Read this: Politics Editor Chris Mason. Interview of the Year. Desert Island Discs with Ronnie Wood

Sounds music Radio podcasts BBC sounds music Radio podcasts and welcome to feedback the BBC political editor is here after his usual marathon to a party conferences to dress of many listeners that reform UK has been getting a disproportionate amount of attention on the airwaves hear the latest nomination for feedbacks interview of the year and rock Legend Fleetwood has caused not for trashing a hotel room but for being alive and more than one luxury item on Desert Island Discs Chris Mason political editor at the BBC has had a busy 6 weeks during the reigns of the main party conferences.

Thank you.

As he lies as he divide the BBC and others give ferrite so much time and attention but they never hold him to account all the damage.

He has already done by the question.

I asked seriously of Nigel Farage of reform is do they love our country.

Do they want to serve our country all of it a beautiful tolerance diverse country management stay on your feet because I'm going to say will say it loud say it clear migrants and refugees promised to be a left wing Labour leader and then he became a right-wing prime minister.

He stole Jeremy corbyn's chords and now is dressing up as Nigel Farage talking to Chris in just a moment about the high unusual Britain's current political landscape is and you'll be tackling your many comments about the amount of time.

Reform UK and it's leader Nigel Farage have been getting on the BBC my name is Andrew Louis I live in Exeter and Devon I was on surprised to hear that reform.uk and Mr Farage have had a vast disproportionate infrequently and critical amount of news coverage from the BBC I understand that the defence is that for example? Where is the Liberal Democrats have 20 times more elected MPs reform.uk is ahead in opinion polls since when do we determine use policy by opinion polls my concern is that this is a result of senior managers in the BBC fairing for the future if a hard right-wing government comes to pass is Sheila from Southall why does the BBC so little attention to the views of the Green Party or broader environmental movement is back and forth between conservative and Nigel Farage huge wave opinion.

The more acceptable is use become because people don't hear the alternatives will enjoy night by the BBC political editor Christmas thank you so much in a really busy conference season for her finding time for feedback season is research coverage for the BBC every year and you might assume some when there's no leaving general election be quieter than others but we've had a lot of listen to comment about this one so I just want to get right to the number of Dorothy Mercedes from Worthing I'm after a disgusted the BBC is once again acting as Farage personal wealth East hopefully would guess his party only has 5 MPs from the provenance the BBC give him you don't give other parties with the same prominent Dorothy point I understand the point made by other listeners who will articulate a similar view what we have to.

Is reflect politics as it is now both in numbers and that's not just numbers of a that.

There is also the the Show of the vote the scale of the popular vote in the back of the General Election reform UK amount of the greater number of voters than the Liberal Democrats stay but also crucially what has happened since both intellectual performance and in opinion polls they update are and have always been part of the metric the judges at how we go about covering different parties the other thing that is worth emphasising Drive just emerged from planet Party Conference over the last 6 weeks and Nigel Farage did not have to pay for a hotel room in Bournemouth liverpool-manchester, Swansea or Aberdeen 505 of arrival conferences to reform in order to be a frequent occupier of the Minds of the parties that were meeting that he at the moment.

Whether you like him all of them and people tend to have.

News about him he at the moment is making the political weather and it is part of my job to reflect that and to scrutinise that so what you're saying is that if we are listening to your summer but actually he's talking about Nigel Farage goes down in your book is ok, but I'm covering the Labour Party Conference it's not my fault if they're talking about Nigel Farage has happened in the last 12-months Andrea is a change in our politics that we haven't seen in decades and it is something that I and the team.

I'm a part of Working our way through every day.

How do we calibrate this this new politics where you have an insurgent party with a very small number of MPs but is the performing consistent the opinion polls ahead of everyone else has also got the Beginnings of an electoral track record at the by-election in the local elections in England of a couple of months ago and indeed local authority by-election.

Since then that suggest there is something in that opinion poll performance we have to reflect that but it is it is it is new and Uncharted territory that we are we are feeling our way.

It's really interesting that you say that to actually crispy.

Cos you know we know that you are an extremely experienced political journalist have been around a long time.

You've been covering this the BBC for a long time.

I just want to give you a sense of different.

This is I mean since brexit it sometimes seems like we've had seismic events happening about every 20-minutes.

Can you just put the sim contacts for us the context in terms of the Morgans bored of party politics.

I think it's something we have just not seen in recent decades.

Yes, that was all of the tunnel to sociate with the independence referendum in in Scotland with the brexit referendum around the UK which was also unprecedented in its own way, but those things were principally or for one reason they were unprecedented because they were separate from or detached from the

Loyalties around party politics what was seeing now is a smorgasbord of political support you see that a UK level you see it and Nations level within the nations of the UK as well, which is an added level of complexity and it means that we're having to make a judgement editorial judgement day today didn't really apply until fairly recently said to give you an example of an ordinary day for a political journalists like me covering an ordinary news story up until about a year or ago.

The formula would be the government announces something and the principal party of opposition offers their response and then sometimes for editorial reasons you might hear from a more minor party because they had something to say whatever the reason might be that the usual formula would be government said something main opposition party react or maybe main opposition party.

And government party reacts right now that formula doesn't work and why does it not work.

It doesn't work because if you look again at at the trends in Kenyan poles and indeed you look at the performance of the traditionally to big parties at Westminster at the last general election right now the combined show of support is roughly 40% sometimes less than that it in recent years.

It has been as tyres 80 by just put Labour and Conservatives and a piece 6 out of 10 viewers are saying I don't really like either of them.

Where is the voice I'm currently support if I put everyone in my editable say blimey that was a whole load of politicians in that please.

We've got loads of the news to do Chris can you not turn it down a bit that's the that's the daily dilemma, but some of our listeners are concerned about controversial policies can dominate news coverage for example from Tyne and Wear makes this point much as I enjoy a lot.

Programmes on the BBC it is my opinion that there is far too much coverage of Nigel Farage reform party and immigration issues.

I feel that the BBC has become a peaceful Reform and is constantly adding fuel to the fire of immigration and our borders Nigel Farage has left the British people to believe that this is the issue which is of most and the media has taken this up the media is a powerful too and you have a responsibility not just you the Minds of your listeners reviews of every level of controversy deserve scrutiny and scrutiny takes time so I take it shoe with the arguments around words like coverage you an example of really good example couple of weeks ago during the liberal Democrat conference to the Democrats of taking a a public possession of questioning there at the BBC around its coverage of ref.

Doing that conference the reform party on veiled its policies new policy about indefinite leave to remain.

It was a distinctive policy.

It was something very different from what would he either from them or indeed UK political party? That was a policy that deserved scrutiny as they all do but it particularly did giving how different it was a distinctive.

It was this trade-off there some people will have heard that I thought this is yet more coverage of reform but to do that in a limited time span not not give much attention to that would be inadequate scrutinise in other words if you increase scrutiny you tend to increase coverage and a lot of people will have a view that there should be good scrutiny, but I also have a view that there is as they would see it to coverage.

So I'm I'm sceptical about using a measure of coverage and all that word coverage as being widely useful in this conversation.

Do you think it's worth mentioning here and we saw elements of this during the brexit years is that Nigel Farage divides opinion poll the political leaders tend to but he does in particular and so there will always be at sizable.

Chunk of people who have incredibly strong negative views about Nigel Farage and that is entirely that property when you hear those whose articulated programs frequently from those in public Life to hold back view to it is not out of job to have a view about those views.

We provide hopefully a civilised Square in which the full range of political opinion can be debated underpinned by a reference for facts and other people will have a view as to whether or not they like the individuals we simply could not walk past and should not walk past a current trend and who knows where the trains going the future's policies incredibly volatile, but the current trend that point.

A sustained amount of support and interesting the policies of and Outlook of of reform.uk that friends and polls are showing that reform has got more support a lot more support than the seats it hasn't Parliament makes the point please.

Please.

Can you stop adding to the growing lack of any compassion to FY3 other MPs so much are time you introduce the main headlines on the world at one today and it continued with the article because of the increase of those sympathetic to reforms use use into an aware that this overexposure is a contributory factor.

What is the giving reform this coverage May in fact be contributing to it's success in the polls.

This is something that listeners have expressed as well.

If you got anything on it, I think it's for other people to come to a conclusion that so I don't like a political party or not.

It is my job to provide scrutiny of and analysis of PCR making the political whether both those who are in governments and those who aspire to be in government and depositing to context and to offer comparisons with the past.

I covered Nigel Farage and his various political vehicles for north of at 20 years and what I'm seeing now is something I have not seen in in him or his parties before now something don't like to hear that because they'll be have a very very strong view about their own fears of Nigel Farage at potentially being Prime Minister one day of course.

That's the product of two to have that Chris I think it's quite telling that here at feedback.

We have received a lot of comments about this and I've you the address some of them today.

We haven't received any from reform.

Hey supporters does that tell you that they might be going elsewhere for coverage? I don't know that but we haven't received any from reform supporters.

I wonder if that's something that can send you the BBC could also mean that people are in Crisis support reform at don't have a strong view about what I would argue with a perfectly proportionate amount of coverage relative to where they are at political argument and would see that as a reasonable and proportionate thing for public broadcaster to do which is Which is what I believe it is what we are at what we are doing.

You will know that 10 BBC bosses plans to alter the choice of story selection in order to Winchester perform voters was reported in the Press And alter journalism.

What your story choices at all in order to win the trust of before Motors I think I had a pretty cool head around.

No, no, no, I wasn't.

I've never been asked to buy any buses at you.

I hear hear references from some about you know the BBC's only covering reform because reformers particular at work on the BBC I mean that is complete and utter drivel.

It's so counter to the journalistic Instincts Instincts of newsrooms.

We're here to tell a story were out so proud to be outside as well proud to be observers and never been told how to report things we are very robust internal conversations about that.

How are covering stuff? What we're getting right.

Do we get everything right? No, do I get everything right? No, we should be the first to acknowledge that of course we don't worry human human beings but we're constantly striving to reveal truth pursuit truth without an agenda.

Be very alive to help politics is now not how it might have been 6 months ago a year ago 10 years ago or

Years ago and pursue it with an open mind and a few years ago.

Of course there are other channels like GB news Talk TV are you concerned that you might losing listeners to them and does it in any way influence the way that you cover stories so different at all to how I cover stories marketplaces a good thing.

I don't know what I wouldn't have her to the problem with that at all.

I mean I think the reality of a fracturing media and that happens within the BBC let alone beyond days.

Is that I have to speak to far more outlets to reach the same audience that Robin Oakley might have done 30 years ago as BBC political editor.

Love that because I love broadcasting.

I love trying to explain stories and actually the joy of and multiplicity of outlets is that I can be hopefully more savvy on any particular outlet about what the audience for.

Actually wants and how they would like politics to be communicated.

So it's oh yeah of course.

I will you know the how you tell a story on 5 Live radio to Radio 4 News what's the 10:00 news breakfast TV at is scotcast you know you name it that's where it varies in the same way that are registering language and vocabulary varies depending on the social company that will keep in our day-to-day lives.

I love that.

I would love that and that and in many senses this fracturing of Media can bring you closer to the old is the consumer that particular out right so I mean when I'm stopped in the street about the work.

I do it happens every day and his wonderful because it's sort of reminds me that was people watching this thing on reading and it's always positive which is lovely quite often about half the time people talking about news cast and why is that it's not because of the audience I talk to her listening to.

Have to be much smaller proportion of the audience, but they feel like they've got like a almost like a permission to open a conversation as opposed to that that you know that bloke with the dodgy haircut opens on the telly every night and it's a bit more distance as a bit more sort of sense of detachment perhaps, where is news casters, that's how we describe ourselves and our and our listeners.

I think there's a sort of sense of a level playing field and I love that and it feels more like a community exactly and I don't think that I might be wrong, but I don't think that would have existed 30 years ago when perhaps broadcasting was a bit more sort of delivered from all hi because you've been very generous with your time.

Just one last question when you are reporting for radio and podcasts Weedle is literally have asking you to read the room for us X and Y conferences myself that you can go from one conference to another in just a few days and you can possibly feel the difference in atmosphere of times this year.

I know their number of empty Chairs at the Conservative Party Conference

Who's there? Who's not there? That's sometimes more important than what's being said, isn't it? Yeah the thing about trial of party conferences I conclude at the end of 6 weeks of them that you can have too much of a good thing but I do love them and the reason I love the manager is exactly that point that the key thing I take away from a conference is something that no spin the magically make a pier no magically make disappear and it is the mood it is the vibe of a party the other thing I get to do a party conferences is meat activist from all the parties going to the conferences and I've been to 6 and not all but plenty of them this this season is awesome.

Yeah, I get a sense of them in the bars in the coffee queue at wherever it might be another element in constant.

Never finished jigsaw for someone in my job of trying to get a sense of what people talking about what matters how the political mood might be shifting.

What time will that mood might be or the opposite the extent to which they might be able to solidity building up around it and that's the nature of my job.

Everyday feeling our way through the kind of political landscape and then throughout that day doing our best to try and reflect that audiences openly truthfully and with a sense of judgement about about proportion and as a particularly in this climate right now this new landscape.

That is a that is a learning curve each and every day which were feeling our way through but what a challenge.

It is what I'm not least because nobody can tell you what's going to happen next it is so unpredictable who's going to win the next general election.

I have no idea and anybody tells you they do believe them.

Thank you very much indeed for engaging so frankly with the feedback listeners comments Chris Mason BBC political editor know if you'd like to send a comment on.

You've heard on any of the BBC radio stations on signs or podcasts.

Please do get in touch the simplest way to do that is to send a voice note using WhatsApp the number is 0300 333 4445 and you can ring the same number and leave a voice message that number again 0345 on ex on Instagram it's at BBC R4 feedback and you can also send an email to feedback at bbc.co.uk click like and subscribe so then you'll get every episode in your feed and you can listen whenever you like to thank you to everyone who has centre nominations for the feedback interview of the Year if you want to listen to let me just take a minute to explain this is our annual competition.

Will you get to choose any interview across any station on BBC Radio or podcast that you consider?

It could be a political leader expert grilled or a particularly moving or thought-provoking conversation.

It's also about the skill of the interviewer.

So if you've had merits and nomination for interview of the year.

Please do get in touch with this week.

We've got a suggestion for an interview with an asylum seeker who's staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping which is focus of many protests outside denomination is from Janet Phillips from where in Hertfordshire I would like to nominate an interview by Evan Davis with an asylum seeker on the p.m.

Programme today twister 28.

It was an interview with a young man from Somalia who was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping it was really interesting to his experiences and to learn just how he had come to the UK so you must have had a heck of a journey from Somalia to the UK can you just tell us a little bit about that I came to.

To Greece to Australia from around in a 3DS that's why I wanted in English and History I stayed a long time is English was very good and you can buy the difficulties such people experience.

It was ironic here.

Not intended to come to UK and the first place but his problems in Greece and Austria research that he came what brought you to the UK why because obviously that was another one and then so I and then I started working in France and all of that but they still came because I don't have tables to work in this or 15 days in a detention centre to give me a note to get out of this country within 14-days.

They will take me where they want it so hard to live.

Instrument very clear what migrants face in terms of the dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and the corruption of the gangs arranging is crossings on the boats you all you have to sit like like and your legs are spread and then you have such a painful to 910 hours of the interview with patients and embassy it was good to hear that.

You're someone caught up in the situation in Epping when you go out.

Can I ask and did you say you can't you do go out if you have a reason to go out, but when you out how is it? Do you feel like there's a divide between those living in the hotel and the community around the hotel.

Do you feel laser a hostel? Not do you feel you know when you're in when when when you just walk around? That's most of the time when you feel about those two little when you go to the city.

It's much safer than of people who care about you season 2 when it's empty areas and they will come across to the scan this you than words people do say that you've had that you person who had bad experience yeah, and it will be interesting to hear what happens to him as he navigates the very difficult sister.

You'd like to be in the UK in the permanently now is that right? Yeah? I would love to be in the UK and then I would love to you know to be a few love some people do take advantage of the system and instead of walking just just because they are often held the staircase and I'll be really interested to know young man gets on with his application actually thought he was really brave to be prepared to be interviewed in the current climate well.

Thanks to Janet Phillips that nomination and if you've had an interview anywhere on BBC

Radio signs podcasts that you feel should be considered for the feedback interview of the year do let us know.

Not there are some things that you just don't mess with on Radio 4 The Rules were broken last Sunday on Desert Island Discs the Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood picked his book song and then it came to luxury item only got a chest containing all of his art materials for the hidden a harmonica in his pocket and that wasn't all I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Ronnie talk about it was because the Castaway however Lauren was too lenient this because this year on I'm going to look the other way obviously but you know you're pushing against an open door.

I shouldn't really the program allows one item excuses so we could take three you can't have a carpet and materials.

It's going to be one or two other.

Harmonica in own.

Oh, that's in my pocket anyway.

You only know about that are not getting washed up about this.

I give you the art materials that the carpet is the subject of your first Still Life time to the presenter of my opinion always a smooth talker Ronnie had Lauren wrapped around his little finger inflation on Desert Island Discs whatever next but there's nothing next to you.

That is all this week, but from me and all the team.

Thank you very much for listening and giving us your feedback to buy this is the story of a family torn apart by a political extremism sweeping across Europe

disco in the red T-shirt standing with a group of angry man shouting abuse of the police with the same guy I now and you that Frank was an anti-immigrant activist right now last on BBC sounds.