Boris the Bold
When I’m in Spain I tend to tune in to news channels fairly regularly, so last night I caught the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson shortly after it happened. I have to say that it was not the BBC’s finest hour, not that they’ve had many of those lately. As the situation evolved, News 24’s late night presenter, Annita McVeigh, seemed to elbow Jane Hill, her calm co-host, aside as she became more and more strident in her efforts to dictate events rather than report them.
The buzz word in the Corporation these days seems to be ‘talent’. Not a lot apparent in Ms McVeigh, I’m afraid. As I watched, I found myself recalling the time when her colleague Carrie Gracie attempted to bully my friend the Lord Foulkes, and was handed her head in a basket, live on telly, and I found myself hoping that some one would give her the same treatment. Step up, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. Bob Skinner thinks that Boris is a buffoon, and it’s certainly true that a comparison between his DNA and that of Coco the Clown would yield interesting results. However he is a very bright buffoon, much too bright for Ms McVeigh, as she should have realised very early in their conversation. Poor Annita. While it’s often wise to quit while you’re ahead, it’s almost invariably wiser to chuck it when you’re six goals down and playing into the wind. She didn’t know that, and in her ignorance she compounded her misfortune by quoting criticism of the Mayor by his predecessor, Red Ken Livingstone. This was the equivalent of my grand-dog Benny bowling an off-break to Garfield Sobers, and the result was as predicted.
The virus that is Jeremy Paxman (Incidentally, I couldn’t believe it on Saturday when the chair of the BBC Trust said in interview that he doesn’t know how much Paxman is paid.) seems to have spread to more and more of his colleagues these days. News programmes are becoming arenas, and political interviewees are seen universally as targets for rudeness and aggression. That’s how it was last night, but God, how I love those rare occasions when a sacrificial Christian kicks the shit out of the lions.
Quintin Jardine's blog 
Interesting as I thought Boris was the one on the back foot on ITV news last night, when he appeared to be still defending the Met Commissioner and his assistant.
Who was the interviewer?
Mark Austin, who is always calm and polite.
Yes, he is. When I was in the ‘life’ back in the ’80s, the breed was different, but the ITN people were always pleasant and courteous, led by Julian Haviland, pretty much the nicest man I ever met in journalism. There was a degree of class at the Beeb too, with the likes of Vincent Hannah and Jolly Jack Regan, although Robin Day was a real swine.