![Mayor: The new Routemaster has to be designed and built. It will be
very expensive.
Boris: Your hybrid bus is yet to be invented. [over talking 0:01:57]
Jeremy: We’re getting nowhere here. Your proposal is new
tramlines, isn’t it?
Brian: It is.
Boris: Can I just say …
Jeremy: No, you can’t say, you’ve said quite enough without
enlightening us on a figure! You think about it, give us a
figure, you can talk again.
Boris: It will cost no more and no less than 500 new hybrid buses.
www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk
Agenda-setting.
Another clear and
obvious attempt by
Boris to undermine the
ideas of his opponent.
Clearly frustrated and
annoyed by Boris and
his complete lack of
clarity.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/transcript2bloganalysis-140807062711-phpapp02/85/Boris-Johnson-Transcript-2-5-320.jpg)
Boris Johnson Transcript 2
- 1. SETTING THE SCENE…TRANSCRIPT 2 The interviewer: JEREMY PAXMAN (born 1950), an English journalist, author and broadcaster. Has worked for the BBC since 1977, and is known for his forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating and condescending, and also applauded as tough and incisive. He is also the question- master of University Challenge. This debate comes in the run up to the 2008 Mayoral elections. Ken Livingstone (the first speaker) had been the Mayor of London since 2000 and was standing for re-election. Brian Paddick was the Liberal candidate. Boris and Livingstone had conflicting ideas about Transport for London. www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk
- 2. Mayor: … massively over the limit, he fell under the bus. Jeremy: Let’s look at your proposed alternative. Where do you get this idea you can develop Routemaster buses in a new incarnation for eight million quid? Boris: Nobody’s ever proposed that. What I was saying was that if you wanted to have conductors for 337 Bendy buses which was the notional discussion I was having with Vanessa, as it happens the other day, then it would cost about eight million quid. If you wanted to have conductors … Jeremy: What, a new fleet of old Routemaster buses type? Boris: … the new generation Routemaster bus which I do and I think would be essential for London, I think it’d be much valued by Londoners, then you’d need to spend about 25 million quid. Jeremy: £25 million for a fleet of how many buses? www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk There is a sense here that Paxman doesn’t believe the idea. The tone is perhaps patronising and inviting confrontation. Boris starts and continues throughout the transcript avoiding the question and digressing. We and Paxman do not need to know about Vanessa – he stalls us. Pace increases here to skip over the figures. He is hesitant and isn’t confident of any of the facts. Boris makes an attempt to speak for Londoners. He suggests he has their interests at heart – a clever tactic for somebody who wants to be the Mayor of London, eh?Paxman is agenda-setting: he attempts to pull the facts out of Boris though he direct and forceful questioning. ‘Quid’ echoes Paxman’s informality. Makes him seem relatable. Emphasis(paralingustic,tone) Non-fluency: he is becoming hesitant.
- 3. Boris: No, for the buses, that’s a different matter and that’s a different Jeremy: How many? How much would it cost? Boris: Let me invite you to speculate how much the Mayor’s … Jeremy: No, I’d like you to speculate, in fact more than speculate. Tell us how much it would cost. Boris: Let me tell you this, it would cost no more and no less than the Mayor’s own manifesto commitment to produce another 500 hybrid buses which are going to ply the streets of London …. Jeremy: Which is what? Boris: … and which will be bought, of course, as the man knows full well, not by Transport London, they will be bought by the bus companies … Jeremy: Give us a figure! Come on! www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk Again, Boris is becoming flustered, shown through his lack of fluency. Paxman has power in this conversation. He interrupts because Boris not answered. The use of more than one question builds tension here – he is pressuring Boris. Tone = frustration Attempt to set the agenda. He tries to steer the conversation – tries to regain power. Direct and assertive. Boris failed. Dodges the question. He is hesitant. The audience and Paxman begin to perceive him negatively. Attempt to take control by undermining his opponent. Adds to undermining. Tone on ‘hybrid’ suggests he doesn’t believe it is a plausible idea. Paralinguistics show that Paxman is annoyed with Boris. He isn’t answering the question. Paxman moves towards him. Intimidating. Tone is forceful. Seekspermission
- 4. Boris: … and I think when you look at the prospect that this offers London … Jeremy: Come on! What is the figure? Boris: Well, the average cost of a Bendy bus is about £200,000. I envisage the cost over time being substantially amortised to be easily bearable under the Transport budget. Jeremy: Am I not making myself clear? What we want to know is how much you propose to spend on this new fleet of Routemaster buses! Boris: As I say, it will be no more and no less than the cost of the Mayor’s 500 new hybrid buses. And I invite the Mayor now to tell us how much he’s proposing to spend on the new 500 hybrid buses. www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk Boris uses a highly articulate, formal register here. ‘Envisage’ means to predict and ‘amortised’ means paid off. He is saying that over time he can afford the buses. The complex language is an attempt to disguise his lack of knowledge on the subject. Attempt to set the agenda. He tries to steer the conversation – tries to regain power. It is clear that Boris is struggling to control the conversation because he comes back to the same points, again trying to set the agenda by steering the conversation back to what his opponent intends to do. Boris, I suspect, would find it easier to discredit his opponent’s ideas rather than explain his own! Look at how much Boris is speaking. He isn’t really communicating anything valuable; however, he is attempting to regain and keep his power in the conversation by holding the floor. Paxman is the agenda setter: he always aims to steer Boris into giving answers, which he frustratingly avoids.
- 5. Mayor: The new Routemaster has to be designed and built. It will be very expensive. Boris: Your hybrid bus is yet to be invented. [over talking 0:01:57] Jeremy: We’re getting nowhere here. Your proposal is new tramlines, isn’t it? Brian: It is. Boris: Can I just say … Jeremy: No, you can’t say, you’ve said quite enough without enlightening us on a figure! You think about it, give us a figure, you can talk again. Boris: It will cost no more and no less than 500 new hybrid buses. www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk Agenda-setting. Another clear and obvious attempt by Boris to undermine the ideas of his opponent. Clearly frustrated and annoyed by Boris and his complete lack of clarity.
- 6. Turn-taking A feature, generally, of politeness. One speaker contributes and then allows another speaker answer. Agenda Setting Where a speaker aims to direct the conversation. A speaker wishes to decide what to talk about, and may even steer this conversation back on to this topic. Holding the floor When a person speaks and doesn’t let anybody else speak. This is usually a feature of power. Interruptions A speaker hasn’t finished but another person takes over anyway. Overlaps When a number of people are speaking at the same time, often to attempt to gain the floor, agree, or argue about what is being said. ANALYSING THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE OF TRANSCRIPT 2 All of the other features: pauses, hedges, fillers, paralinguistic, stress, tone, pace… www.englishwithmrsmith.blogspot.co.uk