Clegg wins BBC Five Live Speed Dating
I’ve just listened to what was effectively another leadership hustings on Five Live this lunchtime. Simon Mayo hosted the show where four listeners had five minutes to ask Nick and Chris questions. All four listeners then said they would prefer Nick Clegg to become leader.
Throughout the campaign so far I have seen Chris Huhne impress Lib Dem members with intelligent, articulate answers. On the other hand, Nick Clegg has gained increasing popularity amongst the media and the country as a whole.
Nick Clegg won over all four listeners with shorter, punchier answers. I particularly liked his answer on the decline of UK manufacturing, arguing for some protection whereas Chris effectively said the decline wasn’t a big issue.
We know a major problem with Ming was his potrayal in the media. It seems to me we have a golden opportunity here to pick a leader that the media and the country can love - and therefore make real progress over the next two General Elections.
We must pick Clegg.
November 5, 2007 at 3:06 pm
We’re going to become a protectionist party!?
November 5, 2007 at 3:21 pm
The question was if the decline of manufacturing in the UK was a problem. Chris said no, Nick said yes. It was actually one of the few questions that they disagreed on!
It’s not so much of a problem in the rural south, but in the West Midlands there are large manufacturing facilities disappearing fast. No more so than in the automotive industry, with Rover and Peugeot going, and Jaguar and/or Land Rover soon to follow (opinion). This leaves thousands of people out of work and affects entire communities, not to mention the supply chain.
For Chris to say this isn’t a problem will make us unelectable in the West Midlands.
November 5, 2007 at 5:55 pm
We have been saying since the days of Jo Grimond that the proper function of Government is not to prop up faling industries by protectionist measures, but to ensure that there were other, viable jobs available for the workforce and training or retraining available to fit them for those jobs. I did not hear the programme, so cannot tell how accurate is your report of what was said - but if Clegg was holding out hopes that protectionism might be the salvation of British manufcaturing industry then he is more wet behind the ears than I ever supposed.
November 5, 2007 at 8:26 pm
“We have been saying since the days of Jo Grimond that the proper function of Government is not to prop up faling industries by protectionist measures…”
- No, Liberals have been saying that already since Gladstone found the party.
November 5, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Actually I must say, that this is the single most worrying thing I’ve heard about Clegg. Liberals have been sometimes in many respect economically illiberal, but they’ve never been against free trade. That has been a totem for liberals, the single thing which brought the party together in the first place. Clegg has refered to the old tradition beginning from Locke, so how can he be so ignorant about this issue?
November 5, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I think people are taking this out of context. I can’t reprint the exact words here as I wasn’t typing them as I was listening. Nick did NOT say that he would want to prop up the manufacturing industry, he answered a question on the decline of British manufacturing by agreeing it WAS an issue.
Protection for workers, ensuring they can retrain and get new jobs? Or government interference in the industry? I don’t know. It was a quick answer to a quick question. Personally I think the former is absolutely crucial, as it’s not happening at the moment in Birmingham and Coventry.
Perhaps this is a question that someone can ask at a future hustings and report back a fuller answer?
November 5, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Your post says “Nick Clegg has gained increasing popularity amongst the media”. RThe media always go for the safest, least challenging candidate. They did with Steel in 1976, Kennedy in 1999, and Ming in 2006.
It’s the memebrs that vote, and if Chris is winning them over, that’s good news.
Oh, and Chris was on great form on the Sunday Edition.
November 6, 2007 at 8:21 pm
The question not being asked is who really cares?
The reality is that whoever gets elected as the Liberal Party Leader has no chance in the future of actually being elected. We are a two party political system - the liberals are there for hilarity, amusement and a bit of fun.
Stop taking things so seriously - take a pill… some of you really need it.
November 15, 2007 at 10:39 pm
the blogman has gone quiet? has he got a job?
November 16, 2007 at 11:53 am
anonymous ir right, David. Where are you? Campaigning hard to defeat the BNP in Tipton, I hope… or could it be going for a selection in Newton? If so, I’m sure the Council would benefit if you were elected (although I’d be grateful if you didn’t put that on your election material - it probably wouldn’t help either of us!)
November 16, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Perhaps the excitiement of the Liberal leadership campaign has got too much, and David’s had to have an extended lie down…
July 13, 2008 at 12:44 am
work at home typing jobs no cost ever free start up…
work at home typing jobs no cost ever free start up…