tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post7794417141959451408..comments2024-03-28T22:32:50.562+00:00Comments on Liberal England: The significance of Charlotte Church on Question TimeJonathan Calderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-86314836406172849652015-10-05T15:30:09.367+01:002015-10-05T15:30:09.367+01:00Well said, Tom. The point on the drought in Syria ...Well said, Tom. The point on the drought in Syria is one that is so often ignored by those seeking simple solutions. The Middle East has long been recognised (by George Orwell in "1984", for example) as a difficult area , the meeting point between three continents and the spawning ground for religions.It is a considerable over simplification to blame curent troubles on Assad, or Sadam Hussein, or even on the British Empire. The starting point to finding a solution is to recognise the difficult climate of the area, and the effect that has on agricultural productivity, and from that to social and then political stress. And one has to remember that oil wealth has enabled countries in the region to sustain an artificially high population, and the depression in oil prices and the reduction in productivity of some oil fields will add to the stress. At the moment we seem to be obsessed with removing the symptoms of stress and the triggers of conflict, while leaving the fundamental problems to remain until the next war.<br />Charlotte Church, for all her faults, raised an important point, that was too complex for our sound bite obsessed politicians to deal with. She nicely ilustrated the point that our current political system can no longer cope with the real world that exists beyond Westminster and the headlines of the Tabloid Press.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15108248313443633135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-29320285698307793012015-10-03T02:15:54.541+01:002015-10-03T02:15:54.541+01:00Charlotte Church's appearance on Question Time...Charlotte Church's appearance on Question Time was significant.<br /><br />What struck me on that show were 2 main points:<br /><br />1. For all Stephen Kinnock MP's professional polish and articulacy, his words and opinions are unenlightened received wisdom from the hall of mirrors between media chatterati & political royalty. <br /><br />Ms Church showed greater intelligence, despite her naturally going beyond her comfort zone in engaging with public political debate. e.g. She made an interesting and relevant point on the drought that had lingered in large swatches of rural syria from 2003-2010. Sadly her interest on this oblique angle fell on stony silence, but it showed that the other panelists were less questioning or interested and more ignorant on the Syrian civil war than this celebrity.<br /><br />2. LibDem standard representation on QT- and Any Questions on the radio has clearly been removed from the format, other than perhaps occasional appearances with similar frequency to the Green Party. UKIP are clearly now used as the 3rd usual party, given that (a) they're the 3rd UK party in number of votes and (b) are of media interest in the run-up to the EU referendum. The LibDem voice was often diminished during the period in Coalition, as often a 'Coalition' voice was given on these politcal panto shows. This didn't help the party get its voice out, and now the media deem the party even less relevant and therefore have a much smaller media window than the party has known since the Liberals in the 1960s.Tom HJnoreply@blogger.com