JUST ONE BRICKBAT FOR 'THE POLITICS SHOW'

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Small-scale bloggers should never get big ideas about their influence, so I won't delude myself into believing that the makers of The Politics Show avidly read this blog each week, with trembling limbs, in anticipation of my latest damning verdict; but, indulging this delusion for just a moment, imagine that they do. Might that account for today's extraordinarily balanced Jon Sopel interviews with Liam Fox (Conservative) and Liam Byrne (Labour)? Almost identical interview times, an identical number of questions, an identical number of interruptions and identical I.C.s - a remarkable contrast to last week and the contrasting treatment of Yvette Cooper and Theresa May. Scrupulously fair then, with only the tiniest blemish when Sopel criticized Dr Fox for attacking Labour ("Yes, there are easy political points to be made there") but not Mr Byrne for attacking the Tories. This is how political interviewing should be - fair and unshowy. Would Sopel were like that more often!
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Alex Salmond got a slightly rougher ride (with four interruptions, I.C. of o.6), but I don't think he (or his opponents) would have much grounds for complaint here and I only note (as a minor quibble) that Colette McBeth's short introductory report featured only one 'talking head' - that of the-even-further-Left-than-Alex-Salmond nationalist Jim Sillars.
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Having Conservative blogger Iain Dale on at the end to discuss the coming week was also a further feather in the programme's cap.
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My only real reservations concern David Thompson's latest report from the Stourbridge constituency, more precisely the way the feature was trailed throughout the programme. This might have led the viewer to expect actual proof of criminal activity on the part of the Conservative candidate, whereas Labour allegations of 'treating' were, as sitting Labour MP Lynda Waltho made clear, 'questions' rather than 'accusations'. Ms Waltho was allowed her say, and the Conservative candidate Margot James was allowed hers. I have other reservations though - firstly about the way Jon Sopel introduced Margot as "millionaire businesswoman Margot James" (as happened last time she appeared) and, secondly, the way Labour's donations were presented as 'unglamorous' and largely collected not from the unions and rich donors but from volunteers through tombolas and garden parties - as if to show that Lynda Waltho is a true woman of the people, unlike the 'millionaire businesswoman Tory'.
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What was most heartening though was the results of a poll of young people (aged 14-24), carried out by the Citizenship Foundation, which showed how sensible they are in their opinions. Very interesting. I bet the results would have disappointed a fair few of the life-long lefties in the audience. Ha!*