David Cameron on Newsbeat shows just what this election campaign’s been missing
I’ve just watched David Cameron’s Newsbeat interview on the iPlayer and it really is very good. Go and have a look.
I was alerted to it by an article in the Telegraph that accused the BBC of a ‘left-wing ambush’ and naturally assumed that the Telegraph were spinning for their own ends. Of course, the bit of the interview that the Telegraph host on their own site shows the angry moment.
Yes, the 37-minute show saw the prime minister get hot and bothered (and clearly irritated at host Chris Smith). But the questioners were on the whole polite. They asked about issues from their own lives – on mental health, education and homelessness among others, and they wanted answers.
David Cameron and Newsbeat host Chris Smith at today’s Live Lounge interview
Cameron came out of it pretty well, I thought, although he really can’t expect to get away with dodging questions about possible coalitions given that most of what he is reported to be saying is about Ed Miliband’s potential coalition headaches. And his brain freeze on the living wage was embarrassing. But even the Tory press is laughing about the fact that Cameron is going out of his way not to meet real people in this campaign.
Imagine you’re one of the many disillusioned with politics. What is more likely to win you over – seeing the prime minister and floppy-haired sidekick painting their hands, or watching the party leader stuck into the debate? It’s a shame that Cameron has done so much to suggest that he’s frightened of engaging with the issues, because that’s what’s turning people off politics. More proper interviews please.
