The Sunrise Weekend All Stars recently spoke about the teaching of climate change in schools and whether our children are being unnecessarily terrified. We think you will want to watch what Prue MacSween (and Tim Ross) has to say
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83 Comments so far
The biggest problem here is that she was allowed onto this show. Naturally they are chasing the ratings that she racks up but if you truly want to make a stand against this outrageous offense to adult debate then don’t watch ‘Sunrise’ any more. If you want to gain a more unbias and informed view on topics you have to rely more on the ABC and make your own decisions based on a fair and adult debate.
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Dear guardians-slash-care-takers-slash-PR
Unfortunately Prue is still having problems playing nicely with others. She often bullies when she doesn’t get her own way and abuses others by using a threatening tone while making nasty personal comments.
Prue is now failing the talking and listening section of the literacy curriculum. Unhappily she thinks she can win a debate by having the loudest mouth and quite frankly she is making a fool of herself and losing friends.
Also, Prue desperately needs to do the ethics course running in some state schools. Even young children quickly learn to politely listen, while giving others a turn. Then if they don’t agree with another’s opinion they can argue logically without resorting to name calling and shouting.
Therefore a 6 week suspension will be imposed and if Prue cannot improve her attitude then exclusion will be necessary.
….yours sincerely the principal with principles.
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Prue’s greatest strength in this argument is her ability to shout out Tim Ross with nothing but pure stupidity. What a vapid waste of space. An oxygen thief of the worst order.
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I wish that sunrise and Channel 7 would not provide Prue MacSween with a platform. No matter what your opinion is on the topic of climate change, the carbon tax and teaching about it in schools there is no excuse for her behaviour. She is rude, arrogant, ignorant and does not add anything valuable to an intelligent conversation. I won’t watch a program with her on it.
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Prue is awesome!!! I loved her on Beauty and the Beast and I love her on Sunrise. She is the ONLY reason I watch weekend sunrise. The amount of times Andew O’Keefe says the word “indeed” during one show is far more offensive to me than anything Prue ever says.
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I have rung sunrise in the past to complain about this woman’s offensive behavior. She is the principal reason I no longer watch this program.
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I was watching a couple of months ago when they had a debate about climate change. I was disgusted. Pru is nothing but an aggressive, uneducated loud mouth and I am shocked that weekend sunrise continue to allow her on the show. she is the one scare-mongering with her anti carbon tax and climate change comments. Ugh. She hurts my ears and my eyes.
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You just described most talk back radio.
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Gob smacked!
She terrified me! Offered nothing intelligent to the conversation – actually didn’t offer any conversation to the conversation – she just screeched at everyone!
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Was she drunk?
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It’s telling that within 10 seconds of starting her argument Prue has to resort to mentioning Hitler to make a point.Clearly, she has no ammo, facts or findings if that’s what she has to stoop to so early in the piece. The fact that she laughs throughout indicates that she realizes she’s been brought on the show to ‘perform’ by ranting and raving and that’s just as annoying as listening to her speak. It makes me embarrassed for her and for the people who make TV like this.
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Im so embarrassed for her. enough said.
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Wow – she is either acting it up for the publicity (how’s that working for you Prue, read all the comments – how many would choose you for a PR consultant after that outburst) , or that is psychotic irrationality.
Bad, bad, bad form Sunrise, is this the best you can do? Glad I don’t ever watch – now I never will. Poor Rosso – he may not be a scientist, but you don’t have to be one to base grounded opinions on proven facts. Unlike MacSween who based her shrieking on…. I-don’t-know-what, she didn’t actually make that clear.
And as for Margaret’s comments further down that we are villifying Prue because she is an outspoken woman – well, I clearly don’t watch enough sensationalist tv to see this kind of behaviour on a regular basis – but show me footage of a guy with similar bad manners and illogical outbursts and I will happily describe him with just as much contempt. My opinions on rude, uninformed attention seekers are equal.
“Don’t know”, I can handle, it’s the “Don’t know, don’t wanna know” camp that I find contemptable.
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Older is certainly not wiser ( in all cases).
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Absolute Cringe-ville!
Why has Australian TV gone downhill so quickly? The Sunrise show, the Today Tonights, etc are an insult to our intelligence.
Can you imagine what tourists must think about Australians and our IQ levels when they turn the TV on and witness ignorant idiots ranting like that.
Shameful.
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She missed the point that it was supposed to be a ‘debate’.
Why did sunrise bother having Rosso there at all?
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That is ridiculous! I assume she got paid for that. She didn’t say anything! She yelled rubbish for five minutes. I don’t mind people debating their point of view but that wasn’t debate. That was someone yelling the same “nothing” over and over again. Does she really believe that climate scientists have been paid off to fake climate change? Who would pay them off? That’s ridiculous. Teachers have been rewriting history… by teaching science that is predicting something about the future. My mind isn’t cut out for dealing with this. I wish Tim Ross would have had more of a chance to speak. He sounds pleasant and his voice is like melted chocolate in comparison to Prue’s VOLUME.
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I just ‘liked’ the facebook page:
Prue MacSween no-one cares about your opinion.
Immature I know, but it made me feel better
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Me too!!!
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That woman is terrified.
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wow, never would have guessed this woman was actually a regular social commentator! Having not watched sunrise I thought she must have been some loon from the audience until reading the comments.
Regarding comparisons to the cold war etc I don’t find them very relevant as the average citizen has some power to do something about climate change as opposed to the former issue – at least that’s what they’ll be educating in schools which is the whole point – if people can change their behaviour then we’ll have a better future.
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No thanks! Have seen her ranting and raving b4. Don’t even think I’ll bother this time. Tim is grouse and always love him!
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For once I’d ike to see a climate debate between a couple, or more, moderate people from both sides who actually know what they are talking about without all the hyperbole. Of course as that doesn’t win ratings like Pru going off as usual, it’ll never happen.
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The problem with having a debate with both sides ‘knowing what they are talking about’ is that overwhelmingly ‘if you know what you are talking about’… you agree that humans are accelerating global warming. So yes, it is difficult to get a moderate debate going with this constraint.
In the mean time I can’t help but find the Lord Moncktons and Prue MacSweens a little bit amusing.
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Why does Sunrise keep giving Prue McSwine any more airtime? I’ve frequently tuned out whenever I see her on Sunrise – in fact I couldn’t watch the whole clip MM featured here :/
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I agree with the majority of the comments that regardless of argument she was rude and acted in an immature manner.
Shows like Sunrise have a responsibility to provide reasonable arguments and give both sides of a debate equal airtime.
Unfortunately, like most of us I don’t have a public soapbox on which to loudly shout my opinions at her so I am going to write to Sunrise and let them know that I won’t be watching their show until they remove her from it.
They probably won’t care but all I have is the power of my remote.
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Her screaming ruined any possibilty over a debate on how much to share with kids – the topic was not whether Climate change exists or not. Apart from that – how rude is she??? Talking over people and making herself the focus. I think the hosts should have been sterner in shutting her down.
I also wasn’t that impressed with Larry saying “OK ladies” to her and Rosso. As a high school teacher I STILL have to pull kids up on saying “The teacher said all the girls, why aren’t you doing it Ben?” etc – as if being a girl is an insult!
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I agree with the “OK Ladies” comment. Not good Larry, not good!
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Samantha said that, not Larry – even worse!!
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I cannot stand people who are so insecure in their own opinons that they refuse to listen to counter arguments. She makes a point and then shouts over Rosso whenever he tries to argue with her. If you can’t listen to another side and then respectfully and rationally debate the point, then I can’t imagine your argument holds much water.
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Pru MacSween is a complete loon and this is exactly the sort of hysteria I expect from her. Rosso was fantastic though.
I remember watching her on Beauty & The Beast with Stan Zemanek when I was a teenager. She was a loon back then as well. I’d always feel vaguely uncomfortable when she was on, because I’d find myself agreeing with Stan. I so rarely did that but Pru often made Stan sound quite reasonable.
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She is a clown – purely there to make herself look good – only problem is it backfired because she was so obviously our of her mental depth. What a rude and ignorant woman. Sunrise should get rid of her as a ‘social commentator’ (- and WTF is that anyway???), and at least get someone who can debate rationally on this issue if that was their purpose, or was it to inflame the deniers once again.
All cred to Rosso!! You have a new fan.
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I feel embarrassed to have watched that. Part of me can’t work out whether she needs anger management or etiquette help! Probably both.
Although I believe in global warming, I can’t help thinking that the climate sceptics cause has been greatly worsened by this woman & her over the top reaction to an issue that needs real debate. A totally wasted opportunity for informed debate.
I wonder at Ch7′s inclusion of this woman in their panels.
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Rosso held his own pretty well. Anyone who feels the need to scream their opinion at me doesn’t get my respect or even an ear that will bother listening to them.
I think it’s the height of rudeness. I just lost all respect for Prue.
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Thanks MM for reminding me why I never watch Sunrise…
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Can’t stand watching it either. Mel and Kochie…. argh give me Karl and Lisa any day.
The Sunrise set looks so fake. At least the gang at the Today Show actually look like they enjoy each other’s company.
Georgie Gardner is hilarious!!
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If Prue was a man would she be getting such stick here for her passionate vocalisation of her beliefs? No. People hate an angry, opionated woman far more than they hate an angry, opionated man. This really pisses me off. According to you lot she is ‘unspeakably rude’ ‘irrational’ ‘rude and obnoxious’ and ‘ignorant’.
In my opinon Prue has had it up to here about Climate Change and the fact that teachers are apparently preaching death and destruction to our children in the name of climate change has incensed her. And I don’t blame her. I’d be extremely pissed off if teachers were scaring my children with that kind of talk. Comparing it to Nazi propaganda is a bit strong and well, totally over the top, but people please stop giving her shit for being angry about it, I can guarantee if she was a man there would be hardly any comment on her behaviour.
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I’m going to disagree with that. Plenty of people get incensed when Alan Jones shouts over his guests and I think you’ll find he’s a man.
People are not outraged by her opinion. I don’t agree with her, but I support her right to express it. What I don’t support is someone who shouts and speaks disrespectfully to others to make their point. And I feel the same way about men who do that.
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I see it time and time again. A woman definitely cops more shit for being vocal on matters way more than a man ever does. Agree with me or not but it’s true. Even my own husband does it. And he is a climate change skeptic too but I know if I showed him this he would have to comment on her voice or something like that.
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“Agree with me or not but it’s true.”
Agree with you or not – it is your OPINION
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I agree that often womens opinions are denigrated because they are women, however I don’t believe it is the case here.
Her views are denigrated because she expressed them in an incoherent and unsubstantiated rant.
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Whatever Margaret – If it was a man he would be labelled a misogynist and aggressive all that.
I don’t agree with you at all
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You know you can give women every single right that a man has, you can break every glass ceiling there is, but until women themselves stop labelling another woman as ‘rude’ ‘obnoxious’ and ‘ignorant’ merely because she is so passionate about something then we will never, ever have equality. Way to go sisters! I know men hate when women behave in a blokey way but i’m shocked that so many women want to bitch about it too.
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So if someone is rude and you call them on it, that’s anti-feminism now?
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Yes Rick if a woman gets more shit for being rude than a man every would then yes it is sexist. I absolutely believe that if it was Neil Mitchell or his ilk in place of Prue and if he behaved in exactly the same manner, not as many people would be so taken aback by it. He would never have this amount of criticism over it. No way. Look I know my opinion is going to be twisted and this will spin off into something else (past forum junkie!) so i’m going to leave it at that.
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I was just curious, thanks for explaining!
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I think my issue with Prue is not that she is a woman but that she screams like a banchee and if Neil Mitchell carried on like this (which btw I have never seen him do) then I would be equally outraged. I often don’t agree with Neil Mitchell but he generally makes a controlled well-worded arguement not enough for me to change my view but with Prue she is rarely well informed and mostly uses screeching to get her point across and she rarely makes any valid points. She brings so much of this upon herself. I believe that Ray Hadley, John Laws, Alan Jones have in the past elicited similar responses. The response to this video is not based on the gender of the commentator but the irrational nature of the comment!
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I will ‘label’ any PERSON who ‘speaks’ (if you can call it that) in that manner as rude and ignorant – NOT because she is a she! I also dislike that you label her behaviour as ‘blokey.’
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I would feel exactly the same way if Pru was a man. I’ve seen Bill O’Reilly behaving in a similar fashion on his show and been similarly disgusted (and I avoid watching him for that reason). Rude is rude, whether you’re male or female.
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I agree …I never get as angry at Andrew Bolt or Piers Ackerman or Allan Jones as I just did with Prue…
Oh, hang on…I meant to say I do…I was just so angry at you because you are a woman I forgot what I meant to say…
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Dear Margaret,
I dislike Stan Semantic, John Laws-unto-Himself, et al as equally as I dislike Prue McSwine. Gender has nothing to do with it. I dislike them all because they are disrespectful to those whom have the audacity to disagree with them – even if I agree with what they have to say (usually not).
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I feel embarrassed to have watched that. Part of me can’t work out whether she needs anger management or etiquette help! Probably both.
Although I believe in global warming, I can’t help thinking that the climate sceptics cause has been greatly worsened by this woman & her over the top reaction to an issue that needs real debate. A totally wasted opportunity for informed debate.
I wonder at Ch7′s inclusion of this women in their panels.
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I have been wondering about that for a while, until I was told as she is a major PR agent, she is in control of alot of careers on TV, & no-one wants to get on her bad side or they will stop being mentioned in the media. Meanwhile, the viewing public suffers or grows a little dumber when they believe her crap.
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Well that would explain it, but not excuse it!
I know it’s naive to expect that a ‘social commentator’ has a bit more to recommend her than media power, but surely there must be more qualified people out there?
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I couldn’t keep watching; it was so cringe-worthy.
But on the topic of what our kids are being told…well, it reminds me of growing up in the 80s when we were constantly told that we were going to get nuked by Russia. I was genuinely scared about that (around age 7 to 8). So I guess we’ve got to handle these types of conversations with our kids very carefully and try to minimise the fear factor.
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I was thinking the same thing. In the 80s I remember the nuclear threat issue. I sang Sting songs about hoping Russians loving their children too and read Z for Zachariah a million times. I managed not to become a basket case (slightly looney, but not a complete basket). I think we often underestimate what kids can deal with.
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I remember discussing with friends saying that if they were going to drop the bomb could they do it before I started studying for the HSC rather than after!
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Remember the AIDS grim reaper ads. I was convinced that if a nuclear bomb didn’t get me, aids certainly would!
Ps, I like Prue, just think she went a “little over the top” this time
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Are we really going to have to deal with video ads on mamamia from now on? PET HATE!!! Will definately stop clicking on vid links from now if i have to sit through a 30 second ad for my 5 mins of video content…
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That’s because it isn’t our video
Sunrise owns it.
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I remember a similar interview like this involving climate change and Prue on channel 7. It was also in relation to the Queensland floods. I have to say I think channel 7 is also pandering to the viewers here. Prue is either a complete nut-case or a very good actress.
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Where does Prue come from? Since when was she qualified to give an opinion? How horrifying she is. There could have been an opportunity for debate and information and she just screamed. I grew up with the threat of someone “pushing the button” and nuclear war destroying the world, and I think I coped with the information, whether it came from school or a rather strong addiction to the SMH from the age of 6. If we ignore climate change it will not go away.
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And who is Rosso to give an opinion either? What qualification does he have? I’m pretty sure he’s no scientist either.
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Until reading other comments I had no idea at all who Prue is or was. Rosso isn’t a scientist either – neither was he rude. Male or female, her behaviour was atrocious. If it had been a man behaving like that I would have commented also.
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I believe Prue lives in Mosman
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What an unspeakably rude woman
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Who is Prue MacSween?
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Regardless of views, how do these people get on television? Her social skills are terrifying. What does that say about what her children are taught…..by her rude and obnoxious behaviour.
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What baffles me is where the anger comes from with people like Prue who don’t believe in the science of climate change.
Believing that scientists are being paid off by the government? That teachers are brainwashing kids?
Like, where does that come from?
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Mia you can’t expect rationality from the irrational. When someone starts comparing climate change to Hitler you know they aren’t playing with a full deck.
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and when did science become entwined in faith? i must have missed that memo
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I think it’s when it was linked with money. I only ever remember peace before the utterance of the “carbon tax” – but since then, the banshies have come out!
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Is Zumba real Prue? Nice one Rosso!
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Prue Macsween… What a rude, ignorant lady (and i use the term “lady” rather loosely!)
What ever your belief on climate change is I hardly think comparing children being taught about it in school is on the same page as nazi propaganda! What an insult to holocaust survivors… Or does she think that’s make believe too?!?
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I find that very very sad
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I saw this. Put what she was saying aside (although I think the woman is mad), it is SO rude so screech over the top of people like that. I thought everyone else handled it extremely well. Maybe they need a segment on using manners during debates.
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I found it difficult to notice what she was saying as I was too busy cringing at the yelling.
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Is she for real?
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I believe she might be.
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kokoooo.
i am always skeptical of anyone giving an opinion under the guise of ‘social commentator’.
cred to rosso for keeping his cool.
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Rosso did very well!
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I loved his comment, ‘Never argue with drunk or a fool’.
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She came across as a little girl standing in the school yard with fingers in her ears shouting LA LA LA LA. I’m all for thoughtful constructive debate but Please! This segment was rubbish.
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