Debate? Am I a Monkey's Uncle? (From York Press)

Debate? Am I a Monkey's Uncle?

11:44am Friday 16th April 2010

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If that thing on TV last night was a "debate" between the leaders of the main UK parties, then I'm a monkey's uncle! A total waste of time with any real debate stifled by timekeeping and a strangled audience.

If you want to see real debate between Brown, Cameron and Clegg then simply watch Prime Minister's Question Time. Real debate, real reactions and real arguments every week of the year when Parliment is sitting. We are so lucky to be able to see how Parliament really works in the UK.

The USA need this kind of debate because the presidential candidates don't mix it up in parliament. Once a president is chosen the loser goes back to his or her day job. It is only in their House of Representatives and the Senate that debate takes place in the same way as it does in the UK, so I can't see why these presidential style debates are required here. After all we don't get the chance to actually vote for a specific leader as Americans do in presidential elections. The only people who get a chance to vote for say Gordon Brown are those people voting in his parliamentary constituency.

I ask again, what is this load of old cobblers for?

The only conclusion I can come to is that people have forgotten how our voting system works, or they think this is the USA, or that it is cheap TV. Sadly the media seem to have signed on to propagate the myth that this is a debate, do I hear a questioning voice anywhere?

Deafening silence!