Reaction

:00:07. > :00:22.Welcome to Swalec Stadium where the leaders' debate has just finished.

:00:23. > :00:25.It was certainly lively and we will be seeing what you and some

:00:26. > :00:29.commentators made of the performances. Stay with us for

:00:30. > :00:48.another live and lively half hour. Well, everyone is starting to relax

:00:49. > :00:51.after an hour-and-a-half of argument and debate about some of the key

:00:52. > :00:54.issues in this election campaign. From Brexit to the economy

:00:55. > :00:57.to benefits - the five party representatives argued their case

:00:58. > :01:00.in front of an audience of 200 carefully balanced

:01:01. > :01:02.and representative voters You've been giving your

:01:03. > :01:13.views on social media and please keep them coming

:01:14. > :01:17.with the hashtag So as the audience and politicians

:01:18. > :01:22.continue to discuss, here we'll be gauging reaction

:01:23. > :01:25.in our very own spin room, where Guardian journalist and social

:01:26. > :01:28.media guru Elena Cresci has been analysing every move,

:01:29. > :01:31.word and possible banana skin with an array of experts and keeping

:01:32. > :01:35.an eye on what you have been saying Well, Bethan, it's certainly caused

:01:36. > :01:53.a stir here and across Wales. One of the biggest debates has been

:01:54. > :02:02.about Brexit's effect on Wales. You will be able to see some of those

:02:03. > :02:03.opinions on the screen below me. We have already had some great comments

:02:04. > :02:06.coming in. I'll be joining you

:02:07. > :02:09.in the spin room, but first, some touch-line

:02:10. > :02:11.reaction from political commentator and former Welsh

:02:12. > :02:17.football international - how appropriate -

:02:18. > :02:26.Proferssor Laura McAllister. What did you make of it? It was hard

:02:27. > :02:32.to pick out an outstanding winner, there were no goals. The most

:02:33. > :02:36.striking thing was the real mix of devolved policies versus policies

:02:37. > :02:41.that this election should be about, that is those controlled by the

:02:42. > :02:46.Great Britain government. That was very controlled in parts. We saw

:02:47. > :02:53.Carwyn Jones particularly position himself, as he has had done in the

:02:54. > :02:57.campaign, as the leader of Labour in Wales, but that is not true because

:02:58. > :03:01.this is an election for a Prime Minister and it is an election

:03:02. > :03:05.between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. There were no terrible

:03:06. > :03:08.performances, there were some that left a bit to be desired, but every

:03:09. > :03:14.party will go away with something they think will benefit them for the

:03:15. > :03:20.rest of the campaign. Thin praise, no standout performances. I have to

:03:21. > :03:24.ask about the sub, Darren Millar, for the Conservatives. It was his

:03:25. > :03:30.first performance, and Mark Williams in these big debates. Darren did

:03:31. > :03:34.well, but I do not think he was popular with the audience around

:03:35. > :03:39.things like austerity will stop but for someone who is not in a

:03:40. > :03:43.leadership role, and that is the problem with his appearance, he

:03:44. > :03:46.performed quite well. Mark Williams has done well throughout this

:03:47. > :03:52.campaign and that is not reflected in how the Lib Dems are doing. Often

:03:53. > :03:57.the leaders can perform very well and it is not always translated into

:03:58. > :03:59.votes and seats won in an election. For now, thank you very much. We

:04:00. > :04:02.will speak to you later. Well, before we head to the spin

:04:03. > :04:14.room, let's have a quick reminder We cannot trust the Tories on this

:04:15. > :04:19.and we had the opportunity to ensure there was a Welsh voice in the House

:04:20. > :04:25.of Commons when we had the Article 50 amendments which my party

:04:26. > :04:27.supported, they were tabled by the Labour Party, which would ensure the

:04:28. > :04:32.National Assembly would have a real voice in the negotiations and the

:04:33. > :04:36.Tory party marched against them in the lobbies and our opportunity was

:04:37. > :04:42.lost. The way we get the best deal is by having the best negotiator at

:04:43. > :04:47.that table facing of the other negotiators, the 27 we have to

:04:48. > :04:52.content with. It is a straight choice, Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa

:04:53. > :04:56.May. I know who I will be backing. The redistribution of wealth from

:04:57. > :05:00.the EU and we cannot guarantee that same redistribution of wealth will

:05:01. > :05:04.happen through the Westminster government. My concern is the Tories

:05:05. > :05:08.will try to grab that money for themselves and we will lose out and

:05:09. > :05:11.that is what we have to get guarantees from the Tories about,

:05:12. > :05:18.although their leader has gone on holiday. We have a massive trade

:05:19. > :05:24.deficit, 60 billion a year in their favour. We have a 20 billion a year

:05:25. > :05:29.deficit with Germany alone in cars. There is every reason to think that

:05:30. > :05:32.the EU being rational will want a free trade agreement with us which

:05:33. > :05:37.is what the British Government is pushing for. There was a time and we

:05:38. > :05:43.used to say to people the way out of poverty is to get a job, but it does

:05:44. > :05:46.not happen any more. Nurses are using food banks, the lowest paid

:05:47. > :05:53.have had tax credits taken away from them. Those who are the richest have

:05:54. > :05:56.had a tax cut and those who are the poorest have a greater tax burden.

:05:57. > :05:59.Brexit, benefits and our security - three of the really

:06:00. > :06:02.People here are pouring over the 90 minutes,

:06:03. > :06:11.Over in the spin room, Elena Cresci is with two highly

:06:12. > :06:14.informed political anoraks to look at how all this might impact on this

:06:15. > :06:28.I am joined by Roger Scully, and you have been watching all the activity

:06:29. > :06:33.tonight. Were you surprised that these issues were the ones that got

:06:34. > :06:36.people talking? Not at all surprised. It was inevitable the

:06:37. > :06:41.events in Manchester would be discussed and then we got onto the

:06:42. > :06:48.major issues, Brexit and the economy and we also talked a little bit

:06:49. > :06:53.about a discussion of the NHS. What have the polls been saying either

:06:54. > :06:58.most important issues in the campaign to Welsh voters? The polls

:06:59. > :07:01.have been clear. The Conservatives have sought to make it the Brexit

:07:02. > :07:06.election and the polls are suggesting they have been

:07:07. > :07:12.successful. Normally we expect the NHS, the economy and education, but

:07:13. > :07:18.the polls have been ranking Brexit as the number one issue in the

:07:19. > :07:21.election of 2017. You mentioned briefly the attack in Manchester.

:07:22. > :07:26.How do you think this has affected the campaign so far? That

:07:27. > :07:31.interrupted the campaign and it has brought a rather sombre tone to the

:07:32. > :07:36.last few days. But in the last few days we are getting back to business

:07:37. > :07:40.as usual and parties are being more robust in their attacks upon each

:07:41. > :07:46.other. We will see much more of a normal election in these last eight

:07:47. > :07:50.or nine days. How has this been a different campaign in Wales to the

:07:51. > :07:57.rest of the UK? We have heard about this being a historic win for the

:07:58. > :08:01.Tories and then maybe not. Early polls in the campaign put the

:08:02. > :08:04.Conservatives on top, they have had a breakthrough in Wales which is

:08:05. > :08:09.different from normal. The Conservatives have sought to make it

:08:10. > :08:14.a Britain wide election, the choice between Theresa May and Jeremy

:08:15. > :08:19.Corbyn. Labour in Wales are not talking about Jeremy Corbyn and are

:08:20. > :08:24.not putting the UK wide party at the forefront. Carwyn Jones, not even a

:08:25. > :08:28.candidate in the elections, is the main voice in their campaign. They

:08:29. > :08:33.are separating themselves from the Britain wide election and making

:08:34. > :08:38.this a Welsh election. Did Carwyn Jones mentioned Jeremy Corbyn? I

:08:39. > :08:43.think Jeremy Corbyn was mentioned to him. I do not think he mentioned

:08:44. > :08:50.Jeremy Corbyn. If he did, I missed it. That you very much. We are going

:08:51. > :08:56.to hear about how some of the party supporters thought their leaders

:08:57. > :09:03.did. We are going to speak to Hannah Blythyn, Greg Williams, and

:09:04. > :09:08.Grenville Ham on behalf of the Green Party. You are all going to tell me

:09:09. > :09:13.your chat or a lady did best. Were you impressed with the First

:09:14. > :09:19.Minister? Surprisingly, yes, Carwyn gave the measure performance as we

:09:20. > :09:26.have come to expect. This was a leaders debate and there was a

:09:27. > :09:31.leader absent. I recall him saying something like the next five years

:09:32. > :09:35.are crucially important. If they are that important, why are they having

:09:36. > :09:40.an internal dispute and one of their senior figures could not come in to

:09:41. > :09:48.debate today. Why was the leader not here? Two leaders were clearly not

:09:49. > :09:52.here. There were two leaders, one is Theresa May and the other is Jeremy

:09:53. > :09:57.Corbyn. I note Labour do not want to talk about Jeremy Corbyn, but you

:09:58. > :10:02.either vote for Theresa May's team or Jeremy Corbyn's team. Why was

:10:03. > :10:10.there not a Welsh leader here on behalf of the Conservatives? We were

:10:11. > :10:15.ably represented by Darren Miller tonight. He is our policy director.

:10:16. > :10:20.There are an awful lot of devolved issues, who better than the policy

:10:21. > :10:24.director? The main leaders were not there, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa

:10:25. > :10:29.May. We will leave it there. You were not on the platform, but

:10:30. > :10:35.disappointed that sustainability and the environment did not come up?

:10:36. > :10:40.Exactly, all the leaders were there and mine got lost in the post. The

:10:41. > :10:44.only point where I saw a climate change reference was from the

:10:45. > :10:48.Conservative chat and he was referencing a department that was

:10:49. > :10:51.scrapped two years ago. It is one of the biggest economic threats, that

:10:52. > :11:03.is what the World Economic Forum was saying. It was good to hear mention

:11:04. > :11:06.of the tidal lagoon, but I genuinely believe there is a new, green

:11:07. > :11:09.revolution happening across the world and Wales with all of our

:11:10. > :11:15.natural assets could be at the forefront of that. Hannah, on Welsh

:11:16. > :11:25.Labour, he did not mention Jeremy Corbyn, just to clear that up. I do

:11:26. > :11:31.not think so, but there is... Is there a problem there? We have come

:11:32. > :11:34.so fine now in devolution, if you hear people talking about, they will

:11:35. > :11:40.focus on education and health which are devolved. But it is a UK

:11:41. > :11:47.election and when you mention that, you are in charge of that here, so

:11:48. > :11:51.there is no good shouting about health and education, you are in

:11:52. > :11:55.charge of it. We have to talk about the investment we are putting into

:11:56. > :12:01.health and education. All parties talk about the main issue, Brexit,

:12:02. > :12:08.and that got serious airtime. This is a UK election. The party leaders

:12:09. > :12:13.are clearly Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May. Carwyn Jones does not feature.

:12:14. > :12:18.You are electing members of Parliament and the party leaders are

:12:19. > :12:23.those two from the main parties. You keep making that choice very

:12:24. > :12:29.clearly. On Brexit, where do you stand? Would you offer a second

:12:30. > :12:32.referendum? Yes, we would, but Brexit is rearranging the chairs on

:12:33. > :12:38.the Titanic. The audience was coming up with the real issues we face on

:12:39. > :12:44.the streets. There was pensions for women, people on the streets, so I

:12:45. > :12:49.do not think Brexit will solve any of the fundamental problems in our

:12:50. > :12:52.society. Darren Miller said Wales would have a strong voice in the

:12:53. > :12:58.negotiations and the audience laughed. It is an incredibly strong

:12:59. > :13:06.voice, one of the one ministers is a Welsh MP. If you look at the

:13:07. > :13:13.Secretary of State, Alun Cairns, visiting the NFU, putting Wales and

:13:14. > :13:15.agriculture and high-tech jobs and Erasmus, the university sector, the

:13:16. > :13:19.Welsh office team are already delivering. If you want more

:13:20. > :13:25.influence, elect more Welsh Conservative MPs. That is the

:13:26. > :13:34.electioneering. We will hear from the next three parties very shortly,

:13:35. > :13:41.but back to you. This is a campaign that has been fought with the

:13:42. > :13:42.backdrop of fake news, so what we need our fact checkers. I do some

:13:43. > :13:58.fact checking, but we have got a How can our viewers discern what is

:13:59. > :14:01.real and what is a fake? I have sympathy because me and my

:14:02. > :14:06.colleagues have been watching the entire debate is trying to keep

:14:07. > :14:10.track of all the facts and figures and it was exhausting. After the

:14:11. > :14:15.first half hour they tried to fire all their statistics at every of us

:14:16. > :14:19.in a hurry. People have to be able to tell you where they are getting

:14:20. > :14:25.their facts from and ask yourself questions like, how can I trust

:14:26. > :14:33.this? Where is it coming from? Does that source have an agenda? Pensions

:14:34. > :14:38.have gone up by ?1250. Think about that. The context is that pensions

:14:39. > :14:45.will always rise with inflation. Because of inflation, the value of

:14:46. > :14:49.your pension goes down and you can buy less. That figure is ignoring

:14:50. > :14:54.inflation. In real terms pensions have only gone up by about half of

:14:55. > :14:58.that, so it is a very misleading headline. You have to look out for

:14:59. > :15:07.figures that sound too good to be true. Some people sitting at home I

:15:08. > :15:11.thinking, this is ridiculous. How are they meant to deal with all of

:15:12. > :15:14.these numbers coming straight at them? Is there a way they can break

:15:15. > :15:22.it down in simpler terms? I wish there was. This was a debate

:15:23. > :15:29.for professional fact checkers. For this one, if you were following us

:15:30. > :15:33.on Twitter, on the hashtag you would have found you linking to sources to

:15:34. > :15:36.back up and sometimes contradict the claims the panel was making. It

:15:37. > :15:40.isn't something where you can just look at something and say, oh,

:15:41. > :15:43.that's right or oh, that's wrong. Sometimes you have to do the leg

:15:44. > :15:48.work and find out. I mentioned fake news earlier. It's the buzz word of

:15:49. > :15:51.this year. How much this afternoon is actually a new problem or is this

:15:52. > :15:54.something that has always existed it's just the internet has

:15:55. > :16:01.exacerbated it? That's a great question. In a way you don't know.

:16:02. > :16:04.You can't possibly believe that politics only invented lying 12

:16:05. > :16:07.months ago. Whether it's by we the people, or whether it's by

:16:08. > :16:13.politicians or even dare I say it, journalists, I think we all knew how

:16:14. > :16:16.to tell a fib a while back. What I think the internet makes dink is

:16:17. > :16:20.that things can spread really quickly. People can share things

:16:21. > :16:23.they haven't checked for themselves. So things can take on a life of

:16:24. > :16:28.their own. We all have a chance to stop that. If you're not sure about

:16:29. > :16:35.something, don't share it. That's good advice. I think we're back to

:16:36. > :16:39.Bethan now with more fact checking. Yes, and no fibbing over here. I'm

:16:40. > :16:45.joined by three politicians, pure facts for the next three minutes, is

:16:46. > :16:49.that a deal? Yeah. Caroline Jones from Ukip, Steffan Lewis from Plaid

:16:50. > :16:53.Cymru and William Powell from the Lib Dems. How did your man do? I

:16:54. > :16:59.think Mark came across really strongly this evening, as an

:17:00. > :17:04.authentic voice of Welsh liberalism, representing both rural and urban

:17:05. > :17:07.communities. I think one of the things that resonated most with

:17:08. > :17:11.members of the audience and across Wales was the importance of there

:17:12. > :17:14.being a strong and united Welsh voice at the Brexit negotiating

:17:15. > :17:20.table. People don't want a second referendum do they, or ratification.

:17:21. > :17:23.Do they? I think there is growing support for a ratification

:17:24. > :17:29.referendum. I think the importance at this stage of having a Welsh

:17:30. > :17:35.presence at the negotiating table, because if frankly, you're looking

:17:36. > :17:38.at David Jones or Alan Cairns at that regard as regard them as the

:17:39. > :17:42.answer, you're asking the wrong question. Steffan Lewis, Leanne Wood

:17:43. > :17:45.arguably has done more than anybody on the platform today. Did she

:17:46. > :17:50.really shine tonight? Absolutely. I think one of the things that comes

:17:51. > :17:54.across and it's something nobody can feign is sincerity and that

:17:55. > :17:57.authenticity. Leanne has that connection with an audience and with

:17:58. > :18:01.the public at large. That really shines every time she makes an

:18:02. > :18:04.appearance. Had it not been for Leanne Wood at the last UK general

:18:05. > :18:08.elections participating in the UK debates Wales wouldn't have been on

:18:09. > :18:11.the aJen enda at the UK election at all. She has an opportunity tomorrow

:18:12. > :18:14.night as well. Your idea of providing a shield for Wales, other

:18:15. > :18:20.parties seem to be using that now, don't they, is that a problem for

:18:21. > :18:23.you? No, it exposes the hypocrisy. You heard a Conservative and Labour

:18:24. > :18:26.representative on the panel this evening, neither wanted to name

:18:27. > :18:32.their own party leaders in Westminster and neither could name

:18:33. > :18:36.one example of how they managed to win consensus with their party. If

:18:37. > :18:41.they want to keep talking about devolved matters and Wales in this

:18:42. > :18:46.election, we welcome that warmly. Neil Hamilton and Paul nuttal get on

:18:47. > :18:49.well do they? Yes, they do. I thought Neil's performance tonight

:18:50. > :18:55.was very good. He absorbs information and he relays that to

:18:56. > :19:00.the public. One thing that we as a party are absolutely dedicated to is

:19:01. > :19:05.that Wales, after this referendum, will receive every penny and more

:19:06. > :19:10.due to it. Yeah, he mentioned a massive Brexit dividend was on its

:19:11. > :19:14.way and coming very soon. Are you still saying that's ?350 million a

:19:15. > :19:19.week. I never, ever said ?350 million a week. What I said when I

:19:20. > :19:23.was out campaigning - Due tell vote leave that at the time? I wasn't

:19:24. > :19:26.with vote leave. Due point out that wasn't true? What I said to people

:19:27. > :19:31.was, read all the information in front of you and it is your decision

:19:32. > :19:36.and your decision alone. People will come back to you and tell you that I

:19:37. > :19:39.said that. What sort of dividend are you expecting? Neil Hamilton is

:19:40. > :19:42.saying it's massive. What figure are you expecting? I wouldn't like to

:19:43. > :19:51.put a figure on anything. What I would like to say is with what we

:19:52. > :19:55.send to the EU every day, as a UK Government, I would expect this

:19:56. > :20:00.dividend to be over and beyond what we've currently been receiving. In

:20:01. > :20:04.terms of the money coming back from Brussels, we know that the

:20:05. > :20:07.Conservatives, for example, are suggesting that joint prosperity

:20:08. > :20:11.fund, do you expect Wales, in the end to get more, which is what

:20:12. > :20:15.Darren Millar suggested tonight, than it currently gets. I think a

:20:16. > :20:19.lot will depend on what happens politically. We can't predict the

:20:20. > :20:23.future. One thing we can agree, if Wales keeps repeating itself

:20:24. > :20:26.politically it can't expect to change economically or socially. I

:20:27. > :20:31.fear a blank cheque for Theresa May will mean that Wales misses out and

:20:32. > :20:35.loses out, as it always does when we keep on making the same political

:20:36. > :20:39.choices. If there is another referendum, that delays the money

:20:40. > :20:45.coming back? I agree with Stefan, what we need to do is have a united

:20:46. > :20:48.approach and that's what Mark was referencing this evening in terms of

:20:49. > :20:52.the votes that have been in Parliament to try to ensure that

:20:53. > :20:56.Welsh interests are properly represented. At the moment, we've

:20:57. > :21:01.got a situation where we need to have full and unfettered access to

:21:02. > :21:04.the single market. Even the clankingers have access to the

:21:05. > :21:09.single market, theoretically. What we need is a situation where we have

:21:10. > :21:13.got access that's free and unfettered and doesn't have either

:21:14. > :21:17.tariff barriers or non-tariff barriers. That's critical. That's

:21:18. > :21:23.going to go on and on the debate about Brexit. Thank you for joining

:21:24. > :21:28.us. Back to you Elena. Joining me now we have special media expert

:21:29. > :21:30.Helen Reynolds and Valerie Livingston. We've had a massive

:21:31. > :21:35.response on social media tonight. I want to talk about that. Helen, can

:21:36. > :21:39.you tell us what debates really have got people talking on social media.

:21:40. > :21:43.I think in general people took a look at the debate and before they

:21:44. > :21:48.even heard anyone speak, there was quite a lot of talk around the idea

:21:49. > :21:51.of there not being a present leader for the Tories. I think you can't

:21:52. > :21:57.get away from that instant look at who's there. It's interesting a lot

:21:58. > :22:01.of it seemed around personalities. There was debate around the issues.

:22:02. > :22:07.But there was talk about Neil Hamilton not being in Wales, not

:22:08. > :22:09.living in Wales and some kind of comments really about generally the

:22:10. > :22:12.people rather than what they were saying during the debate. That's

:22:13. > :22:20.what I got from the social moda response. We see that a lot, that it

:22:21. > :22:24.tends to be about the personalities. Another thing I want topped touch

:22:25. > :22:28.on, we've had this stuff about the social media election, the past two

:22:29. > :22:33.elections. I think we're past that. We can say that the form of

:22:34. > :22:36.campaigning has evolved. You look a bit at this, can you tell us more

:22:37. > :22:42.about that. We've definitely seen a shift in the way parties campaign.

:22:43. > :22:46.Three or four election cycles ago, the focus was on broadcast media and

:22:47. > :22:50.newspapers. Now social media has opened up as a powerful channel for

:22:51. > :22:56.parties. They are getting directly to their voters and with the rise of

:22:57. > :23:02.certain alogrithyms they can target their message keenly. What do you

:23:03. > :23:06.think about this, is this a tool to use to bypass the media? Yeah

:23:07. > :23:10.absolutely. It's not just a powerful tool for targeting specific

:23:11. > :23:15.audiences. Using Facebook and the data that Facebook knows about us,

:23:16. > :23:18.it's a way of capturing people's psychological state and appealing to

:23:19. > :23:26.them specifically on subjects that are to do with their mood. And to do

:23:27. > :23:29.with not just their preferences. So it's a massively murky place,

:23:30. > :23:33.actually. Because we can't see a lot of the advertising that's put onto

:23:34. > :23:36.social media channels because it's targeted specifically at those

:23:37. > :23:41.groups. I think that's really worrying, actually. Is there a

:23:42. > :23:47.positive to this at all? Is there something in here about people power

:23:48. > :23:51.or is it something more sinister? It's great that people access a wide

:23:52. > :23:55.range of point of views. The danger with social media is that we block

:23:56. > :23:59.out the views we don't want to hear. A final word from you. Yeah, I think

:24:00. > :24:02.there are loads of positives. You're average person who wants to know

:24:03. > :24:06.more about politics will go straight to Google and if they can find

:24:07. > :24:09.social media profiles and more information than they previously

:24:10. > :24:14.could, then they're more able to have an informed vote. Thank you

:24:15. > :24:20.very much both of you. Please keep on sending your views to hashtag BBC

:24:21. > :24:23.Wales debate. I promise I will stay up all night reading them, though

:24:24. > :24:26.that is a political promise. So who knows.

:24:27. > :24:29.Time is running out, but here's a peak behind the secret

:24:30. > :24:43.The set is about to be dismantled. The Huw is there to do the Ten

:24:44. > :24:47.O'Clock news. Everything will be lifted out. Takes days to put in,

:24:48. > :24:54.hours to take out. An army will move in shortly. Who knows when it will

:24:55. > :24:57.be needed next. Do you fancy another election? Who fancies one of those?

:24:58. > :25:00.I think we can at least leave it six months before we go to the ballot

:25:01. > :25:06.box again, maybe. Have you had enough? Give us a break I say. Let's

:25:07. > :25:09.look back at this debate then. Any standout performances for you,

:25:10. > :25:15.you've watched quite a few in your time? I have. The thing I found most

:25:16. > :25:17.surprising was the audience were often more interesting than the

:25:18. > :25:21.panellists. They took a few more risks and a few more chances than

:25:22. > :25:26.the panellists themselves. That's partly to do with the number of

:25:27. > :25:30.interviews that Leanne and car win have given over time. It didn't seem

:25:31. > :25:33.to come alive consistently from a panel perspective. Are you saying

:25:34. > :25:37.they're getting too used to these? I think with Carwyn Jones and Leanne,

:25:38. > :25:42.certainly. Which is why it's a little bit more interesting to hear

:25:43. > :25:46.from Mark Williams who's never really had a public profile in Wales

:25:47. > :25:50.br. It was interesting to hear from Darren Millar, who got to be leader

:25:51. > :25:54.for one night only, maybe or perhaps we'll see him in that role again in

:25:55. > :25:58.the future. I've asked Laura, already. I think for somebody who

:25:59. > :26:05.only had a couple of hours' prep, that won't a bad job. What due make

:26:06. > :26:08.of any, no standout moments, was it that consistently mediocre. I don't

:26:09. > :26:12.think the debate caught fire tonight. I think it was pretty low

:26:13. > :26:16.key throughout. I thought the answers were safe by and large. The

:26:17. > :26:20.most pointed challenges came from the audience really rather than one

:26:21. > :26:24.of the politicians at another. I think everyone was trying to play it

:26:25. > :26:27.on the safe territory upon which they knew their party did well.

:26:28. > :26:30.Which in some respects is a little bit surprising, because for parties

:26:31. > :26:34.like Labour and Plaid Cymru, there is something to play for here. The

:26:35. > :26:37.Conservatives are in a commanding position even in Wales really, if

:26:38. > :26:41.you look at where the seats that could be won are. It seems strange

:26:42. > :26:45.to me that nobody was prepared it take a gamble really and go in hard

:26:46. > :26:49.on some critical policy areas. The only thing I was expecting more of

:26:50. > :26:53.and I didn't get was people mentioning May and Corbyn. Not their

:26:54. > :26:57.own parties mentioning their leaders, heaven forbid. Until you

:26:58. > :27:01.wield Craig Williams on earlier, nobody had mentioned any of that

:27:02. > :27:05.aspect. That surprises me after last night too. We talk about a Welsh

:27:06. > :27:08.general election, is it that different? Is it that defined that

:27:09. > :27:11.it is a completely different election here or actually, if you

:27:12. > :27:16.look at the topics, it's Brexit, that travels right across the UK?

:27:17. > :27:19.Yes, but I think politicians have some responsibility as well to talk

:27:20. > :27:23.about the issues that are at stake in that election. Because otherwise

:27:24. > :27:27.it's very hard forethem to return back to an Assembly election when

:27:28. > :27:32.different public policies are under discussion. You can see the tactics

:27:33. > :27:35.in so doing. But it's slightly disingenuous in terms of how the

:27:36. > :27:38.election is playing out. The issue over the leadership is a case in

:27:39. > :27:41.point. I don't think the Welsh public will have gleaned much about

:27:42. > :27:45.what this election is about by list tong that debate. That's a reining

:27:46. > :27:49.-- listening to that debate. That's a shame. The polls have been pretty

:27:50. > :27:55.wild in terms of Wales. Where do you see them going over the next week or

:27:56. > :27:59.so? I wouldn't want to speculate after recent wildness to be honest

:28:00. > :28:04.with you. There's too many people, pundits included, that have tried to

:28:05. > :28:08.predict polls in the last year and got them horrifically wrong. All to

:28:09. > :28:10.play for? All to play for, for Labour and the Conservatives,

:28:11. > :28:19.certainly. I don't think there's going to be a huge gap of seats from

:28:20. > :28:23.Wales between them. Thank you very much. That is it. Our time is up. We

:28:24. > :28:26.hope you enjoyed the debate. BBC Wales will follow every step of the

:28:27. > :28:31.way until polling day. Then it's over to you for election 2017. You

:28:32. > :28:34.can join me overnight then for the results as they come in. Plenty to

:28:35. > :28:36.look forward. To Thanks for your company tonight. From all of us

:28:37. > :29:01.here, good night. I want answers to the questions...

:29:02. > :29:03.I care about. I want politicians...

:29:04. > :29:05.Held to account. Join me for a Question Time

:29:06. > :29:07.Leaders Special,