Talk:UK Party leaders questioned on BBC 'Question Time'

cheers, dan100. the current trend i see is that questions directed to mr. michae howard are rather more challenging than to kennedy. The opening qn. may be worth mentioning! (my normal login is Mark Lewis)

howard

supporting private healthcare - lower waiting lists, nhs pays less, private schools? no, no waiting lists for schools. parents should be able to choose schools. Are you thinking what were thinking?

NHS - problem is capacity, using private sector could help. Problem with schools choice - more needed. Dan100 (Talk) 21:53, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

blair

why did you consider it inappropriate to give the parliament the attorney general's opinion wrt the war in iraq?

• he was there. he advised it was lawful. understand disagreement, says 'no misus of intelligence, it was a difficult decision - leave him in power, or put him in prison'
• dimbelby - did the documents go to the commons with all its doubts? reply 'never normally goes to parliament'

given the importance of the decision, why weren't the cabinet given the opportunity to see the document before making the decision?

• it was a political decision. he believes it was the right decision. no member of cabinet asked for it cos he was there at the time.

attoney gen said it was better if we got a second resolution

• questioner - bush would have removed saddam with or without blair!

today we have a democratic government in iraq. shouldn't we be proud of that?

• you lied about evidence. that's why we can't vote for you!

reply: read reports on website. - why not have a full independant inquiry? You decide the wording of every inquiry every time! reply: we've had four inquiries! we can have another four if you want! "sporadic and catchy" &rarr "full and authoritative' blair: we should have published only the actual data

• you said in 1997 "whiter than white", now false dossiers! you keep saying I've made diff decisions, but you must also listen to your experts. you're fighting a rearguard action!

we can be proud of what we have achieved

etc

48 hour booking/waiting times at surgeries/hospitals - audience said surgies refusing to take bookings more than 48hrs in advance - Blair a bit perplexed - "so the problem is surgies are giving you appointments too soon?"

• legislation to prevent top-up fees

top up fees, maintenance grants, based on ability to pay Students will pay uni fees after, when they're earning, not at time. Uni educations costs tax-payer more than primary or secondary - should burden be shared?

Heckling

Got to mention the heckling :). At the end of the show, Dimbleby asked why they hadn't gone head-to-head. Blair said he does it in the House of Commons every week. As D finished the show, some people shouted 'coward' at Blair, but for balance and fairness someone also shouted 'Howard is evil'! Dan100 (Talk) 21:04, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Dan100, nice to meet you! Alas, I've got to get stuff done before I retire to bed, so please use my hasty notes above if you wish to edit the article! Cheers, --Mark Lewis 21:11, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I only saw the last half - was watching the Bill! Good work here. Dan100 (Talk) 21:53, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)