Category Archives: bbc question time

Journalist Sums Up Political Scandals In One Comment: ‘Very Rich People Using Law To Evade Scrutiny’

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A journalist summarised the exact problem with the recent string of Tory scandals on BBC Question Time on Thursday.

Alison Phillips, the editor of the Daily Mirror, was discussing Tory Party chair Nadhim Zahawi’s taxes, which have been in the spotlight over the last week.

Zahawi was reported to have paid a multi-million pound penalty to HMRC over his taxes last year, around the time he became chancellor under Boris Johnson.

The Tory Party chair has not disclosed the size of the settlement – believed to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30% penalty – or confirmed whether he paid a fine.

Since the issue came to light, prime minister Rishi Sunak has ordered his independent ethics adviser to investigate it – as there are “questions” which need “answering” – but has not yet asked Zahawi to step down from his role.

Phillips began: “Surely, Rishi Sunak must have called him [Zahawi] in and said, ’Hang on a minute, how come I’ve just found out that what you said to me last week was not the whole truth?

″‘And you’ve made me look an absolute clown, you’ve caused distrust in the country’ – and this is continuing.”

She also said the idea which really “cuts” through for her, was that last July Zahawi was using “his very expensive lawyers to send out letters to get journalists and investigators to stop looking at this”.

This is a reference to when reports first started to suggest that Zahawi was the subject of an investigation by the National Crime Agency and HMRC.

The senior Tory denied knowledge of this, later saying that these stories were “inaccurate, unfair” and “clearly smears”.

Phillips said these threats of being sued is seen all over the country right now, as ″very rich people are using the law to evade proper scrutiny.”

“The idea that we’ve got someone in our government doing that, it’s just appalling, it stinks,” she added.

She mentioned that Sunak promised to introduce “integrity, professionalism and accountability” into the heart of government when he was elected as Tory leader back in October, as that’s what we as a country “deserve” and “want”.

“He’s let himself down, he’s allowed one of his closest advisers to let him down, and I think it’s a real shame for all of them,” the journalist concluded.

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Mick Lynch Has Come Up With A New Word To Describe Boris Johnson

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Mick Lynch invented a new word to sum up the prime minister on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.

As he was explaining his frustration towards Downing Street – and speaking just hours before the results from two separate by-elections were announced – Lynch described Boris Johnson as “unembarrassable”.

The RMT general-secretary has gained a surprise legion of fans in the past week due to his no-nonsense media appearances amid backlash over the rail strikes, and he may have acquired just a few more after last night.

“I hope he loses both of these elections, and I hope he’s undermined, you wouldn’t expect anything else from me,” Lynch said.

“His main problem is he is ‘unembarrassable’.

“No matter what he does, he’s not embarrassed by his failures, by the image he gives off, and by his behaviour.

“And he’s supported in that by his mates in the establishment.

″We’ve got a very strange society where he’s propped up by the press, propped up by the media, propped by the city.”

Alluding to the fixed penalty notice which Johnson received over attending a party during lockdown, the union boss claimed: “No matter what he does, no matter how badly he behaves – up to and including breaking the law – they won’t go against him.”

Lynch also explained his surprise that Conservative MPs opted to keep Johnson in his role (albeit by a small margin) in last month’s confidence vote.

“Nevertheless, they lie in their own nest and support him,” the RMT boss continued. “So I don’t know what will make him go, but I think ultimately the Tories will get rid of him before the ballot box gets rid of him, because that’s in their interest.”

The prime minister has been heavily criticised in recent months, over everything from partygate and his decision to change the ministerial code to the Rwanda asylum policy.

Following the double whammy of the by-election defeats early this morning, Johnson told the press: “Historically in the last 50 years, more, you’ve seen governments being punished at the polls during mid-term, when people are particularly feeling economic pressures.”

He also blamed Covid and the cost of living crisis, but did not acknowledge how the blows to his reputation may have had an impact.

A particularly loyal member of his cabinet, Tory party chair Oliver Dowden, even resigned over the by-election defeats this morning, claiming that someone “must take responsibility” for the humiliating losses.

In his reply, Johnson thanked Dowden for his time in the cabinet, expressed his sorrow he was leaving but maintained that the current government was elected on a “historic mandate” back in 2019.

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Rosie Jones Unpacks The ‘Scary’ Reality For Minorities Living In The UK On Question Time

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BBC Question Time/Twitter

Comedian Rosie Jones on BBC Question Time

Comedian Rosie Jones said minorities do not feel safe in Britain during a conversation about violence against women on BBC Question Time.

Touching on the national debate which was reignited after the sentencing of Sarah Everard’s killer, Jones explained how she feels like neither Downing Street nor the police “care about my safety”.

Speaking on Thursday, the comic explained: “Talking about women’s safety in general, right now there’s a government inquiry and a met inquiry [into Everard’s killer] and I really feel like they are both PR stunts.

“I really don’t feel, as a woman, that either care about my safety.”

BBC host Fiona Bruce asked: “What would make you feel safe then, as you’re not happy about either of these inquiries?”

Jones pointed out: “They needed to do this before. And I feel like when we have got a government where Dominic Raab doesn’t even know what misogyny is, that is scary.”

She continued: “I’m a woman, but also as a disabled woman, I don’t feel safe at night.

“I don’t feel safe with police officers, and we need to get to a place where women – but also any minority, if you’re a woman, you’re disabled, if you’re in the LGBT spectrum, if you’re a person of colour – that fact is right now in the UK, they don’t feel safe, at home, at night, and that is a scary place to live in.”

Everard’s death back in March caused national outrage about protection towards women.

She was murdered by a then-serving police officer, who kidnapped her by putting her under false arrest for breaching lockdown rules.

People have subsequently called for reforms within the national police force, for the Met to vet all of their officers more thoroughly and for misogyny to be made into a hate crime.

After Question Time aired, Jones tweeted: ”As a gay, disabled woman living in the UK, I don’t feel safe.

“When will the government and the police support us?”

Jones also tweeted on Friday that she had received a substantial amount of “ableist abuse” after her appearance on Question Time.

She explained: “The sad thing is that I’m not surprised at the ableist abuse I’ve received tonight regarding my appearance on Question Time.

“It’s indicative of the country we live in right now.

“I will keep on speaking up, in my wonderful voice, for what I believe in.”

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