Thread by @tony_nog

1) Was Marr out of order?
Finally watched the #Marr interview with Chakrabarti end to end. Marr has been attacked for bullying etc.

I'm no fan of @AndrewMarr9 & he's far too cozy with brexiters. However, I think overall the attacks are unfair. Chakrabarti did not do well

@AndrewMarr9 2) there's 2 aspects in my view, her articulation of the Labour Brexit position & her own attitude in the interview. Both imho were questionable & frustrating.

@AndrewMarr9 3) firstly, the Labour Brexit position is clearly all over the place & this came across. I wish Andrew Marr would apply the same attitude to brexiters but the Labour position does not hold water and easily fell apart under fairly light questioning

@AndrewMarr9 4) for example Chakrabarti insisted that a full renegoiation is possible, the EU are clear it isn't, and saying "well perhaps Tory MPs will feel confident of their seats & so will support a GE" is a silly argument that she clearly didn't believe in

@AndrewMarr9 5) finally she said "we're a long way away from a #PeoplesVote"
There's 130 days left. It's clearly ridiculous to talk in these terms.

Overall the Labour position is indefensible, it's grandstanding, relying on actions that are not feasible and dodging around the crucial issues

@AndrewMarr9 6) but was Marr bullying?
Well, if you watch the whole interview Marr was calm but questioning. He did interrupt but generally when Chakrabarti was avoiding answering the question, which was often.

Further, her voice gets more aggressive as the interview progresses

@AndrewMarr9 7) at one point Marr asks "have you read the whole WA?" a fair question at the moment, to which she eventually responds "well I have, thank you" with a tone that is definitely in my view a little petulant

@AndrewMarr9 8) at the key point of contention Marr is asking "why are you pushing Brexit if you are obviously pro EU?"
Chakrabarti's response is "well I don't know about you Andrew but I'm a democrat"

That was patronising, and Marr responded in turn

@AndrewMarr9 9) Labour policy is (though you would never know it from Chakrabarti's interview) to have a 2nd Ref with option to remain if all else fails. So "I'm a democrat so can't stop Brexit" essentially denies that policy

@AndrewMarr9 10) if you watch the entire interview you see an interviewee dodging questions, not even really trying to support a complex & impractical policy, with eyes cast downwards for most of the interview as she articulates an approach that in my view she does not believe in

@AndrewMarr9 11) in that context, in my view the "I don't know about you Andrew but I'm a democrat" was a clumsy attempt to deflect robust and fair questioning, and was called out

Can't believe I'm defending Marr but there you go, that's my opinion
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