I should start by mentioning that Dominic Raab got knocked out yesterday before the debate began. This was unfortunate as I'd been listening to him on LBC and he was very impressive. I think the Tory Party members would've probably liked both Raab and Leadsom much more than some of the candidates still left, but they're by the wayside now.
(The way it's heading it seems)
The debate itself was truly awful though. Both the format and the performances. The whole thing revolved around questions from "members of the public". I put "members of the public" in quotation marks because they were, as ever, clearly chosen with a degree of bias.
The climate change question - asked by a young person no less. The "you're all racists" question. The "I'm Irish, and we'll all start killing each other if you guys mess up the border" question. ..and of course, the "No Deal" will bring Armageddon question.
Now whether this bias is deliberate or a consequence of the bubble the media-elite exist in. Or perhaps more a consequence of the fact that most the people who go on TV to do these things tend to be attention seeking dramatists. It's hard to tell. It's undoubtedly bias though.
Rory Stewart fans should take heed of this. A "citizen's assembly" would be filled with exactly the same type of people. With exactly the same biases.
One woman complained hysterically about the prospects of "no deal". Her husband worked in "property" and her children were all at work or in university. From what I could tell her family seemed to be doing quite well, she was just worried about hypothetical problems at some point in the future. All the candidates, including Boris, pandered to her hysteria. Not one of them put her straight and said "Listen, you're worrying about hypothetical problems that are complete speculation, largely because the media has put these fears in your mind."
This is what really annoys me (I'm going into Twitter mode now). Many people have real problems. Problems they have now. Problems they had long before the Brexit vote even took place. Yet we have to constantly listen to the media class talking about hypothetical problems. As if the status quo is brilliant for everyone, and these Brexiteers are coming along and kicking over the sand castle.
For the record. The status quo is pretty bad for many people. The EU is failing. Both here and in Europe ..and guess what, no one ever voted for it or asked for it.
It was similar later in the debate when Boris was chastised for previously referring to women in burkas as looking like letterboxes. There are stabbings in London every week and countless other serious problems with the country, if your main concern is someone saying something slightly offhand in a newspaper article you need to grow up.
It's crazy. Why is this one of the main questions on a supposedly serious debate?
Anyway, you can tell it has me a little bit riled 😅
As for the individual candidates. Sajid Javid improved quite a bit from the previous debate. He showed a lot more energy. Boris was completely on the back foot. Hunt was fairly solid to be fair, and Gove didn't impress too much. In fact, when he went after Corbyn I think that did it in for him. People don't want to see attacks on the opposition party. Certainly not in a party leadership contest. It's a bad strategy. People want to know what you yourself will do.
Finally, Rory didn't manage to make a real impact. So it'll be interesting to see if he stalls now. Taking the tie off mid-debate was very memeable though. So at least he provided some entertainment.
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