I watched Questionaire Time the BBC’s political panel show hosted by Fiona Bruce, this week from Clacton On Sea Nigel Farage leader of the Reform party’s local constituency.
I’ve watched before but not regularly at all. I like Tom for the work he does for young people’s mental health and decided to check out this particular discussion because I had caught a headline leading me to believe the celebrity and business person Tom “Bosh” Skinner, of The Apprentice, Strictly Come Dancing and Barbecuing with J.D. Vance fame had caused a ruckus on the panel.
First off, there was absolutely no ruckus, in fact quite the opposite, Tom Skinner, and I am not particularly a fan, just seen him on You Tube a few times, so not here to big him up, was the only person on the panel actually applauded by the audience. And the consensus of the other guests was actually the time has come for less back stabbing and blaming and more working together for the greater good. The man who shall not be named M.P. for Clacton being outed for the opposite behaviour and being very chummy with big tech, aside from that he wasn’t mentioned at all.
The other guests on the panel, included Labour M.P. Justice Minister Jake Richards, conservative M.P. And ex security minister Tom Tugendhat and Liberal Democrat M.P. Layla Moran.
The questions asked that formulated and structured the discussion centred around The ruling in the US finding Google and Meta liable to the tune of 6M for making their platforms addictive on purpose. The extended time it was taking for HMS Dragon to reach Cyprus and the state of the UK defence capabilities.
The lack of jobs for young people, the rising numbers of unemployed young people, and the state of their mental health.
Crippling taxes for small businesses and their inability to hire people. UK growth in the toilet since Jan 2026, the Iran war. Mental Health services, years spend waiting for referrals, no support for parents with kids out of education.
Rising gas and energy prices. No money for a Friday night pint let alone a holiday. And people with disabilities there to protest about their mobility payments being axed, unable to get around.
It was an audience, a representative cross section declared by the BBC’s Fiona Bruce at the beginning of the show who just seemed completely broken.
After a lot of time was spent discussing the harmful effects of social media, discovering 1/3 of young people get their news from TikTok and then Tom Tugendhat, eloquently pointing out that TikTok is curated by the Chinese communist party and asked for a show of hands who would be unhappy to read a newspaper edited by them. We saw hands raised in solidarity against this type of psychological infiltration.
I thought the very last comment made by a lady about us all losing respect for ourselves, our colleagues, the medical profession, the police, each other was very poignant and summed up the whole depressing discussion.
One man in the audience talked about polarised politicians, the left the right, Tom Skinner added how much he had been insulted online and how it’s taken even further, trolls describing people as Gammon or Snowflakes, terms I’d never even heard off and I am Gen Z.
He sensibly said most people no longer care which side politicians are on, they all get clumped into the same boat, all arguing and blaming one another. Prime Ministers Questions was brought up as running joke, something Tom Tugendhat completely agreed with before saying words you never hear a politician say, to gasps in the audience about no spending on defence “We (the conservatives) got it wrong.”
The public just want common sense solutions right in the centre the man said to audience applause.
I don’t vote, now in my twenties I have never voted and many would say you cannot complain then if you don’t exercise your right to vote but I cannot vote until I see a candidate I believe in and want to back.
On the show, Tom Skinner came across as a decent, hard working bloke, who films himself having breakfast in Spitalfields every day at 4am before he starts work and posts that on social media, why not. Good luck to him. I’ve watched him a few times. He’s always positive. He wants a pint with his friends on a Friday and does a mental health walk every Sunday which anyone is free to join. I know he’s taken a beating in the press but who ever his friends are, like he said, he has friends who don’t all have the same political views but it doesn’t stop them having a drink together and a laugh.
It was an hour of TV I don’t wish to repeat anytime soon but it did make me think about what we are all enduring at the hands of our leaders, not just political but business too at home and overseas and it’s time for us all to stop looking to blame someone else and start taking some personal responsibility for our actions not just online, where we seem to think we have the right to behave atrociously or are mindlessly scrolling being totally unproductive but also in real life.
After reading yesterday about the dangers of fake reviews online as a young person (who does enjoy social media) I enjoy taking time out writing and sharing my real views here on Poopsnoop, doing something positive and constructive, my way of fighting back in some small way for I fear if the rot sets in any deeper we’ll never recover.