Jonathan Coad and British TV’s most catastrophic interview

‘Coad. Coad.’ I wracked my brain. Distant bells began to tinkle as I turned the name over. As though performing a solo game of charades, I said to myself ‘Sounds like?’ And I landed on it.

Jonathan Coad used to be known only to a small band of aficionados. Happily today he is almost a household name. This is because of his participation in what must be regarded, by some stretch, as the most catastrophic interview ever conducted on British television. And I have not forgotten about Michael Howard, Prince Andrew or Cathy Newman.

This week Mr Coad was on GB News being questioned about Matt Hancock, WhatsApp, Isabel Oakeshott and the various other intrigues preoccupying us as our nation goes down the swannee. Right at the start, Coad was introduced as a lawyer who ‘was recently asked to act for Matt Hancock’. Mr Coad – who rocked back and forth throughout the interview – opened menacingly by saying that this introduction was ‘disappointing’. With a mildly threatening pomposity, he said: ‘I made it absolutely clear to your programme. I asked them not to disclose that. And that is very, very poor journalism.’ He went on to explain that in correspondence with GB News producers, he had mentioned that while he was happy to come on to discuss the situation with Matt Hancock, he did not want the channel to say that he had been approached to act for Mr Hancock.

The GB News presenter was as polite as he could be about all this, apologised about any misunderstanding and tried to carry on. Unfortunately, Coad is one of those lawyers who seems to have developed some sort of circular breathing technique. He can talk for hours without ceasing.