QT sees Cable tongue tied as Hislop shows benefits of freedom of speech

It was Birmingham for this week’s Question Time with a fairly high profile panel, (certainly compared to last week) with the likes of Vince Cable and Harriet Harman accompanying Dimbleby. For much of the programme, we were ‘treated’ to continuous bickering back and forth between Harman and Cable, over the issue of the economy and growth, after figures from the past week showed a decline. The discussion was spiced up however, when the contentious topic of capital punishment was raised. It was here where Ian Hislop (like him or loathe him) impressed with a clear understanding and knowledge of the matter, as well as maintaining his witty charm. Celebrating his 25 years at the top of Private Eye, he focused on the issue of ensuring that accused murderers are sentenced correctly. He backed this up with evidence of incorrect sentences he had investigated as editor of the magazine. Of all the panellists Hislop shone with an uncanny knack of cutting straight through to the core of the issues raised. In fact, David Dimbleby rounded off the programme by saying there have been a lot of comments along the lines of ‘I agree with Ian’.

It's at times like this, as a First Time Voter I rather wish that some of the most talented non politicians we see on Question Time were the ones in Parliament. That said, Hislop is probably able to do a much more effective job as a journalist, not least because he is free of the constrictions of Parliament and not needing to toe a party line.

This is all too evident when you look at poor old Vince Cable, whose reputation has slid further and further on a downward spiral since he joined the government. During the banking crisis he was the much admired ‘must have’ commentator and many were seeing him as a much better candidate for chancellor. His final downfall and demotion came earlier this year when he was caught making inappropriate remarks about ‘declaring war’ on Rupert Murdoch, to undercover journalists. Murdoch has since been found out in a much bigger way than we could have ever imagined, but nobody has said that perhaps Cable was right all along!