Leaving Millbank
This week I leave Millbank (the ±«Óătv's political news HQ) after nearly 10 years, to take over as UK news editor at . There was a time when I thought I might depart before Tony Blair, but in the end he managed to slip out of SW1 a few months ahead of me.
When I arrived at the beginning of 1998, Prime Minister Blair had just declared himself a “pretty straight sort of guy,” after getting caught up in the row over a million pound donation to Labour from the Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
I leave as Prime Minister Brown battles to limit the damage from big donations given to Labour through intermediaries by the property developer David Abrahams.
Plus ça change?
Actually a whole lot has changed. Not only has Downing St welcomed a new PM, the Tories - under William Hague in 1998 - are on to their fourth leader (the others being Howard, IDS, and Cameron, of course); and the Lib Dems - firmly in the grip of Paddy Ashdown when I started - are also soon to choose their fourth leader (the others, of course, Kennedy, Campbell, and from just before Christmas, either Clegg or Huhne). So a touch of the Steve McLarens in Tory and Lib Dem circles...
Westminster has seen two general elections (and nearly a third this autumn); the government has sent British forces into action five times; devolved government has taken shape in different forms across the UK; and there have been countless scandals and resignations.
But what haven’t changed much are the editorial issues that cross my desk. So I thought as a parting shot, I’d leave you a Christmas quiz on the kind of knotty problems that people have asked about, complained about, and that I’ve found myself writing blogs about in the past months. Unlike most yuletide quizzes, I'm afraid there are no handy answers upside down at the bottom of the page! Here goes:
- • When is it ok to turn up at 0630 with a camera outside a politician’s home?
- • When is it legitimate to investigate a politician’s private life? For example is it right to broadcast a story about a Labour Cabinet minister sending his or her child to a private school?
- • On short TV reports on policy matters should we always include clips from all three main parties?
- • Why do the best political stories tend to break in the newspapers?
- • Is pre-briefing on government or party announcements a good or bad thing?
- • When the ±«Óătv uncovered a story from good sources that a senior politician had a serious drink problem - but the politician’s spokesperson totally denied it - should we have gone ahead and run the story?
- • Should political correspondents get out of London more, or is their job to report on what’s happening at Westminster?
- • How do you tell a political correspondent they need to brush their hair, or wear a better coat?
All these and more, I leave to my successor and to you!