ALL ABOUT THE GENERAL

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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?").
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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?"
*

BIAS BY LABELING

*
Ah, it's just like old times again!

*

Popping onto the Politics page of the BBC News website (as of 6.30am today), there were two headlines relating to the latest expenses revelations:
*
**********MP denies £20K bell tower claim
*
**********Conservative MP to repay £9,500
*
So one's clearly an errant Conservative MP. What's the other? Is he by any chance also a Conservative MP? No, it turns out that he's a Labour MP.

**
It was a running sore throughout the first great outbreak of the Expenses Scandal that headlines relating to errant Tories would have the word 'Tory' - or less frequently 'Conservative' - in them but ones relating to errant Labour MPs would regularly lack the word 'Labour'.
*
As I say, just like old times again!

QUIZ OF THE DAY

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Today's Daily Politics ran a quiz on the latest MPs' expenses revelations. There were three questions.

*

Question 1

"Did Jackie (sic) Smith bill us:

(a) £611 for a replacement double bed?

(b) £244 for a DVD player?

(c) £555 for a new television?"

Answer: All of the above.

*

Question 2

"Who claimed for three garlic peelers?

(a) Tony McNulty

(b) James Arbuthnot

(c) David Cameron"

Answer: Conservative MP James Arbuthnot

*

Question 3

"Who claimed for the fitting of two tiled cartoons to their bathroom?

(a) Liam Byrne

(b) Lembik Opik

(c) Ken Clarke"

Answer: Conservative MP Ken Clarke.
*

Fancy that, two Conservative MPs fingered as troughers, one Labour MP and no Lib Dems!! Note also that the 'D.P.' team put Cameron up as an option, but not Brown or Clegg.

*

Here are some other questions the programme might have asked. See how you fare!

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Unasked question 1

"Who claimed £2,700 to redecorate his downstairs toilet?"

(a) Douglas Hogg

(b) Chris Huhne

(c) Gordon Brown"

(Answer at the bottom of the post!)

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Unasked question 2

"Who claimed £105 for a chimney sweep?

(a) Sir Peter Viggars

(b) Douglas Alexander

(c)Yvette Cooper"

(Answer at the bottom of the post!)

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Unasked question 3

"Who claimed over £1,000 on a water cooler?

(a) Nick Clegg

(b) Tim Yeo

(c) Ed Miliband?"

(Answer at the bottom of the post!)

*

While you're working these out, here's a picture of a bell tower - surely the new symbol of the Expenses Scandal!

*

Bonus question. Some swine claimed £20,700 of our hard-earned money to rebuild his bell tower. Was it:

(a) Labour toff Quentin Davies?

(b) Labour toff Harriet Harman?

(c) Labour plutocrat Shaun Woodward?

Answers

Unasked question 1: Gordon Brown

Unasked question 2: Douglas Alexander

Unasked question 3: Ed Miliband

Bonus question: Labour toff Quentin Davies

*

THE FALL(ON) GUY

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Martha Kearney weekly 'politics panel' (The World at One), which always follows Prime Minister's Questions, today featured Sally Keeble for Labour, Michael Fallon for the Conservatives and Lord Thurso for the Lib Dems. Though not a stand-out example of biased interviewing, it's an example nonetheless in that the only significant interruption was made against the Conservative and the Conservative received 4 questions (if you also count the interruption, which also functioned as a further question), as against 2 each for the Lib Dem and the Labourette, despite Mr Fallon receiving half a minute less interview time than Mrs Keeble. Moreover, all his questions were specifically about Conservative policy (and a couple contained a component of criticism), whereas neither of Lord Thurso's questions were about Lib Dem policy (indeed one question was an open invitation to back Labour's spend-your-way-out-of-recession policy - which he, in part, did) - and one of Sally's was as much about Conservative policy (Inheritance Tax) as it was about Labour strategy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qptc
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Here are all Martha's contributions. See what you think.
*
Part 1
(
11.46 Q1 (to MF): "First of all, Michael Fallon, the measure on bankers' bonuses, there's obviously a clear political point to that, what will the Conservative response be do you think?" 11.56 A1 (MF)
12.11 (Interruption, against MF): "So you're going to join in the banker-bashing are you?"
12.30 Q2 (to SK): "Because it is a huge amount of borrowing, isn't it, the budget deficit, the biggest since the Second World War Sally Keeble?"
12.36 A2 (SK)
13.13 Q3 (to JT): "John Thurso, this was the message the chancellor was attempting to drive home again and again, wasn't it, is that the government has intervened, it's increased spending this year, the fiscal stimulus and so on, in order to promote recovery? What do you think about that?"
13.25 A3 (JT)
14.15 Martha: "Sally?"
14.16 A4 (SK)
14.50 MF takes over (with plenty of chuntering from SK)
15.10 Martha leaps in, and moves on
*
Part 2
*
25.28 Q 4 (to SK): "Let's have a look, Sally Keeble, at some of the politics of this. This is billed as 'the class-war PBR' and I think it's perhaps in some ways lived up to it, hasn't it? The attack on bankers' bonuses, that freezing of Inheritance Tax, presumably to draw a line between your policy and the Conservatives's , who were offering a very different policy on Inheritance Tax. Is this likely to work do you think?"
25.47 A5 (SK, who attacks the Tories)
26.29 Q5 (to MF): "Michael Fallon, is there a risk that if you begin public spending cuts too soon you jeopardise what most people, including some people in the Bank of England, think is a fragile recovery?"
26.40 A6 (MF)
27.16 Q6 (to JT): "John Thurso, the chancellor has spelled out departments which he is going to protect, so the Health Service, he said our police force and schools - crucial he says for our future - but that means the other departments are really going to take a hammering, doesn't it?"
27.30 A7 (JT)
28.17 SK takes over
28.48 Q7 (to MF): "Is there Michael Fallon a risk for your party in the so-called austerity strategy that if you bang on too much about...Sally Keeble's calling them 'savage cuts'... that people won't want to vote for change, which was what David Cameron's original U.S.P.,wasn't it, he was talking about, you know, sunlit uplands?"
29.05 A8 (MF)
29.22 Martha: "We'll have to leave it there, I'm afraid."
*

YESTERDAY'S 'TODAY' THE DAY AFTER

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The main story on yesterday's Today programme was public sector pay.
*
At 7.09 the issue was discussed with Labour's Phil Woolas.
*
It was returned to at 8.21, where it was discussed with Tony Travers of the L.S.E., then further discussed with BBC perennial Ken Livingstone of the Labour Party and engaging Labour blogger (and former Blair advisor) Matthew Taylor of the R.S.A. (Why?) The whole thing was good-natured.
*
The subject was returned to again at 8.53 where, for the first time, a voice from the Right was heard - Andrew Haldenby of Reform, who was jointly interviewed with that most left-wing of union leaders, Mark Serwotka of the PCS union. It was noticeable that John Humphrys's sympathies lay with the latter during this closing item as Mr Haldenby was interrupted 3 times, whereas Mr Serwotka was only interrupted once.
*
5.00 Question: "Isn't that an entirely fair point Andrew Haldenby?"
5.03 Answer (AH) "Well if there's any tax uncollected the government should definitely go and collect it..."
5.08 (Interruption by JH) "Well there is. We know there is."
(AH's answer then continues)
5.24 (Interruption by JH) Question: "But why do we have to cut it in half in four years. Why is that..that is, as Mark Serwotka (sic), that's an arbitrary figure, arbitrary time frame"
5.30 Answer (AH): "Well it probably need to be done quicker than that..."
5.32 (Interruption by JH): "Why?"
*
Mark Serwotka had to put up with nothing like that.
*
Why so many voices from the Left on the issue? Why only one from the Right? Why was the voice from the Right treated in a somewhat tougher way? The answer might have something to do with BBC bias. (I bet you never saw that coming!)
*
(The programme also featured another Labour minister John Denham and Ratna Lachman from the anti-racism think-tank JUST discussing the government's so-called Prevent programme, which hopes to tackle Muslim extremism, whereas - as Ratna says - the real focus should be on far-right extremism!!!!)

THE WRIGHT MEN TO ATTACK TORY TOFFS

*
At the same time that Andrew Marr was doing the unexpected on BBC1, Paddy O'Connell and friends were doing the very-much-expected on Radio 4's Broadcasting House. The issue of Tory Toffs was very much on the agenda, and Labour MP Tony Wright's son Ben Wright (of the BBC) was not about to let it rest.
*
I will copy and paste something from the B-BBC website:
*

freddo41:
*
"This morning’s Broadcasting
House decided to deal with Gordon Brown’s ‘Eton’ attack on the Tories by sending
a reporter to find out if Labour backbenchers agree with this plan of attack.
Guess what? They did!
So we had a collection of Labour MPs putting flesh on
the bones of the original attack.
The reporter’s conclusion? That this
approach may have failed at Crewe and Nantwich but this time it could work. So
all very positive.
And the reporter? Ben Wright, son of veteran Labour MP
Tony Wright.
How very cosy."

It certainly was cosy. Ben talked to Labour MPs John Grogan, Martin Linton and Gordon Prentice. All three were, as freddo41 says, supportive of the Labour 'attack line'. Prentice bashed the Tories and said "It's the old country set writ large" and brought up that Bullingdon Club photograph. (What about Ed Ball's Oxford photograph?) Linton personally attacked Zak Goldsmith, as well as the Tories in general. Does every Labour MP really approve of this shabby, hypocritical tactic? That's what we'd gather from Tony Wright's son's report.

*

This was preceded by BBC reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan chatting to presenter Paddy O'Connell about how Gordon Brown was "seen to have landed a killer blow on David Cameron with his talk of the playing fields of Eton" Which raises the obvious question, "Seen by who? By Labour, the Guardian, the BBC?" She also said that Dave has "spent much of his time as leader re-branding the party, showing that it's not just for toffs". He may well have re-branded the party, but "showing that it's not just for toffs" was no part of that re-branding. Did the Conservative Party of Mrs Thatcher, John Major, William Hague and Michael Howard really have the image of being a party of toffs, as Rajini implies? I'd have thought not, except in the mind of an amnesiac, leftie Beebette. *

BIAS WITH BROWN EYES

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Back (by request) is The Record: Europe with Shirin Wheeler.
*
This week's highly typical edition saw two panel discussions. The only UK politician featured in the first was Labour's Richard Howitt, who was interrupted once (I.C. of 0.3). Shirin Wheeler is not given to interrupting Labour politicians at all, so Mr Howitt was very unlucky!!
*
'Widely-respected' Shirin's second discussion featured the Labour chairman of the Commons EU Scrutiny Committee Michael Connarty, Lib Dem head of the Lords EU select committee Lord Roper and newly elected UKIP MEP David Campbell-Bannerman. I bet you can guess how this went. Mr Connarty was not interrupted at all, Lord Roper was interrupted once and Mr Campbell-Bannerman of UKIP was interrupted 3 times!! Their respective I.C.s are 0, 0.4 and 1.5. This sort of thing happens week in and week out.
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Mr Connarty was also the first and the last to speak, having 4 bites of the cherry - as against
3 for Lord Roper and Mr Campbell-Bannerman. (The latter also spoke for the least time).
*
Here are brown-eyed Shirin Wheeler's full stats for the period in which my clipboard has been in action:
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21/09 Timothy Kirkhope Conservative 1.9
6/12 David Campbell-Bannerman UKIP 1.5
11/10 Timothy Kirkhope Conservative 1.5
08/11 Timothy Kirkhope Conservative 1.2
15/11 Martha Andreasen UKIP 1.2
11/10 Nigel Farage UKIP 0.9
01/11 Paul Nuttall UKIP 0.7
08/11 Charles Tannock Conservative 0.7
08/11 Graham Watson Lib Dem 0.7
08/11 Derek Clarke UKIP 0.6
08/11 Glenis Willmott Labour 0.5
6/12 Lord Roper Lib Dem 0.4
04/10 Syed Kamall Conservative 0.3
6/12 Richard Howitt Labour 0.3
25/10 Timothy Kirkhope Conservative 0.2
04/10 Graham Watson Lib Dem 0
11/10 Fiona Hall Lib Dem 0
11/10 Richard Howitt Labour 0
25/10 Stephen Hughes Labour 0
04/10 Arlene McCarthy Labour 0
25/10 Chris Davies Lib Dem 0
18/10 Caroline Lucas Green 0
22/11 Cathy Ashton Labour 0
15/11 Derek Vaughan Labour 0
15/11 Vicky Ford Conservative 0
01/11 Jean Lambert Green 0
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Her averages are some of the starkest I've recorded:

1. UKIP (5) - 0.98
2. Conservatives (7) - 0.83
3. Lib Dems (5) - 0.22
4. Labour (8) - 0.11
5. Greens (2) - 0.00
   

Couldn't be clearer evidence of left-wing bias, could it?
*
*
Here's some more.
*
Coming back to the three-way discussion between Connarty, Campbell-Bannerman and Roper,
the first question went to Mr Connarty, and it was one asked from a Lisbon-is-a-good-thing stance: "Michael, can I ask you first of all, you've got the Lisbon Treaty. It's in force. It's supporters promise a greater role in national parliaments in scrutinising new legislation. Do you think that's true?" (Michael Connarty is also a Lisbon supporter).
*
The second question went to Lord Roper. It too came from a pro-Lisbon position: "But I mean, Lord Roper, the treaty does say that if two-thirds of national parliaments want to club together and sent something back to the European Commission they can. Isn't that an advance?" (Lord Roper, also a Lisbon supporter, thought it was!)
*
To David Campbell-Bannerman came this question, also asked from a Lisbon-is-a-good-thing position: "What it doesn't do though it seems is it doesn't take away powers from national parliaments, does it, the treaty?" (David, not a Lisbon supporter, disagreed!)
*
Shirin, who's won an award for her programme from the European parliament, then asked Mr Connarty, "Michael Connarty, the European parliament does undoubtably gain a lot of power. It's the big winner from the Lisbon Treaty, isn't it? Is that indirectly good news for the House of Commons, House of Lords as well?"
*
Connarty turned this answer into an attack on UKIP and, taking up his words, Shirin Wheeler asked Mr Campbell-Bannerman, "You're not there to defend British interests?"
*
Bizarrely, after only 15 seconds of his answer to this joint attack, David C-B was interrupted and shut up by Shirin (before getting anywhere near making his point), "Oh let's talk about that sort of thing another time. Lord Roper, back to the issue of scrutinising EU legislation." Typical! "Now it's true what David Bannerman (sic) says. There is a transfer of power to the EU, to the parliament in a lot of areas (note the side-shift from what David Campbell-Bannerman said to what Shirin Wheeler wanted him to have said!). Doesn't this mean that the process of scrutiny has to be even better, particularly in areas like criminal justice, budget, that sort of thing, and are you (the House of Lords EU select commitee) up to the job?"
*
The next question went to the UKIP MEP: "This is the first meeting of the Lords and MPs you're taking part in as an MEP, isn't it David? How do you want to see that process continue? You've heard from Michael. Are you going to bring things back to this place?" (He wants to bring everything back to the British parliament Shirin, that's why he's a member of UKIP!).
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This time only 11 seconds-worth of Mr Campbell-Bannerman's answer went free before Shirin butted in again, this time to defend the Labour MP: "But Michael's not saying he wants to decide on those things here but that the Lords and Commons should have a say in scrutinising."
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He continued but before he could finish Shirin interrupted for a third time: "Well the two gentlemen to your left and right are shaking their heads, so - briefly - (to Lord Roper) you're not doing the job properly, says David?"
*
It was shortly after than Shirin intruded into someone other than Mr Campbell-Bannerman's answers, butting into Lord Roper to ask again about his House of Lords committee: "But are you actually doing the business though? You might have a lot of committees."
*
Her last question, to the Labour MP, was simply, "Michael?"
&
Soft on the Left, tough on the Right - that's Shirin Wheeler for you. Respect!
*

AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS

*
I need some smelling salts. Who would have thought that an Andrew Marr Show with both Alistair Darling and George Osborne on would have produced an I.C. of 0.9 for Mr Darling and a mere 0.1 for George Osborne? Not me for one! The interview with George Osborne did, however, take place over a link with a two-second delay, which makes interviewing a lot trickier (and interruptions less likely) and Darling did get very nearly twice as long to speak (14 minutes exactly) than Osborne (7 minutes 15 seconds). Still, I need those smelling salts!
*

THE LONG JOHNS GANG UP ON ERIC PICKLES

*
Oh the hilarity! I've just heard John Humphrys and John Prescott having a good laugh at the expense of those Tory Toffs on Friday's Today programme, featuring Eric Pickles. The Johns wallowed in working-class nostalgia, then got down to the serious task of bashing the Tories, with a few more jokes to keep the tone light. The I.C.s say it all - 0 for John Prescott, 2.4 for Eric Pickles.
*
Mr Pickles was drily pointing out the irony of this attack, given the poshness/richness of many members of the Labour cabinet, when Humphrys crashed in to force the listener's attention back to where he obviously thought it ought to be - squarely on the Conservative shadow cabinet.
*
The Johns combined to scoff at Eric's figures on the public-school-attendence of these Tory wretches and Humphrys said "never mind, a lot of them went to public school!". (He was not meaning the Labour cabinet (though he could have been)). Prescott then prattled on without interruption, but Eric Pickles was cheerfully snapped at every time he spoke. Humphrys butted in to counter him with a long, mocking quote about Inheritance tax at the Tories' expense from Gordon Brown. Afterwards, he added "It's a serious point wrapped up in that, isn't it?"
*
Prescott went on to attack 'Lord Ashdown', then 'Lord Ashcraft' over his taxes. He mean't Lord Ashcroft, of course. Humphrys pounced on the subject (though not, of course, on Prescott's mistake) and joined Prezza in this new attack: "That's true, we still don't know whether Lord Ashcroft pays tax in this country, do we?" When Mr Pickles pointed out Prescott's inability to remember the name of the man he was so unkindly attacking, Humphrys decided to continue the new line of attack regardless: "Because you (John Prescott) raised it, does he pay tax in this country, Lord Ashcroft, as far as you know Eric Pickles, and if he doesnt...?" and muttered "Well that doesn't answer the question, does it?" to the accompaniment of yet more anti-Tory sniping from Two Jags when Mr Pickles began to answer that Lord Ashcroft had fulfilled all his obligations (and I do mean 'began to answer', given the rapidly of both Johns' interruptions!)
*
Yes, it was fun - but, as John Humphrys would say, "it's a serious point wrapped up in it" - that the Tories are all Toffs and that the tumbrils should start rolling now!!
*
The serious point is that John Humphrys was severely biased here in favour of John Prescott and the Labour Party.
*
Well, blow me down with a feather!

THE WEEKLY DAILY POLITICS

*
The Daily Politics is, as pointed out previously, the fairest of the BBC's leading current affairs programmes by some way, but it is not totally beyond reproach. Here's a short overview of the week.
*
Monday featured Lord (Tim) Bell (Conservative) as its main guest (I.C. of 0.7 for Andrew Neil and Boris Johnson was given time to plead for more money for London (I.C. of 0.6 for Andrew Neil). Alex Salmond was interviewed (without interruption) for over 5 minutes by Anita Anand (I.C. of 0). Lib Dem tax policy was discussed with Lib Dem spokesman Jeremy Browne (I.C. of 1.3 for Andrew Neil) and Alex Henderson of Price Waters Henderson (who was critical).
*
The main guest on Tuesday's programme was Sir Menzies Campbell. As ever, and even Andrew Neil is not immune from this, this partisan Liberal Democrat politician was treated with a degree of respect that is rare on the BBC, treated as if he is an 'independent' foreign affairs expert. His I.C.s were 0.2 for Andrew Neil (very low for this interviewer!) and 0 for the fair Anita, who said "We are very lucky to have Sir Ming Campbell with us in the studio." Would she say that about William Hague? Sir Ming was treated with respect not just during discussion of the war in Afghanistan but also during the interview with the newly-elected UKIP leader, Lord Pearson. Lord Pearson was not accorded the same respect, earning Andrew Neil an I.C. of 1.6. Andrew queried his 12,000-acre estate and his tax allowances and said "We haven't got much time" after far too short a time. (Well, create time then!) Andrew Neil may be a lovable rogue but he can be really chippy about 'privilege' sometimes. Lord Pearson remained cheerful throughout. Sir Ming was also accorded the maximum respect while mischief-making over David Cameron's plan for a Sovereignty Act during an interview with Conservative Mark Francois (I.C. of 0.8 for Andrew Neil). The last topic, on which Sir Ming talked unusual good sense, was what Anita Anand calls (putting on a funny voice) "elf and safety", and here Quentin Letts of The Daily Mail was the other guest (and as good value as ever). A Brownie-point there!
*
Wednesday was Prime Minister's Questions day & this very often seems the worst day for any centre-right viewer to watch on the programme (perhaps because the producers load it that way, it being the most watched edition of the week). Still, even here both John Hutton (one of the most likable of the Labour crowd) and Andrew Lansley were interrupted at the same rate by both Andrew and Anita. However, the soon-to-be-installed first minister of Wales Carwyn Jones was accorded a free ride and there was a remarkable film from leftie actor Brian Cox, a man who was not keen on old Etonians or Tories ("There's a risk, a very serious risk, that we might have a Tory government next year, a government that comprises a bunch of old public school boys.") Coxie himself declared "I'm a Labour supporter" - and it showed! He'd also, in the past, produced a party political broadcast for the Labour Party. This was another!! Cox, chippy Andrew Neil, Anita and an amused John Hutton then ganged up on public-school educated Tory Andrew Lansley. What fun!
*
Left-wing (but beautiful) Jo Coburn joined Andrew on Thursday to give Lib Dem economic spokesman Lord Oakeshott a free ride on bankers' pay, annoying Orla Guerin came on to talk about Pakistan and a chap she called "Obama bin Laden" (Ha ha ha!), and the main guest was interesting former chief government advisor Sir David King (interesting but left-wing, as he banged on about "rampant consumerism and greed" and "how important it is we examine Al-Queda's popularity among Islamic people in the region") Andrew Neil disapproves of the Afghan War, and takes no pains to hide the fact. This was made very clear again during his interview with anti-war Labour MP Kim Howells. This love-in scored an I.C. of 0, and Andrew ended it by saying "I have a feeling we're going to see you again quite soon." So do I!! Professor King then went head-to-head with 'sceptical environmentalist' Bjorn Lomberg on climate change.
*
Yesterday, when Anita was home alone, entertaining ex-Conservative minister Gyles Brandreth (very funny on Mandelson and Brown) was on with joint-main-guest Bonnie Greer, a lady of the Left but an interesting one. Anita alone usually means bias and, though she wasn't particularly aggressive today, it is notable that her only significant interruption during the discussion on Labour's class-war tactics between sleazy Labour practitioner Steve McCabe and cute Conservative Justine Greening was against Justine, resulting in an I.C of 0.4 against McCabe and an I.C. of 0.8 against Justine. When the topic turned to drugs, specifically 'legal highs', the guests were Steve Rolles, Guardian-friendly head of drugs think-tank Transform and Lib Dem Chris Huhne. Mr Rolles was in favour, broadly-speaking, of the legalisation of all drugs (an idea that needs thinking about in my view) whereas I've still no idea where Mr Huhne stands (that's Lib Dems for you!). Bonnie was 'liberal' on the subject, and so (interestingly) was Gyles. So that was four people taking a 'liberal' stand on drugs. Hardly balanced is it? (And I say that while being 'liberal' myself on the subject). At least Anita (to her credit) essayed a little devil's advocacy in some of her questions. Naughty though was Beeboid Giles Dilnot' s sneer at "Lord Pearson of I-Own-Half-Of-Scotland". The BBC's disrespect for UKIP continues.
*

IT'S THAT MANN AGAIN

*
Last night's Newsnight saw the return of Labour's John Mann. (He's beginning to give John McFall a good run for his money). He was discussing Labour's class war tactics against the Tories (as outlined in the preceding report by ex-Trotskyite Paul Mason) with Conservative David Gauke. Martha Kearney interrupted neither of them (I.C.s of 0 all round), but note that whereas Mr Mann got 3 minutes and 27 seconds-worth of the slot, Mr Gauke only got 1 minute 53 seconds. That's partly because he gave shorter answers than Mr Mann, but also because he was allowed fewer 'goes' than Mr Mann. The latter, indeed, got both the first and the last word.
*
This edition was also notable for an unedifying but revealing exchange between two absolute charmers on the subject of Climategate, as 'moderated' by Martha: Andrew Watson of East Anglia University (I.C. of 0.6) and Marc Morano, a leading American sceptic (I.C. of 2.5). We are now hearing from sceptics, which is only right and proper. I note that Bjorn Lomberg was on yesterday's World at One, along with Ed Miliband, I.C. of 0 for Shaun Ley. They may be dead wrong (or not), but now at least we can begin to judge for ourselves. (Let's hope the quality of debate improves though!)
*

BURN THE BANKERS!

*
We all know, because the BBC has been telling us for so long that it's the case, that bankers are solely responsible for all the world's economic woes. With the nodding heads of John McFall and Vince Cable for support, they have convinced us to absolve the government of the UK in particular of any responsibility for the credit crunch or the subsequent recession. They very rarely ask why the UK recession has been so harsh and whether throwing money around like confetti in the belief that the good times would last forever, as Gordon Brown did for most of his ten years as chancellor, might just mean that we have are now pretty much skint as a nation. No, just blame the bankers for everything!
*
As an example of bias interviewing on this issue just take Thursday's The World Tonight where the opening section dwelt on the subject again, beginning with an anti-banker interviewee, Labour's John Mann, then featuring a pro-banker interviewee, Owen Kelly of Scottish Financial Enterprise. Fair enough, but Mr Mann was allowed to talk without being interrupted (giving three long answers - 41 secs, 59 secs and 55 secs respectively), whereas exactly 14 seconds after Mr Kelly had begun his first answer Robin Lustig interrupted in a hostile fashion. Fair? Hardly.
*

BRING BACK THE BULLOCK!

*
The stats for last night's Question Time show that David Dimbleby picked on one of the guests above all others - and by some margin:
*
Andrew Lansley (Conservative) - 21 interruptions, I.C. of 1.9
Vince Cable (Lib Dem) - 7 interruptions, I.C. of 0.8
Kirstie Allsopp (TV presenter & babe) - 4 interruptions, I.C. of 0.6
Margaret Beckett (Labour) - 5 interruptions, I.C. of 0.6
Clive Anderson (TV presenter) - 5 interruptions, I.C. of 0.5
*
Note that Andrew Lansley's I.C. was twice that of Vince Cable and three times larger than Mrs Beckett. That's David Dimbleby for you!
*
As to the nature of the questioning, Dimbleby's attitude to Vince Cable was affectionate, despite some gentle ribbing over the 'Mansion Tax' ("Do you think the halo's slipping?"), and even supportive at times (as at 4.42 when he interrupted Vince only to back him up: "You're saying they've always been risking our money." "That's right", said Vince and flowed on. (Another example will be given later.) When Afghanistan was discussed Cable was allowed to speak for 1 minute 18 seconds without question or interruption.
*
Margaret Beckett was treated with even greater respect, despite a brief bit of ribbing over the length of her time in government, only being seriously interrupted over Gordon Brown's class-warfare. Sample the questions at 9.30 and 9.58 to hear what I mean about Dimbleby's respectful tone towards the much-loved ex-minister (sic).
*
Compare that to Mr Lansley's treatment. During his first answer to the first question alone he faced an onslaught of intentionally disruptive interruptions from the ultra-biased Dimbleby. At 7.44 came "Well how would you stop it? You can say it till you're blue in the face. How can you stop it?" Then at 7.56 "A windfall tax on the banks. Is that what Tories are proposing?" Then at 8.00 it was "Well what are you proposing, if you say you're going to do something but you're not going to do anything as far as (mumble)?" followed at 8.06 by "Nobody could make head nor tail of what he (George Osborne) was saying at his conference speech" (provoking audience laughter). At 8.09 Dimbleby graciously said, "Go on then", though at 8.29 he was back at it, interrupting Andrew Lansley yet again "But these are wishes, these are wishes". He tried to stop him at 8.45 "All right" (perhaps to ensure that there would be no chance for applause, though given the large left-wing majority in the audience, he probably needn't have worried!!). Mr Lansley struggled on but Dimbleby persisted, "Margaret Beckett. Hold on, hold on a moment (to Lansley). Margaret Beckett (inviting her to attack the Tories), what do you make of that suggestion from the Tories?" All this happened in less than two minutes!!
*
During Mr Lansley's brief intervention during the 'Mansion Tax' question, the second question, (less than 35 seconds in all!!), he was interrupted yet again - first to be corrected by Dimbleby on Dr Cable's constituency (18.21) ("Twickenham he represents, not Richmond, much poorer") and then at 18.39 to defend Vince Cable!! ("But you've all got to raise taxes. I mean if you get in this time you've got to raise taxes. He's (Cable's) just thinking of ways of raising money.")
*
Four more interruptions followed during the Afghanistan question. No one else was interrupted more than once, indeed - as mentioned earlier - Vince Cable got in a long, interrupted answer, and Clive Anderson banged on for nearly two minutes without interruption. When (at 33.38) Lansley began attacking Labour Dimbleby swiftly interrupted again, saying "All right, I want to move on". I bet he did!

During the fourth question - on Brown, class warfare and the politics of envy - Dimbleby had close at hand the story of Nancy Mogg, as well as a mocking comment from Kelvin McKenzie about Etonians in the Tory Party (which he was determined to read out in full & get his laugh at the Conservatives' expense ("Hold on!")) He invited Clive Anderson to have a go at Zak Goldsmith and during Lansley's attempted defence of his party was found talking over him (at 36.02 he muttered "I didn't think Harriet Harman went to Charterhouse" and tried to hand over to "Margaret Beckett?"), then as Lansley ploughed on "I went to.." interrupted with a quip at his expense "You went to school!" (provoking laughter from the moronic audience.) He interjected again at 36.27 "But are you saying it's wrong, sorry I won't go on about this, that Gordon Brown is trying to use the politics of envy?" but, barely before Mr Lansley's answer has begun (at 36.34) said "Margaret Beckett" again & this time succeeded in shutting the Tory up.
*
On the fifth question (about the Swiss referendum on banning minarets), Andrew Lansley was badgered about a referendum on Europe, again receiving almost all the panel's quota of interruptions on offer (4!).
*
Even on the frothy final question (about Tiger Woods), Dimbleby said "Andrew Lansley, very briefly if you would" before his only answer on the question. This was the only guest of whom brevity was requested. When Mrs Beckett followed all Dimbleby said was "Margaret Beckett?". This would be a small point were it not for the fact that all such requests made in the last four programmes have been directed at either a Conservatives (Cheryl Gillan and Nick Herbert) or a conservative (Melanie Phillips) - and no one else.
*
It's well beyond time that David Dimbleby was pensioned off. If not that then at least let the bullock have another go.
*

HIGH PRAISE INDEED!

*
Casting an eye over the last three editions of The World at One, all with Martha Kearney, reveals that the toughest interview with a domestic politician was with Boris Johnson (30/11), a serious-toned Boris facing an unfriendly Martha (I.C. of 1.2), with five full-blooded interruptions. Boris brings out the worst in some BBC interviewers - witness Martha's hilarious over-excitement last time she interviewed him (5/10 - 1.5)! In contrast, today's 'politicians panel' discussed Afghanistan and there were no significant interruptions for any of the guests (I.C.s of 0 all round), Mark Francois (Con), Chris Huhne (Lib) and John Healey (Lab). Here balance was achieved.
*
Today's edition also saw the issue of Afghanistan discussed with two senior figures from the American political scene and here too balance seemed to be the order of the day. We had, of course, a Democrat - Congressman Jim McGovern from Massachusetts - but also the Australian Dr David Kilcullen. He was described as a 'chief strategist at the State Department' during the Bush Administration, and now a 'senior advisor' to General McChrystal. Yesterday, however, saw a classic instance of the BBC's Democratophilia as the war was discussed (at some length) with Philip Bobbitt. Here's how Martha described him: "Philip Bobbitt has been highly influential on the foreign policy of many presidents. The law professor was Columbia and Texas Universities has written several books highly praised by world leaders, including 'The Shield of Achilles' and 'Terror and Consent'." High praise indeed! So I guessed he was not on the conservative side of American politics; indeed he confirmed this himself, saying "In the Democratic Party, which is my party and the president's party...". That he may be a very fine man and a very fine thinker is besides the point. The BBC has a strong habit of 'bigging up' the credentials of thinkers from the Left side of politics, but not 'bigging up' those from the Right with anywhere near such warmth or regularity. *
*

NOVEMBER'S I.C.s - AIRTIME PERCENTAGES

*
There has been a very marked shift away from Labour being the dominant force on the Beeb's air-waves (as it used to regularly take well over 50% of all the interview time.) This is encouraging. We're not a one-party state after all.
*
Labour - 7 hours 44 minutes 21 seconds (41.1%)
Conservatives - 6 hours 25 minutes 11 seconds (34.1%)
Liberal Democrats - 2 hours 16 minutes 19 seconds (12.0%)
SNP- 1 hour 15 minutes 4 seconds (6.7%)
UKIP - 29 minutes 10 seconds (2.6%)
Greens - 16 minutes 34 seconds (1.5%)
Sinn Fein - 9 minutes 35 seconds (0.9%)
Independents - 8 minutes 1 second (0.7%)
Plaid Cymru - 4 minutes 59 seconds (0.4%)

NOVEMBER'S I.C.s - SUPER-AVERAGES FOR EACH PARTY

**
My favourite measure of bias across the Beeb is the super-average interruption coefficient - which is calculated very simply by adding up all the individual I.C.s for each party & then dividing them by the number of interviewed granted to each party that month. As with all statistics, the larger the sample, the better the result (with the consequence that the Plaid figure, based on 2 interviews, is probably not typical!) - and more significant any differences (hence the increase of the I.C. to 2 decimal places).

Here are how things worked out in November 2009:
*
Conservatives (95 interviews) - 0.86
SNP (15 interviews) - 0.81
UKIP (9 interviews) - 0.80
Labour (149 interviews) - 0.67
Liberal Democrats (39 interviews) - 0.48
Independents (3 interviews) - 0.27
Sinn Fein (2 interviews) - 0.15
Greens (4 interviews) - 0.13
Plaid Cymru (2 interviews) - 0

There you go. More empiral proof of the BBC's bias, albeit not so sharply etched as in other months. *

NOVEMBER'S I.C.s - INTRODUCTION & FULL LIST

*
November has been a busy month for me with 318 interviews covered.
*
As ever, I have covered every edition of:
*
Today
The Daily Politics
The World At One
PM
The World Tonight
Newsnight
The Andrew Marr Show
Broadcasting House
The Politics Show
The World This Weekend
The Politics Show: Scotland
Dragon's Eye
The Record: Europe
Westminster Hour
*
Here's the usual reminder - Interruption Coefficients (I.C.s) are calculated by dividing the number of interruptions by the length of the interview. The higher the I.C. the tougher the interview (as a rule). I.C.s of 0 have contained no interruptions! Interruptions are only classed as interruptions if they stop or significantly alter the speaker's flow. Muttered 'wells' and the like are classed as 'abortive interruptions' and are not counted. Those that share an I.C., say of 0.8, are sub-ranked according to a hidden (inferior) measure called the Questions Coefficient, which is calculated by dividing thee number of questions by the length of the interview. The more questions there are, the likelier the interviewer is holding the reins in an interview. That means that everything is ranked where it should be!
*
As usual I will begin with the full list (with apologies for the lack of punctuation!!):
**
*
Date, Interviewer, Interviewer, Party, I.C.
*
19/11 Jo Coburn Phillip Hammond Conservative 3.6
*
12/11 Andrew Neil Damian Green Conservative 3
*
18/11 Jeremy Paxman Ben Bradshaw Labour 2.8
19/11 Andrew Neil Phillip Hammond Conservative 2.8
*
25/11 Jeremy Paxman Ed Balls Labour 2.4
*
25/11 Andrew Neil Jacqui Smith Labour 2.3
*
24/11 Andrew Neil Sir George Young Conservative 2.2
30/11 Eddie Mair Alex Salmond SNP 2.2
12/11 Andrew Neil Phil Woolas Labour 2.2
03/11 Andrew Neil Lord Oakeshott Lib Dem 2.2
*
25/11 Jeremy Paxman Lord Hunt Labour 2.1
24/11 Jeremy Paxman Chris Grayling Conservative 2.1
18/11 Jeremy Paxman Sir George Young Conservative 2.1
19/11 John Humphrys David Cameron Conservative 2.1
*
03/11 Andrew Neil John McFall Labour 2
10/11 Evan Davis Yvette Cooper Labour 2
04/11 Andrew Neil Grant Shapps Conservative 2
25/11 Jeremy Paxman Paul Goodman Conservative 2
*
25/11 Andrew Neil Lord Oakeshott Lib Dem 1.9
25/11 Andrew Neil Ken Clarke Conservative 1.9
02/11 Anita Anand Barry Gardiner Labour 1.9
*
18/11 Shaun Ley Phillip Hammond Conservative 1.8
10/11 Jeremy Paxman Yvette Cooper Labour 1.8
*
15/11 Gary Robertson Jim Murphy Labour 1.7
04/11 James Naughtie Mark Pritchard Conservative 1.7
02/11 Anita Anand Andrew Lansley Conservative 1.7
*
25/11 Shaun Ley Sarah McCarthy-Fry Labour 1.6
19/11 Jo Coburn Stephen Timms Labour 1.6
10/11 Andrew Neil Phil Woolas Labour 1.6
30/11 Eddie Mair Bill Rammell Labour 1.6
10/11 Jeremy Paxman Theresa May Conservative 1.6
15/11 Gary Robertson Fiona Hyslop SNP 1.6
18/11 Carolyn Quinn Harriet Harman Labour 1.6
*
11/11 Andrew Neil Nigel Farage UKIP 1.5
05/11 Andrew Neil Mark Francois Conservative 1.5
*
29/11 Glenn Campbell Annabel Goldie Conservative 1.4
19/11 Andrew Neil Danny Alexander Lib Dem 1.4
05/11 Andrew Neil Bill Rammell Labour 1.4
15/11 Gary Robertson Stewart Stevenson SNP 1.4
12/11 Justin Webb Dominic Grieve Conservative 1.4
02/11 Giles Dilnot Joanne Cash Conservative 1.4
12/11 John Humphrys Jeremy Wright Conservative 1.4
02/11 Jeremy Paxman Phil Woolas Labour 1.4
22/11 Ed Stourton George Foulkes Labour 1.4
*
05/11 Jo Coburn Barry Legg Conservative 1.3
22/11 Adrian Masters Alun Cairns Conservative 1.3
10/11 Andrew Neil Ed Vaizey Conservative 1.3
18/11 Carolyn Quinn William Hague Conservative 1.3
19/11 Justin Webb Harriet Harman Labour 1.3
08/11 Andrew Marr William Hague Conservative 1.3
30/11 Andrew Neil Jeremy Browne Lib Dem 1.3
17/11 Evan Davis Eric Pickles Conservative 1.3
*
15/11 Gary Robertson Andrew Adonis Labour 1.2
22/11 Paddy O'Connell Dan Hannan Conservative 1.2
19/11 Andrew Neil Stephen Timms Labour 1.2
30/11 Martha Kearney Boris Johnson Conservative 1.2
07/11 Justin Webb Norman Baker Lib Dem 1.2
25/11 Anita Anand Jacqui Smith Labour 1.2
01/11 Glenn Campbell Tavish Scott Lib Dem 1.2
11/11 Andrew Neil Ben Bradshaw Labour 1.2
08/11 Shirin Wheeler Timothy Kirkhope Conservative 1.2
24/11 John Humphrys Lord Falconer Labour 1.2
25/11 Carolyn Quinn Ed Balls Labour 1.2
07/11 Justin Webb Phil Woolas Labour 1.2
12/11 John Humphrys Boris Johnson Conservative 1.2
26/11 Gavin Esler Jeremy Hunt Conservative 1.2
15/11 Shirin Wheeler Martha Andreasen UKIP 1.2
*
10/11 Andrew Neil Katy Clark Labour 1.1
16/11 Justin Webb Meg Hillier Labour 1.1
15/11 Jon Sopel Andrew Adonis Labour 1.1
22/11 Glenn Campbell Jackie Baillie Labour 1.1
27/11 Gavin Esler Michael Gove Conservative 1.1
*
24/11 Jeremy Paxman Michael Fallon Conservative 1
02/11 Jeremy Paxman Douglas Alexander Labour 1
13/11 Eddie Mair David Kidney Labour 1
22/11 Glenn Campbell Katy Clark Labour 1
08/11 Carolyn Quinn Douglas Carswell Conservative 1
22/11 Glenn Campbell Roseanna Cunningham SNP 1
26/11 Anita Anand Theresa Villiers Conservative 1
15/11 Sophie Raworth Ed Miliband Labour 1
02/11 Anita Anand Chris Huhne Lib Dem 1
02/11 Jeremy Paxman Damian Green Conservative 1
08/11 Adrian Masters John Bufton UKIP 1
14/11 Evan Davis Bill Rammell Labour 1
22/11 Andrew Marr Nick Clegg Lib Dem 1
02/11 Carolyn Quinn Ed Balls Labour 1
18/11 Shaun Ley Tessa Jowell Labour 1
19/11 Gavin Esler Nigel Farage UKIP 1
26/11 Gavin Esler Lord Foulkes Labour 1
04/11 Emily Maitlis William Hague Conservative 1
*
11/11 Kirsty Wark Norman Lamont Conservative 0.9
24/11 Eddie Mair John McFall Labour 0.9
25/11 Carolyn Quinn Michael Gove Conservative 0.9
03/11 Martha Kearney John Swinney SNP 0.9
04/11 Andrew Neil Mark Pritchard Conservative 0.9
09/11 John Humphrys Ed Miliband Labour 0.9
25/11 John Humphrys Lord Myners Labour 0.9
27/11 Sarah Montague Lord Adonis Labour 0.9
25/11 Carolyn Quinn Jim Murphy Labour 0.9
02/11 Justin Webb Charles Clarke Labour 0.9
18/11 Evan Davis Michael Gove Conservative 0.9
19/11 John Humphrys Chris Patten Conservative 0.9
26/11 Andrew Neil Vince Cable Lib Dem 0.9
04/11 Andrew Neil Lord Adonis Labour 0.9
10/11 Evan Davis Theresa May Conservative 0.9
09/11 Eddie Mair Ian Austin Labour 0.9
05/11 Eddie Mair Ed Balls Labour 0.9
25/11 Andrew Neil Mike Russell SNP 0.9
30/11 Martha Kearney Pauline McNeill Labour 0.9
04/11 Martha Kearney Bob Ainsworth Labour 0.9
18/11 Evan Davis Peter Mendelson Labour 0.9
*
04/11 Robin Lustig Charles Walker Conservative 0.8
30/11 Jeremy Paxman Alex Salmond SNP 0.8
17/11 Shaun Ley Andrew Adonis Labour 0.8
24/11 Justin Webb Michael Fallon Conservative 0.8
11/11 Kirsty Wark Sally Keeble Labour 0.8
11/11 Kirsty Wark John McFall Labour 0.8
11/11 Robin Lustig Phil Woolas Labour 0.8
22/11 Glenn Campbell Alex Neil SNP 0.8
01/11 Jon Sopel Dan Hannan Conservative 0.8
04/11 Martha Kearney Vera Baird Labour 0.8
09/11 Jeremy Paxman Ed Miliband Labour 0.8
22/11 Jon Sopel Theresa May Conservative 0.8
28/11 Justin Webb Lord Pearson UKIP 0.8
22/11 Jon Sopel Yvette Cooper Labour 0.8
30/11 James Naughtie Nick Clegg Lib Dem 0.8
06/11 Gavin Esler Bob Stewart Conservative 0.8
19/11 Jo Coburn Danny Alexander Lib Dem 0.8
11/11 James Naughtie Peter Mandelson Labour 0.8
*
30/11 Andrew Neil Tim Bell Conservative 0.7
15/11 Ed Stourton David Davies Conservative 0.7
01/11 Shirin Wheeler Paul Nuttall UKIP 0.7
20/11 Justin Webb Cathy Ashton Labour 0.7
08/11 Shirin Wheeler Charles Tannock Conservative 0.7
18/11 Jeremy Paxman Vince Cable Lib Dem 0.7
09/11 John Humphrys Greg Clark Conservative 0.7
30/11 James Naughtie Jack Straw Labour 0.7
01/11 Carolyn Quinn Ed Vaizey Conservative 0.7
06/11 Gavin Esler Lord West Goat 0.7
16/11 Jeremy Paxman John Denham Labour 0.7
01/11 Jon Sopel Alistair Darling Labour 0.7
19/11 Shaun Ley Paul Myners Labour 0.7
26/11 Andrew Neil Paul Myners Labour 0.7
19/11 Shaun Ley Andy Burnham Labour 0.7
08/11 Shirin Wheeler Graham Watson Lib Dem 0.7
09/11 Martha Kearney Jack Straw Labour 0.7
23/11 Jeremy Paxman Denis MacShane Labour 0.7
*
10/11 Anita Anand Gerry Sutcliffe Labour 0.6
29/11 Glenn Campbell Mike Russell SNP 0.6
09/11 Martha Kearney Chris Smith Labour 0.6
11/11 Andrew Neil Michael Howard Conservative 0.6
08/11 Shirin Wheeler Derek Clarke UKIP 0.6
25/11 Shaun Ley Ben Bradshaw Labour 0.6
05/11 Sarah Montague Lord Tebbitt Conservative 0.6
01/11 Andrew Marr Harriet Harman Labour 0.6
06/11 Edward Stourton Nick Clegg Lib Dem 0.6
10/11 Anita Anand Tessa Jowell Labour 0.6
16/11 Ed Stourton Sally Keeble Labour 0.6
29/11 Jon Sopel Alex Salmond SNP 0.6
04/11 James Naughtie Michael Portillo Conservative 0.6
16/11 Justin Webb John McFall Labour 0.6
30/11 Andrew Neil Boris Johnson Conservative 0.6
03/11 Justin Webb Lord Mandelson Labour 0.6
07/11 John Humphrys Pauline Neville-Jones Conservative 0.6
22/11 Andrew Marr David Cameron Conservative 0.6
29/11 Glenn Campbell Iain Gray Labour 0.6
23/11 Jeremy Paxman Dan Hannan Conservative 0.6
01/11 Glenn Campbell Nicola Sturgeon SNP 0.6
22/11 Carolyn Quinn Mark Field Conservative 0.6
*
11/11 Sarah Montague Chris Grayling Conservative 0.5
17/11 Eddie Mair Michael Wills Labour 0.5
08/11 Adrian Masters Kay Swinburne Conservative 0.5
26/11 Shaun Ley Paul Myners Labour 0.5
30/11 Martha Kearney Stuart Hosie SNP 0.5
19/11 Shaun Ley David Lipsey Labour 0.5
08/11 Carolyn Quinn Alison Seabeck Labour 0.5
01/11 Glenn Campbell Annabel Goldie Conservative 0.5
20/11 Anita Anand Emily Thornberry Labour 0.5
01/11 Glenn Campbell Iain Gray Labour 0.5
02/11 Carolyn Quinn Douglas Alexander Labour 0.5
06/11 Sarah Montague Douglas Alexander Labour 0.5
08/11 Shirin Wheeler Glen Willmott Labour 0.5
15/11 Carolyn Quinn Janet Anderson Labour 0.5
24/11 Andrew Neil Clare Short Ind Labour 0.5
01/11 Carolyn Quinn Tom Harris Labour 0.5
09/11 Jason Rowlatt Ed Miliband Labour 0.5
27/11 Sarah Montague Dominic Grieve Conservative 0.5
04/11 Martha Kearney Chris Huhne Lib Dem 0.5
23/11 James Naughtie Lord Lawson Conservative 0.5
*
01/11 Jon Sopel Nigel Farage UKIP 0.4
03/11 Martha Kearney Mark Hoban Conservative 0.4
22/11 Adrian Masters Mike German Lib Dem 0.4
03/11 Carolyn Quinn Jane Davidson Labour 0.4
11/11 Anita Anand Ben Bradshaw Labour 0.4
13/11 Evan Davis Lord West GOAT 0.4
25/11 Shaun Ley Greg Clark Conservative 0.4
29/11 Andrew Marr Douglas Alexander Labour 0.4
30/11 Jeremy Paxman Eric Joyce Labour 0.4
09/11 Ritula Shah Simon Hughes Lib Dem 0.4
10/11 Eddie Mair Sally Keeble Labour 0.4
25/11 James Naughtie Jim Murphy Labour 0.4
20/11 Shaun Ley Chris Smith Labour 0.4
06/11 Edward Stourton Bob Ainsworth Labour 0.4
25/11 Anita Anand Ken Clarke Conservative 0.4
04/11 Carolyn Quinn William Hague Conservative 0.4
15/11 Carolyn Quinn Evan Harris Lib Dem 0.4
*
02/11 Jim Naughtie Vanessa Brown Conservative 0.3
24/11 Justin Webb Tony Wright Labour 0.3
04/11 Emily Maitlis Patrick Mercer Conservative 0.3
23/11 Anita Anand Michael Howard Conservative 0.3
27/11 Michael Buchanon Delyth Morgan Labour 0.3
29/11 Paddy O'Connell Mike O'Brien Labour 0.3
03/11 Martha Kearney Phillip Davies Conservative 0.3
15/11 Carolyn Quinn Ed Vaizey Conservative 0.3
29/11 Andrew Marr Caroline Lucas Green 0.3
04/11 Robin Lustig Ed Davey Lib Dem 0.3
10/11 Martha Kearney Andy Burnham Labour 0.3
10/11 Robin Lustig Elliott Morley Labour 0.3
15/11 Paddy O'Connell John Hutton Labour 0.3
16/11 Ed Stourton Nick Clegg Lib Dem 0.3
18/11 Carolyn Quinn Nick Clegg Lib Dem 0.3
13/11 Anita Anand David Lipsey Labour 0.3
02/11 Carolyn Quinn Dorothy Luckhurst Conservative 0.3
03/11 Carolyn Quinn Edward MacMillan Scott Independent 0.3
04/11 Evan Davis Richard Caborn Labour 0.3
08/11 Jon Sopel Bob Ainsworth Labour 0.3
12/11 Martha Kearney Kate Hoey Labour 0.3
03/11 Evan Davis Alistair Darling Labour 0.3
13/11 Anita Anand John O'Dowd Sinn Fein 0.3
21/11 Glenn Campbell Huw Iranca-Davies Labour 0.3
22/11 Carolyn Quinn Tom Harris Labour 0.3
*
03/11 Justin Webb David Willetts Conservative 0.2
06/11 Anita Anand Liam Fox Conservative 0.2
24/11 John Humphrys Michael Howard Conservative 0.2
05/11 Eddie Mair Paddy Ashdown Lib Dem 0.2
20/11 Justin Webb Neil Kinnock Labour 0.2
26/11 James Naughtie Mike Russell SNP 0.2
04/11 Evan Davis Kim Howells Labour 0.2
17/11 Evan Davis Phil Hope Labour 0.2
22/11 Carolyn Quinn Caroline Lucas Green 0.2
29/11 Carolyn Quinn Jo Swinson Lib Dem 0.2
29/11 Carolyn Quinn Emily Thornberry Labour 0.2
13/11 Evan Davis Gordon Brown Labour 0.2
12/11 Ed Stourton Paddy Ashdown Lib Dem 0.2
*
08/11 Andrew Marr Kate Hoey Labour 0.1
*
30/11 Anita Anand Tim Bell Conservative 0
24/11 Eddie Mair Vince Cable Lib Dem 0
03/11 Evan Davis Vince Cable Lib Dem 0
03/11 Ritula Shah Barry Legg Conservative 0
04/11 Andrew Neil Nick Harvey Lib Dem 0
02/11 Martha Kearney Mark Todd Labour 0
04/11 Martha Kearney Grant Shapps Conservative 0
06/11 Edward Stourton Liam Fox Conservative 0
22/11 Shirin Wheeler Cathy Ashton Labour 0
01/11 Carolyn Quinn Lynne Featherstone Lib Dem 0
10/11 Martha Kearney Adam Holloway Conservative 0
25/11 Jeremy Paxman John Redwood Conservative 0
19/11 Felicity Evans Joyce Quin Labour 0
03/11 Martha Kearney Roger Helmer Conservative 0
11/11 Anita Anand Michael Howard Conservative 0
08/11 Carolyn Quinn Dick Newby Lib Dem 0
26/11 Gavin Esler Ben Bradshaw Labour 0
01/11 Shaun Ley Lord Winston Labour 0
02/11 Jeremy Paxman Dan Hannan Conservative 0
08/11 Adrian Masters Kirsty Williams Lib Dem 0
20/11 Felicity Evans Michael Fallon Conservative 0
02/11 Jeremy Paxman Lord Young Conservative 0
07/11 Ritula Shah Tony Wright Labour 0
12/11 Justin Webb Baroness Miller Lib Dem 0
06/11 Eddie Mair Tom King Conservative 0
20/11 Shaun Ley Glenis Willmott Labour 0
23/11 Eddie Mair Paul Nuttall UKIP 0
26/11 Shaun Ley Jim Cousins Labour 0
30/11 Eddie Mair Angela Smith Labour 0
04/11 Anita Anand Grant Shapps Conservative 0
20/11 Shaun Ley Tim Farron Lib Dem 0
29/11 Glenn Campbell Susan Deacon Labour 0
02/11 Ritula Shah Brian Paddick Lib Dem 0
08/11 Adrian Masters Elfin Llwyd Plaid 0
15/11 Ed Stourton Helen Mary Jones Plaid 0
17/11 Shaun Ley David Miliband Labour 0
24/11 Justin Webb Lord Carlile Lib Dem 0
20/11 Anita Anand Tony Cunningham Labour 0
22/11 Carolyn Quinn Tony Wright Labour 0
25/11 Shaun Ley Sarah Teather Lib Dem 0
27/11 Robin Lustig Jim Knight Labour 0
29/11 Jon Sopel Liam Fox Conservative 0
29/11 Jon Sopel Liam Byrne Labour 0
29/11 Brian Hanrahan Jim Murphy Labour 0
01/11 Glenn Campbell Patrick Harvie Green 0
02/11 Martha Kearney Evan Harris Lib Dem 0
04/11 Carolyn Quinn John Hutton Labour 0
16/11 Ritula Shah Ed Miliband Labour 0
19/11 Gavin Esler Joyce Quin Labour 0
27/11 Carolyn Quinn Lord Lester Lib Dem 0
29/11 Brian Hanrahan Nicola Sturgeon SNP 0
13/11 Evan Davis Pauline Neville-Jones Conservative 0
16/11 Ed Stourton John Prescott Labour 0
30/11 Anita Anand Alex Salmond SNP 0
04/11 Anita Anand Lord Adonis Labour 0
09/11 Martha Kearney Angela Smith Labour 0
13/11 Anita Anand Margaret Beckett Labour 0
15/11 Paddy O'Connell Malcolm Rifkind Conservative 0
18/11 Shaun Ley Ed Davey Lib Dem 0
20/11 Sarah Montague Hilary Benn Labour 0
23/11 James Naughtie Gerry Kelly Sinn Fein 0
20/11 Shaun Ley Lord Owen Cross-Bench 0
23/11 Shaun Ley Tony Cunningham Labour 0
24/11 Anita Anand Barry Sheerman Labour 0
04/11 Emily Maitlis Paul Flynn Labour 0
03/11 Martha Kearney Lord Myners Labour 0
22/11 Ed Stourton Ming Campbell Lib Dem 0
26/11 Eddie Mair Richard Simpson Labour 0
29/11 Paddy O'Connell Chris Smith Labour 0
15/11 Shirin Wheeler Derek Vaughan Labour 0
15/11 Shirin Wheeler Vicky Ford Conservative 0
01/11 Shirin Wheeler Jean Lambert Green 0
20/11 Anita Anand Roy Hattersley Labour 0