On Stephen Nolan's show on 5 Live last night, Clegg's Chief of Staff Danny Alexander MP got a right old beating up. Nolan is getting a bit of a reputation for this having dished out similar treatment to David Willetts and Sir Nicholas Winterton in the last few weeks.
Alexander was all over the place on the question of a coalition and was totally unable to define the word 'mandate' - a simple enough task for an MP, you'd have thought. Most seats, or most votes? Why on earth can't the LibDems work out an answer to that question? It is simple enough. And considering Danny Alexander has written the LibDem manifesto, you'd think he ought to know wouldn't you?
Click HERE and scroll in 8 mins. Then also scroll forward to 27 mins when he gets monstered by a caller from Bristol.
10 comments:
No, I don't know what a madate is either. What language is that?
It's particularly easy for a Lib Dem to define the word mandate one would have thought given the fact that they are always complaining about our electoral system and the need for PR rather than a system which does not always accurately reflect votes cast. A mandate, if you are a Lib Dem, has to be based on popular vote not seats doesn't it?
Nicholas Winterton was foolish enough to get reeled in to a debate about first class rail travel. Only a nob would suggest that MPs travel with glue sniffers, screaming children and ugly women. Had Winterton any kind of chutzpah, he would have asked the dickhead presenter how his bosses at the BBC travel, and under what circumstances is Club Class or First a necessity? Or why £40 million of licence payer's money was spent on hotels or £15millon on air travel, and by the way did they all stay in Travel lodges and go Ryanair?
This radio five guy is a chump, and I mean that in the Mandelson sense of the word.
I think that LimpDim MP was one of the most lightweight politicians I've heard in a very long time - and a wake up call to thousands of Limp dim voters that they are going to prop up Brown, if they can.
Vote Yellow, get Brown.
Blimey. He sounded like that guy from "In the Thick of It" who blinks a lot when being Paxmanned. I suspect he actually hadn't been briefed on what to say on that question, which rather goes to the question of the LibDem's competence to manage a coalition, which has already been exposed as sadly lacking on other recent points.
I think the serious point though is that of course Clegg can't say who he would support because he has no idea until horse trading sets in as to who will give him the most. Clearly a good PR system would be demandola numero uno, but neither Labour nor Tories will really commit to that I suspect.
So no matter what permutation, we will end up with a minority administration attempting to govern for a year and another GE. Roll on May 2011!
Solid gold car crash radio!
He was skewered and knew it! The classic politician's trick of saying they have made their position abundantly clear when they haven't just didn't work, the programme was too long.
He set out his case and made it absolutely clear that the LibDems are not fully committed to PR, but prefer a mathematical algorithm which is too complicated for the average 5 Live listener to understand and didn't want to bore them with it so would rather spend the whole interview not answering the question.
Stephen Nolan is a first class knobhead whose command of English grammar is tenuous to say the least.
He is the least incisive of any interviewer I have heard on the wireless and is the most irritating guttersnipe.
He is only there because of his horribly nasal incomprehensible accent.
I cannot think of a single redeemable feature that would enable me to listen to any broadcast that he fronted.
But hey, thats only my opinion!
Nolan is a Liebor stooge. I notice he hasn't skewered any of their MPs and there is plenty to skewer them about.
Hah, that was hilarious. Politicians need to realise that nobody buys this kind of intelligence insulting nonsense.
As another commenter said, it's obvious that Lib Dems would consider the popular vote percentage to be the mandate.
Then again, Lib Dems are supposed to be in favour of referenda. In actual fact they're in favour of whatever is in their interests.
To the guy who can't understand the interviewer's accent, are you a bit slow? Don't get out much?
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