Lesley Riddoch

The Euro Hustings - a Riddoch Questions podcast special

In a special podcast version of Riddoch Questions, a panel of prospective MEPs from each of the main parties faced a live Hillhead Library audience in an event organised by the Federation of Small Businesses and Amnesty International on May 28 2009. A lively audience made this event a good old fashioned hustings which Lesley chaired in her usual 'robust' style. This programme was not broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and therefore is a little bit longer than usual but, in the current climate, it was a 'Feisty Production'. You can subscribe to all of Riddoch Questions over at iTunes or click here.

European Elections Hustings - Thursday 28th May

Lesley's in the chair tonight for what promises to be a lively hustings ahead of the forthcoming European Elections.  Co-hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses and Amnesty International, candidates from all of the main parties will be on the panel and in the audience.  They'll field questions from Lesley and the public on topics including the Human Rights Bill, EU trade agreements, the Euro currency and business recovery during the recession. 

The event is free and open to the public - recording takes place at 7pm in Hillhead Library on Byres Road in Glasgow.

For those that aren't able to make it - or want to listen again - a podcast of the event will be available to download on this website and to regular subscribers on iTunes. 

Riddoch Questions 29th May: BBC Radio Scotland

Lesley’s back in her usual chair this week for Riddoch Questions, and will be joined by Strathclyde University politics expert Professor John Curtice and Conservative blogger Iain Dale.

Making the headlines this week:

• David Cameron’s radical plans for reforming Westminster if the Tories get into government

• Health Secretary Alan Johnston’s call for a referendum on electoral reform and the increasing pressure on Gordon Brown’s leadership

• The Church of Scotland’s decision to delay a debate on gay ministers for two years

• The killing of Catholic man Kevin McDaid in Northern Ireland following the Rangers-Celtic football match

Email your questions now to riddoch@bbc.co.uk. Add your phone number if you want to put the question in person. On Friday text your views to 80295 and call 0500 92 95 00.

Just for clarification...the end of Riddoch Questions

Any comments following the Scotsman article are covered in my blog of 21st May. We are still aiming to record the Euro Hustings and make it available through this website and our regular subscribers via iTunes etc.

Reform is fine – but can we really be bothered?

Britain is currently a reformer's paradise. Public, pundits and even politicians agree that much in the Westminster basket is rotten, and, as a result, oft-proposed and oftener ignored reforms are suddenly the order of the day.

The need for a lean, mean and transparent expenses system is taken as read. Campaigners argue we also need an elected House of Lords, a federal Britain, fixed-term parliaments and to give control to MPs, not party whips.

To read more - click here.

Riddoch Questions 22nd May...with Derek Bateman

Derek Bateman will be standing in for Lesley on Riddoch Questions this week – his guests include Lord Charles Falconer, the former lord chancellor who piloted the Freedom of Information act through the House of Lords; and Greg Philo, research director of Glasgow University Media Unit.

Making the headlines this week: MPs expenses, Michael Martin, moats and mistaken mortgages. Who will be the next victim of this long-running scandal? Will Michael Martin's departure as Speaker also lead to another by-election in Glasgow?  As the clamour grows for the country to go to the polls - can the Prime Minister hold off a general election? And does the public really think there should be one? 

Email your questions now to riddoch@bbc.co.uk. Add your phone number if you want to put the question in person. On Friday text your views to 80295 and call 0500 92 95 00.

Overproduced Euro songs meet their Waterloo

DON'T pretend you weren't keeping a weather eye on the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night. Don't deny all memory of a quiet chuckle as camp performers stuck two nail-varnished fingers to the Soviet-style gay rights clampdown outside the Moscow auditorium.

A hint of what's to come...on Friday

This Friday's Riddoch Question is pre-recorded but we have a couple of clips to whet your appetitie for what was a very good debate.
Listen to Bruce Crawford SNP MSP reflect on MPs expenses and create a bit of a headline.
Download Bruce Crawford's headline making thoughts about MPs expenses.

The next clip is Tam Dalyell reflecting on a surprising aspect of Westminster versus Holyrood.
Download Tam Dalyell and speeches

Riddoch Questions Hansard Debate - Friday 15th May

A special edition of Riddoch Questions this week, marking the first decade of the Scottish Parliament, discusses devolution, referendums and MPs expenses.

Recorded in front of a live audience at a conference organised by the Hansard Society of Scotland, the panel includes Bruce Crawford, MSP and Minister for Parliamentary Business; Iain Gray, MSP and Scottish Labour leader; Sir Tam Dalyell, former Labour MP and ‘Father of the House’ and Joyce McMillan, columnist and chair of the Hansard Society Scotland Working Group.

They face questions on devolution, independence and voting systems, including:

• Can the Scottish Parliament teach Westminster anything about expenses?

• What evidence is there that the Scottish Parliament has given Scotland better government?

• Has PR in the Scottish Parliament improved democracy?

• How high is the standard of debate at Holyrood?

Listen to the programme on BBC Radio Scotlan from 1.15pm on Friday. As it’s a recording, there’ll be no calls, emails or texts but you can leave your comments at www.lesleyriddoch.com.

Minister's community sentence call makes sense

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has caused a stir by suggesting prison is a skoosh for many offenders and community service picking up litter would be harder.

That bald statement is both right and wrong... and largely irrelevant.