IT'S been a long time since we've been genuinely interested in a Question Time panel, but the guests appearing from Edinburgh tomorrow might make it worth the watch.
Question Time has made its return to Scotland (last seen in Perth on May 31) – and being such a rare trip north of the Border, that means a panel focused on Scotland. Though, naturally, one with the scales tipped in favour of the Unionists. If only that surprised us.
Let's be clear too – this is the BBC's "flagship political debate programme", and the last Scottish politician to appear on the show was Ian Blackford, on July 5.
[EDIT: Question Time producer David Lockhart has pointed out on Twitter that they have had Scottish politicians since July 5 – Rory Stewart and Barry Gardiner.
Glad this panel has gone down well. But incorrect to say we’ve had no Scottish politicians since July 5th: Both Rory Stewart and Barry Gardiner have been on in the past few weeks. #bbcqt https://t.co/SbxF7x1eiW
— David Lockhart (@DaveyLockhart) October 11, 2018
By "Scottish politicians", we meant politicians who represent Scottish constituencies – Stewart represents Penrith and The Border, and Gardiner a constituency in London.
We're happy to clarify this, particularly as it doesn't change our original point. It doesn't matter where politicians are born. What matters is who they represent.]
A panel of Scottish figures here doesn't make up for that ridiculous record, and how Question Time's atrocious panels (have a read of the kicking Twitter gave it this week) insult licence fee payers so often.
We're expecting some sparks tomorrow, though.
We have:
- Crime writer and broadcaster Val McDermid (pro-independence)
- Scottish Government Brexit minister Mike Russell (pro-independence)
- Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale (Unionist)
- Scottish Tory MP Ross Thomson (Unionist)
- Spectator magazine editor and Telegraph columnist Fraser Nelson (Unionist)
A look at Thursday's #bbcqt panel - join us tomorrow at 10:45pm on @BBCOne and @bbc5live also. @RossThomson_MP @kezdugdale @Feorlean @valmcdermid @FraserNelson pic.twitter.com/XIHQkGt89U
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) October 10, 2018
To be honest, we're most excited about our good friend Ross Thomson being on the panel. Few have done so much good for the independence cause, so we're looking forward to the gaffes he serves up.
Kezia Dugdale is at the heart of the Scottish Labour civil war on whether the party should be paying her legal fees in a case involving Wings Over Scotland, so that should be coming up.
Fraser Nelson is... Fraser Nelson. And we're sure you've seen the kind of content the Spectator puts out.
And best of luck to Val McDermid and Mike Russell, who will be going two against three arguing in favour of independence.
Although the BBC didn't quite get the number of novels she had written correct – they were off by five.
32 novels, actually... https://t.co/Jj0rIlYvU7
— Val McDermid (@valmcdermid) October 10, 2018
If you're unable to watch or just want the highlights, The National will be running a live blog of Question Time tomorrow night – so keep an eye out for that!
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