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Diary

Emily Maitlis

Wednesday, 12th December 2007

Emily Maitlis on the Christmas Party circuit

But right now the image I can’t get out of my head is that of Jeremy Paxman sitting on the stage of the Albert Hall covered in fake snow. He assures me it’s all true. The reason I know this is because the organisers of this year’s Salvation Army carol concert put it in their pitch to me. ‘Last year,’ they wrote, ‘your colleague Jeremy hosted it and might even have quite enjoyed it.’ Now I’m no Derrida, but if I read the subtext right, the implication is this: if it was good enough for him, it’s jolly well good enough for you. And indeed it jolly well is. I am immensely honoured to be asked. They have suggested I appear in something ‘glamorous but tasteful’. I bet they didn’t say that to JP. Maybe I’ll turn up in body snow, a jingly sleigh and a Santa girl fur-lined cape. So that next year, when they pass the baton to, say, Jon Sopel or maybe even John Humphrys, I have set the bar irresistibly high.

Milo’s nursery school has asked him what he’d like to be in the nativity play and he’s told them without hesitation he wishes to be a polar bear. I worry they think this is his subversive Jewish gene trying to hijack the telling of the birth of Christ. But actually I can’t help feeling it shows a certain prescience in these days of global warming — they’ll be lowing along with the cattle soon enough. My big headache now is the costume. Kings and shepherds I could do with my eyes shut. But where do you start with a polar bear outfit for a three-year-old? Hang on a sec. I might just pop back and see what actually happened to Mrs Beckham’s old white jeans....

Emily Maitlis is a presenter on Newsnight and BBC News 24.