Political

BBC drops Lib Dems from Question Time, again #bbcqt

For the third time in four weeks, the BBC won’t be having a Liberal Democrat on Question Time. As Freedom Central reports:

number of Lib Dems have complained, with gathering pace, about this lack of representation. The response from Gavin Allen was:

“The Liberal Democrats like all parties get representation based on their level of electoral support, which means they are on most – but not all – ‘Question Time’ panels across each series. We believe it adds to the breadth of debate to have perspectives from politicians and non-politicians alike, so places are always limited even within a five-person panel.”

Complaints about non representation have focused on the timing when a Lib Dem hasn’t been on a panel. For example after Blair appeared in front of Chilcot.

In this season of Question Time the Lib Dems also got dumped unceremoniously once.  It’s hard not to see this exclusion of the Lib Dems as a pattern of behaviour and partiality in Question Time. If you think that the BBC should base representation on level of support then take the time to take some action.

Step 1: Contact the BBC about it.

Step 2: Spread the word to your friends. Suggest they do it – mention it on Facebook and Twitter.

Step 3: Write a blog post.

Unlike almost every other TV show, Question Time tends to invite people on specifically rather than go to parties to nominate. It isn’t like the Welsh Lib Dems have spokespeople who are unusual or when appearing on tele and Question Time itself winning plaudits. Two of them are women in their 30’s. One is our party leader, another an MP in Cardiff.

For FC readers based outside Wales, lets take a moment to highlight that the Welsh Lib Dems have more MPs than either the Welsh Tories or Plaid Cymru. Shortly, when people drive into Wales it will be a Welsh Lib Dem led campaign that means you can pay by credit card, as you hit Newport it will be the Welsh Lib Dems who as part of the council administration are delivering integrated solutions to safeguard jobs. Wander round Cardiff and the pavements you walk on are the responsibility of the Welsh Lib Dem led Council. They will lead you to one of the biggest shopping centres in the UK, employing 4000 extra people. Delivered by the Welsh Lib Dems. And that’s before we even start on the scrutiny of expenses forcing a apology from the first minister, the storm on education under-funding that is gathering pace or the achievements of the Lib Dems when they were in Government…

Meanwhile, I await a response from the BBC to my complaint that their response to my complaint about Question Time didn’t actually respond to my complaint. That’s because the BBC has a habit of sending the same response to everyone, even if people have raised different points. Therefore when making your own complaint it’s sensible to (1) make clear the specific points you would like a response on, and (2) think of it as a two-stage process – complain and get standard response, complain again and then get an individual response.

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