Daily Mail article, Cable said:
"We ignore Scottish politics at our peril. The future of the Union could soon emerge as a big issue in British politics."
Well what about England and a fair political system for England?
I think Cable is a hateful little man, Iain. I'm afraid I wouldn't be terribly coherent if I had to interview him. Good luck.
I voted Lib-Dem at the last election. Hindsight shows that I wasted my vote.
ReplyDeleteTo me getting this disastrous lying Labour party as far away from the reigns of power as is possible, is the most important issue of the next General Election.
If I were tempted to vote LibDem again I would have to resist this temptation as I have no guarantee that in a hung parliament the LibDems would not keep the crooked Labour agenda in power (as recommended by Paddy Briggs above). Leaving the formation of a future administration to a cosy chat after the next GE is far too risky.
Hence I would have to discount the LibDems right from the start no matter how much I might agree with their main policies.