Two weeks ago Any Questions came to Worthing. TW knew about it in August, I’m sure one of her Facebook friends told her, and she let me know, and I booked a ticket. It was at Worthing College on Friday 14th September, which was nice.
As part of the ticket reservation process, they ask you to submit a question or questions, since it is the audience who make the show. I had a question in mind, but when I put it to TW she couldn’t follow it, so I knew I needed to make it more succinct. It wasn’t as though my question was going to be read out on national radio, though – that would be silly thinking.
Anyway, the week of the broadcast came, and I realised I needed to submit my question, so I did. I think I'd been subconsciously considering it, because when I concentrated on it, I was quite pleased with the brevity of the question, considering its complexity. So I’d put that to one side, and the main thing then was to attend the broadcast and enjoy the political to-and-fro.
On the Friday night itself, on the way home from Brighton to Worthing, I caught the London train from Hove to Worthing, and happened to be in the same carriage as two of the guests, Bernard Jenkin and Wera Hobhouse, which I took as some kind of omen. Well, whether it was an omen or whether I was just starstruck, I’m not sure, but it was certainly notable.
The other members of the panel were Lord Andrew Adonis and Sherelle Jacobs.
Later that evening, I arrived at the college and settled in for the show. As expected, there was a bit of a pre-show warm-up, which consisted of the production team “geeing us up” with stories of other shows and encouraging us to participate vocally – since, naturally, we were going to be on the radio.
Then they got to about 7:50pm, ten minutes before the show, and they called out the people who would be asking the questions. There was an empty row at the front of the room, which I thought might have been reserved for “local dignitaries”, but actually the row had been reserved for the questioners. The production team called out a number of people and I thought that my chance had faded, but then they called my name! I was number 8 in the row of questioners, and I thought it unlikely that I would get to ask my question on-air. I listen to Any Questions, and they rarely get through as many as eight questions... Never mind though, at least I would get to sit on the front row, and get a clear view of the panel.
The first couple of questions were unrelated to Brexit, but then inevitably the questioning turned to Brexit. I believe it was the third question which was asked. Someone mentioned something about trade deals, and I thought “ooh, my question might run on nicely from that”, and then Jonathan Dimbleby said, “On that point, let’s take the question from Rob Thorley. Rob Thorley?” It took the Production Assistant a moment or two to find me, because the question was being asked out of order, but I did get to post my question: given the number of trade deals we currently enjoy as part of the EU, how long will it take to get back to where we are now, once we’ve left next March?
Sherelle conceded that it would take some time, Bernard Jenkin said we’d see benefits of leaving within months, and Lord Adonis made the point that next March we won’t be party to the existing EU trade deals any longer. And of course, Wera sided with Lord Adonis. I got the answers I was expecting and the answers that I wanted. And I got to be on Radio 4! How exciting! I think it was the most controversial question of the evening, but then of course, I would say that, wouldn’t I?
TTFN.
