Questions to the minister

Duplicitous, deceitful, devious, disingenuous and these are only the Ds.

One of the most frustrating thing about this political campaign and the political merry go round that is enacted on our screen every day is the confrontational performance of Andrew Neil.

Politicians we know are slippery customers answering direct questions with replies that avoid giving a direct answer. The questioner has to keep probing and sometimes it's his job to make the politician look less than honest.

Politics has become a media circus with the powerful stars of media becoming the main presenters of policy by the tactic of dismantling, dissembling and smearing a manifesto and in turn each of the politicians with bucketfuls of scepticism. The insidious sniping at the personalities who are wheeled into the studio to explain their position on how to run the country is relatively easy. It is always much easier to take pot shots at someone rather than engage in a proper discussion and an examination of why they feel there are better ways to run a country.
There's no real money in politics. Even as an MP you only earn a salary equivalent to middle management and whilst the pension and perks boost the monetary value and the appendage, MP has kudos, it doesn't even get close to the interviewer with their teams of researches out digging the dirt, all the interviewer has to do is ask questions. Add an extra £500.000 on top of MPs pay and he is the aggressive star of the 'show', for that is what the political interview has become, "a show". The interviewer has lost sight of his role in the proceedings and we the audience, wanting to know what the politician thinks are treated to a disgraceful display of bulling.
It seems as if the politicians are scared of reacting to the bully, they prefer to eat humble pie as the interviewer try's to humiliate them since to be seen to be rattled is in the eyes of the audience is to admit failure.
Recently I saw a young woman from the Labour Party, not an MP but an assistant stand up to Neil and get the better of him. She refused to allow him to intervene and talk over her as she was answering  a question. She took him on and like any bully he backed down !!!