ALL ABOUT THE GENERAL

*
Last night's deadly dull (yet oddly annoying) edition of Question Time was well down to the programme's usual standards, with loons a-plenty in the audience. The programme turned into something of an inquisition of Tory-supporting General Sir Richard Dannatt. Facing the music with him was William Hague. Also present were Salma Yaqoob, leader of Galloway's Respect, Labour's Bill Rammell, Lord Ashdown and Piers Morgan. The programme came from Wootton Bassett and concentrated solely on the present wars. Labour's shameful Pre-Budget Report was not discussed.
*
Dimbleby's Tory-bashing began early. After Bill Rammell's first, interruption-free answer (which lasted nearly two minutes to the 'question' "Bill Rammell?"), he asked his first question to the Conservative shadow foreign secretary at 5.07 ("William Hague, do you want to answer that?"). Mr Hague began his answer at 5.09 ("Yeah well..") but got no further because at 5.10 in sprang Dimbleby with the evening's first interruption! ("You've said yesterday you want to double the payment..."). The second interruption was not too long in coming (at 6.08: "What about the money though which the lady in the front was talking about?"). Hague was the only panellist interrupted throughout the first question.
*
The second question brought the first interrogation of General Dannatt, with 4 interruptions flying during his first answer: At 14.06 came interruption 1 ("Is it being done by amateurs?"), followed at 14.18 by interruption 2 ("Well hold on, hold on. 2003? You said in December 2009 my own dealings with Gordon Brown were mixed. I will say in my last 3 encounters, after having got back from Afghanistan, I felt he was beginning to get it. That's 8 years in!" (Audience laughter)). Interruption 3 came at 14.45 ("One has to take the government screaming and kicking to agree to the things that are needed. Do you stand by all that?"). Interruption 4 came at 15.21 ("No but do you, do you, sorry, do you agree with General Viggars, and you appear to describe the prime minister as an amateur in this field because it took so long for him to get it, that the government is costing lives by the way that the political parties (sic) are leading, the way the prime minister and the cabinet are leading this Afghanistan War. Is that what you're saying?").
*
Morgan was attacking Blair & his cabinet allies over Iraq, reaching the point of saying "it was a lie" when Dimbleby crashed in to spare Labour's blushes, "No but that isn't the question, the question...no wait a minute, don't don't don't go there..there are a lot of things to talk about. Come to the question, which was are amateurs in charge and are they costing us lives, that's what the accusation was from Gen Viggars."
*

When Bill Rammell said that he & Gen Dannatt had a good working relationship, Dimbleby swiftly re-entered are turned the fire on the general: "Do you agree with that?", interrupting him almost immediately at 19.20 ("The decisions I mean, not that you got on well!"). The general didn't quite know what to say to all this, so Dimbleby very rudely interrupted him to pass it back to Mr Rammell (19.26 "All right, go on then" and a further "all right" to shut the general up.
*
Bill Rammell did not escape unscathed though. He was interrupted at 20.37 - once in just under 1 minute 4o seconds ("And this is also about you, as a politician and an amateur, described as such, yes? And about a prime minister who, according to General Dannatt, took a long time to get it.").
*
William Hague was not so lucky. His answer began at 23.54. Interruption 1 crashed in at 23.57!!!! ("You agree with what he's been saying about the last 6 years?"). Again a second interruption was not long in coming - at 24.29 came "You, but come, come to the chase ..do you think ministers in charge of this, as Paddy's suggested, and as Viggars suggested, have been amateurish in the way they've been approaching this?"
*
During the third (and final) question, Bill Rammell was pressed on the allegations of Labour smears against General Dannatt, and interrupted twice. Dimbleby asked him if he would apologise. When Rammell denied all allegations of smearing, Dimbleby spun to Richard Dannatt and said "Why did you say you were smeared if you weren't?". "Well, because I was!" was the general's reply! The general had been interrupted three times already by David Dimbleby during the course of this question, but was to face very hostile questioning from Lord Ashdown. Lord Ashdown, of course, received no interruptions from Dimbleby, though (in fairness to the presenter) the latter did challenge him about the disgraceful behaviour of the shameless Labour rogue Lord Foulkes.
*
Dimbleby's unquenchable thirst for Tory-baiting was at its worst here, as he tried stirring it for William Hague and the Conservatives. He began interrupted Richard Dannatt again at 53.36 "They (ie the Tories) bumped you into it, or whatever you say, yes? You didn't mean it to come out?" When Gen Dannatt said "They didn't leak it" , Dimbleby leaped in, saying "Or maybe they did! William Hague..." Gen Dannatt insisted on finishing his point before David Dimbleby insisted on pursuing his own point: "William Hague, it was the Conservatives who announced that he was going to become a peer and was going to advise them, wasn't it?"
*