The night was dominated by the controversial idea of "bounty hunting" private agencies looking for benefit cheats. People were concerned about their civil liberties being infringed, although a lot of this information is already examined by credit reference agencies and the taxman. Working on a commission system, there were also worries that they might be a little too determined, rather like the commission based parking attendants who dished out tickets to all and sundry not so long ago. I would say most were in favour of the idea - those against felt we are concentrating too much on the little people with little money and not enough on the fat cats who avoid tax. Was the same tough procedure applied to MPs fiddling on their expenses. I think not. And what about fiddling VAT some asked. Is doing an underhand deal for cash any better than cheating on benefits?
After a lot of negativity we went for something more positive in the last hour. Responding to the Post Office's "Alternative Census" I asked what makes Britain Great. The things you love about Britain... our Top Ten was as follows:
The weather
The coastline
The Landscape
History and tradition
Sense of Fair play
Diversity
Queueing
Tea shops
Country Gardens
Fish and chips
Back tonight at ten