Left-wing firebrand and Guardian columnist Owen Jones trekked up to Manchester with a small camera crew for Tory conference this week. In his now traditional “behind-the-scenes” video, Jones tries to take the fight to the Tories by door stepping delegates and asking them questions. Nowt wrong with that. But in his videos Jones often ends up doing mind-battle with spotty teenagers, which has annoyed some.
It’s scintillating stuff, not least because the tyro-Tories sometimes get the better of Jones. But Olivia Lever, director of the young Tory think tank Blue Beyond, said she found it “extremely unsettling” this year. Writing on X, she questioned the ethics of interviewing younger members who may come to regret having their early political convictions committed to YouTube forever.
