Humphrys at it again

Monday, 18th February 2008

There are many different reasons why I prefer Nicky Campbell in the morning to the Today programme, but the main one is John Humphrys.

He excelled himself today. Alastair Darling deserves to be, and can quite easily be, rilpped to shreds over his handling of Northen Rock. But Humphrys' performance was simply shameful, wilfully distorting Darling's position and words, as Andy McSmith makes clear:

A word on the exchange between John Humphrys and Alistair Darling on this morning's Today programme, in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was accused of having either said or agreed that nationalisation would be 'lingering death' for Northern Rock. It seemed odd that Darling would ever say anything so interesting, having built his career on never expressing a controversial opinion. The record shows that, much as we all admire the great Humphrys, on this occasion he was being unfair.
He was referring to an exchange in the House of Commons on 19 November, in which the Labour MP Jim Cousins, said: "The whole House will have noted that the Liberal Democrats have as much regard for the 5,500 employees of Northern Rock in the north-east—and the 6,500 nationally—as they had for the job of their former leader. Two or three faces in public, 10 in private—that is the policy of the Liberal Democrats."
Cousins added: "Does my right hon. Friend accept that the policy of nationalisation would lead to a slow lingering death for the jobs of the Northern Rock workers, its assets and Britain's reputation as a major financial services centre, with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor cast in the role of undertaker—and that only by finding a successor business to grow on those jobs, assets and reputations can we offer any real prospect of the taxpayers getting their money back?"
Darling replied: "I agree with my hon. Friend. It is regrettable and surprising that the Liberal Democrats never seemed to support our earlier proposals to keep Northern Rock open. It would also, however, be a mistake to shut off all other options and simply go for one at this stage; that does not seem to me to make any sense at all."
In context, it is clear that Darling was agreeing with Cousins's attack on the Liberal Democrats and not, as Humphrys inferred, with his warning about nationalisation.

Quite. When is Humphrys going to be put out to grass? There must be some hope that when Evan Davis arrives Today might be worth bothering with again. But for the moment, I'll stick with Nicky Campbell, who seems to realise that an interview can be tough without resorting to Humphrys-style contradiction and showboating.