DUCK-HOUSES AND MOATS...

*
Back from watching the Politics Show.
*
I was very pleasantly surprised by the programme's discussion of the electoral commission's shamefully different treatment of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats over their respectative dodgy donations. (The Lib Dem case is, by a considerable way, the dodgier - and the programme made that crystal clear. The electoral commission, however, is treading very softly with the Lib Dems, but coming down like a ton of bricks on UKIP. Why?) I wasn't expecting that, nor the sympathetic (if short) interview with Nigel Farage that followed (I.C. of 0.4).
*
Nigel had already been on (briefly) in a double-interview with Dan Hannan. The subject for discussion was 'what will the Conservatives do when the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by President Klaus?' (Nigel only ever seems to to get an invite when Tory policy on Europe is under discussion!) Jon Sopel interrupted Dan three times in quick succession, giving the interview an I.C. of 0.8. There were plenty of what I call 'abortive interruptions' too, as there would be. Dan Hannan was being hurried and harried.
*
The big interview, though, was with Alistair Darling. It lasted nearly 15 minutes. The I.C. for this one was a surprisingly high 0.7. How come? Well, most of the interview (the early stretch discussing banking, and the closing stretch discussing Afghanistan and MPs expenses) was gentle, with few interruptions - and whatever interruptions there were of the clarifying kind (such as 'What timescale?' or 'Do Tesco or Virgin want to become banks?') rather than challenging ones. Only for a short spell in the middle of the interview (when the topic changed to the recovery, or lack of it , and the climbdown on the Territorial Army) was there a quick succession of confrontational interruptions - 4 out of the 6 of which were the same question put four times!
*
The programme ended with an 'amusing' Johnny-Morris-style scene of ducks on a (Tory) duck-house discussing whether claiming for a (Tory) moat was right or not. Duck-houses and moats. Duck-houses and moats. Duck-houses and moats....
*