Rude awakening

Does it breach broadcasting etiquette to ask a prominent politician on television if he regards himself as “a nasty piece of work”? I thought Allan Massie (Perspective, 27 March) was over-sensitive about the BBC’s Eddie Mair and his recent encounter with London mayor Boris Johnson. Having watched the extract, I felt that Mair asked the question not in a boorish, aggressive manner but in his characteristic light but incisive way.

As is often the case, these exchanges look more serious in print than when broadcast live. It did not amount to a lack of restraint or even bad manners.

Someone of Johnson’s ability and wit ought to have dealt with it comfortably thus: “I do a job of work, hopefully helping to promote London on the international stage; protecting sections of the community against the impact of welfare cuts and so on.

“I’ve helped keep up the profile of my party in one of the greatest cities in the world. I don’t think that’s nasty at all, is it?”

Massie would have a point if crudeness and lack of respect were a hallmark of current affairs broadcasting. But the occasional testing, if irreverent, question does not go amiss. I remember Gordon Brewer on Newsnight Scotland asking Labour’s Iain Gray: “Aren’t you rather dull?”

At the time I thought it below the belt. But, on reflection, I did feel it was the sort of remark an experienced politician ought to be able to deal with.

In the final analysis politicians and their advisers place great credence on image. They should not be surprised or offended if that approach is put to the test under the TV studio’s lights. 

Bob Taylor

Glenrothes