Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Welsh UKIP leader storms out of interview after robust questioning
It is some time since a senior politician stormed out of an interview with a reputable journalist. It is not the sort of thing I expect to happen on the BBC anymore, following their peculiar redefinition of balance, which seeks to reclassify facts as opinions and places good journalists in the impossible position of trying not to offend anybody.
Kudos then to Wales on Line journalist, Ruth Mosalski for her robust and challenging interview with the new Welsh UKIP leader, Gareth Bennett, in which she sought to have him justify some of his more controversial views.
The full interview is here, and these are the subjects that Ruth wanted to question him on:
1. He was previously banned from speaking in the Assembly after saying there had to be a limit to transgender rights or there would be a "total implosion of society".
2. Before his election in 2016 he said "the ethnicities...possibly the Eastern Europeans" were causing litter problems in a Cardiff suburb
3. That the burqa is part of an "alien culture" and parts of the Cardiff suburb Canton were like "Saudi Arabia"
4. That non Welsh speakers are being discriminated against
5. Plaid and Labour are pushing Wales towards a "Stalinist Police State"
6. The 2011 referendum giving the Assembly law-making powers was a "con trick" and most recently that the Assembly should be scrapped.
The crunch though came when she got to questions on the burqa:
RM: "On Friday I interviewed a young lady called Sahar. She's in her 30s, she's Welsh and has lived in Cardiff all her life. She told me she chooses to wear a face veil in the way I chose to wear high heels sometimes. Why do you believe it's not her choice to decide what she wears?"
GB: "I believe that if every person took a choice on what to wear, would there be any limits on what they did. What if you went outside the house naked? Would that be ok?"
RM: "It depends if I cause offence to someone, the criminal offence is whether I cause offence to someone."
GB: "So causing offence to someone is something that can be taken into account? So if someone goes out into the street...
RM interjects "in a criminal sense".
GB: "If it wasn't against the law it would be ok then, would it?"
RM: "The other week in Cardiff there was a nudist bike ride. The reason things like that are allowed to happen is it's not causing public offence. Can we go back to the question. Why is Sahar allowed to choose what to wear, and I am, but she's wrong?"
GB: "Will you allow me to answer your question? RM: "If you answer it."
GB: "Will you listen. Will you actually try learn something?"
RM: "Please don't patronise me. What's your answer to that question?"
GB: "Right, you are a useless interviewer, you come in here with preconceived opinions and ideas, you have no ability to engage with the argument, and that was the worst interview I've ever had since [chief reporter Martin] Shipton, who also works for your organisation."
RM: "You're an elected individual and we'd really like to finish this interview."
GB: "No, absolute rubbish Ruth.
In many ways it does not matter whether one agrees with Gareth Bennett on the burqa or not. This is about holding politicians to account and getting them to explain their opinions and public statements. Communication is part of the job description.
The Welsh UKIP leader cannot continue to avoid explaining his views, especially if journalists stand up to him as Ruth Mosalski did. She has set the standard for future political interviews in Wales. Will others follow suit (and not just with the UKIP politicians)?
Kudos then to Wales on Line journalist, Ruth Mosalski for her robust and challenging interview with the new Welsh UKIP leader, Gareth Bennett, in which she sought to have him justify some of his more controversial views.
The full interview is here, and these are the subjects that Ruth wanted to question him on:
1. He was previously banned from speaking in the Assembly after saying there had to be a limit to transgender rights or there would be a "total implosion of society".
2. Before his election in 2016 he said "the ethnicities...possibly the Eastern Europeans" were causing litter problems in a Cardiff suburb
3. That the burqa is part of an "alien culture" and parts of the Cardiff suburb Canton were like "Saudi Arabia"
4. That non Welsh speakers are being discriminated against
5. Plaid and Labour are pushing Wales towards a "Stalinist Police State"
6. The 2011 referendum giving the Assembly law-making powers was a "con trick" and most recently that the Assembly should be scrapped.
The crunch though came when she got to questions on the burqa:
RM: "On Friday I interviewed a young lady called Sahar. She's in her 30s, she's Welsh and has lived in Cardiff all her life. She told me she chooses to wear a face veil in the way I chose to wear high heels sometimes. Why do you believe it's not her choice to decide what she wears?"
GB: "I believe that if every person took a choice on what to wear, would there be any limits on what they did. What if you went outside the house naked? Would that be ok?"
RM: "It depends if I cause offence to someone, the criminal offence is whether I cause offence to someone."
GB: "So causing offence to someone is something that can be taken into account? So if someone goes out into the street...
RM interjects "in a criminal sense".
GB: "If it wasn't against the law it would be ok then, would it?"
RM: "The other week in Cardiff there was a nudist bike ride. The reason things like that are allowed to happen is it's not causing public offence. Can we go back to the question. Why is Sahar allowed to choose what to wear, and I am, but she's wrong?"
GB: "Will you allow me to answer your question? RM: "If you answer it."
GB: "Will you listen. Will you actually try learn something?"
RM: "Please don't patronise me. What's your answer to that question?"
GB: "Right, you are a useless interviewer, you come in here with preconceived opinions and ideas, you have no ability to engage with the argument, and that was the worst interview I've ever had since [chief reporter Martin] Shipton, who also works for your organisation."
RM: "You're an elected individual and we'd really like to finish this interview."
GB: "No, absolute rubbish Ruth.
In many ways it does not matter whether one agrees with Gareth Bennett on the burqa or not. This is about holding politicians to account and getting them to explain their opinions and public statements. Communication is part of the job description.
The Welsh UKIP leader cannot continue to avoid explaining his views, especially if journalists stand up to him as Ruth Mosalski did. She has set the standard for future political interviews in Wales. Will others follow suit (and not just with the UKIP politicians)?
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This is good news. ALL politicians should be seriously questioned. This event should be a calling to all journalists to stand up against the poison that is destroying the country.
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