I spent part of Sunday morning appearing on BBC 1's 'The Big Questions'. Fascinating show, despite my dog-tiredness due to the fact that a yob decided to drive through our village at 3 in the morning last night, horn blaring constantly (I have been converted to being in favour of the death penalty).
The three on-air questions were 'Do politicians deserve the title Honourable?' 'Does every woman have the right to be a mother?' and 'Do we need Heaven and Hell?'. The BBC iPlayer link will, I assume, come live soon. Sarah Teather did very well on the first question. She was robust in refuting some Labourite who had worked for Harriet Harman who was arguing MPs shouldn't bother with casework and it was all electioneering. I thought Teather was brave and articulate and came over well.
However, it was the warm-up question, which was not broadcast live, which shocked me. We were asked Is Prince Harry a hero?' I advised Nicky Campbell, pre-show, not to ask this, as I thought there would be no debate on the matter. How wrong I was. 'Is it just propaganda?' the host asked. To my amazement, the LibDem MP said 'It's not just propaganda'. When he came back to her, she expanded that we were all human beings; that Harry went partly to do a job, but that he also went to rehabilitate his public image, and 'it worked' because we now all saw him differently.
I confess I was dumbfounded at this. However, she was not alone; there were elements in that audience asserting that Harry had never even been on the frontline at all (rather like those American "moon landings", he inferred, it was all staged for the camera). Others criticised the Prince for warmongering.
I rather admire Ms. Teather for various things, including her robust defence of casework on the show and her work to free her constituent from Gitmo. Nonetheless, the LibDems have got to stop being so cynical and embrace bravery and selflessness where it is found, including in the Royal Family.
