This one isn’t going away, is it? Gold-plated (well he should be for that money) BBC boy Jonathan Ross has, quite rightly, defended his supposedly lewd and crude questions to David “Diddy” Cameron on last week’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
The thought of Mrs T in stockings aside, this one is all a bit silly, isn’t it? If you’re going to sit on Ross’s sofa, whoever you are, you’re going to suffer a fairly risqué line of questioning. Heck, even the Pope would probably count as fair game, and that’s an interview I’d gladly pay good money to see.
And I’m going to cut David Cameron some slack on this, because there doesn’t appear to have been any direct quote from Mr C himself on this subject. All the posturing and foot stamping has been coming from Lord Tebbit (and how nice it is to have the image of Tebbit in full-on biker/truncheon mode fresh in mode, thanks to Best Ever Spitting Image).
The Independent reports that Ross popped into Radio Five Live to state his case, saying:
“We don’t set out to upset people. I wouldn’t want to do that, even though upsetting Norman Tebbit has given me some small sense of satisfaction because he’s spent 12 years upsetting me.”
Well, quite.
It’s never pretty seeing politicians going on chat shows, and its especially painful watching Tories put themselves through the ringer as they tend to be particularly bad at it. Unless you’re Boris Johnson, naturally, who provides the nation with a walking, cycling mass entertainment industry just by getting up in the morning.
Cameron’s certainly been putting himself about a bit, what with Desert Island Discs (don’t worry Kirsty, I think you’re great!) and now Wossy. But why must they do it? Cameron’s better than most of his predecessors at hitting the circuit, but it’s still cringe worthy to watch, like watching your dad dancing at a wedding. And let’s face it, an interviewer like Ross (or indeed anybody) is not going to let an opportunity like this pass. But, the important thing to note is that he treats all his guests like this, so Mr Tebbit, do put that truncheon down and let the kids get on with it. They’re having fun!
