Star Wars, Left Or Right Wing? BBC Daily Politics Debates

Is Star Wars left or right wing?

BBC 2's Daily Politics programme took the debate seriously on Tuesday, ahead of the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The New Statesman's Stephen Bush faced off against columnist James Delingpole. Bush argued the Rebel Alliance was fighting against a "clearly a quasi-fascistic Empire".

"In the original trilogy you have a cross-class coalition of, on the one hand, the elite Jedi, Han Solo and Chewbacca who are effectively small traders and the Ewoks, who are your basic proletariat," he said.

But Delingpole was having none of it. "Han Solo and Chewbacca are 'White Van Man', but they would be voting Ukip," he said.

"The Rebel Alliance is clearly fighting against he evil Empire which was probably the Soviet Union at the time the film was made, probably the EU now. The tyranny is the tyranny of the left not the right."

But Bush hit back: "There is no way two charcaters which can do the Kessel Run in five parsecs would be against the free movement of labour."

Delingpole also made a swipe everyone's favourite character, at Jar Jar Binks. "I think Jar Jar Binks is what would happen if, say, Jeremy Corbyn was in charge. He is the model of 'all should have prizes', he is the sort of person who be over promoted in the Labour world."