A Tangled Web

'A Representative Sample', Mr Dimbleby?



Auntie Beeb's Question Time programme made a return to our screens just before the start of the annual party conference season. I rarely watch this drivel, as it is yet another forum for lunatic Lefties to air their incalculable grievances. Yesterday was different - mainly because Richard Dreyfuss was one of the guests. Any star of such excellent films as Jaws, Close Encounters and Whose Life Is It Anyway? is OK by me, whatever his politics might be.



David Dimbleby constantly informs us the Question Time audience is a 'representative sample of the British public'. Mmm, please forgive me if I don't jump up and down, nodding in wholehearted agreement with this statement. You see, according to the 2001 Census, people classing themselves as 'White British' made up approximately 92% of the UK population. Why was it then, that when the camera panned around the audience in Borehamwood last night, the demographic make-up looked more like a United Nations General Assembly photoshoot? If there were any members from this 92%, one had to look very hard to see them.



Moreover, the only true right-of-centre voice in the whole studio was that provided by Shadow Cabinet minister, Tim Collins. Looking at the rest of the guests - we had Mr Dreyfuss (a well-known supporter of the American Democrats); Simon Hughes and Peter Hain, who are both so Left-wing they've dropped off the end; and Julia Hartley-Brewer, whose opinions appeared to be whatever the majority consensus was in the audience on a particular topic.



Ah, the audience, ladies and gentlemen. They were soooo 'representative' of British demography and public opinion, weren't they? We had a room stuffed full of jihadist apologists, anti-American cretins, Loony Lefties, and people of just about every colour in the rainbow. The views articulated by this motley collection of fools may have convinced the bigwigs at the BBC that they are in tune with the pulse of modern Britain, but it shows the rest of us that this sham of a broadcasting corporation has little interest in taking on board the majority view of the indigenous population. If Mr Dimbleby had the honesty to tell us that Question Time has audiences representative of ethnic minorities; Lefties; ultra-Lefties; and fans of The Guardian, I would be less inclined to criticise.