UKIP MEP and Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall, put in a fantastic first appearance on BBC Question Time on Thursday night, attracting applause every time he spoke.
The Minister for Communication, Ed Vazey's attempts to emulate Boris Johnson's air of foppish buffoonery failed to make him a hit with the audience and he spent most of his time with his face in his hands and a look that said "why did I agree to this"? Rather amusingly he argued that his government's Workfare programme was voluntary and had to be informed that it is, in fact, mandatory and those who refuse to take part lose their benefits.
The Labour Shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry, was pretty stereotypical of female Labour MPs and dropped a bit of a clanger by saying that Syrian rebels had plenty of weapons and didn't need any more. This on the day after a reporter had just been killed by a rocket fired by the Syrian army into a house in a residential area and amid reports from all sorts of agencies about the atrocities being caused by the Syrian authorities.
The other two guests were Cristina Odone, the Telegraph reporter, and the historian, Simon Schama. Simon Schama got the biggest laugh when asked for an opinion about Rupert Murdoch starting the Sun on Sunday and replied something along the lines of "there are very few things in this world I don't give a damn about and this is one of them".
Paul Nuttall was by far the most convincing, most popular and most human of the panelists. Small wonder than the phrase "Paul Nuttall" was the #1 trend in the UK on Twitter after the programme and #4 in the world.
wonkotsane is an author at Bloggers4UKIP.
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