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Labour peer George Foulkes can be a canny political operator but his attempt to divert attention from the snouts-in-the-trough scandal currently engulfing Parliament won't work.
Earlier this week he tried to derail BBC News presenter Carrie Gracie during a live interview by turning the tables and asking what her salary is. It's £92,000, she replied.
That's “nearly twice as much” as MPs who do far more important work, he fumed. But not twice as much as your income from the public purse, George — which last year came in at £107, 762 (including expenses).
He went on to berate Jeremy Paxman and John Humphrys for earning huge salaries as public-service broadcasters while, in his words, “sneering and undermining democracy”. Tough talk, Lord Foulkes.
And a charge so serious that it's worth examining — how much do the British public need or want the likes of Paxman and Humphrys asking questions about MPs' behaviour?
It's my bet that one person's opinion that something is “sneering and undermining” might be seen by another as “probing and essential”; and it's very likely that first person would be an MP and the latter would not.
We thankfully no longer live in a world where sycophancy towards those in positions of power is a given.
To be polite and respectful as an interviewer is always desirable but if some slimy git is giving you the runaround and you've only got a matter of a few minutes to try to get to the bottom of what's going on, then surely you have to be tough.
Party leaders and MPs may now be tripping over themselves to apologise and mounting paper-thin PR stunts by writing cheques on live TV but it's a mess entirely of their own making.
For years MPs have quietly sidelined any question of a salary rise for fear of baiting an already disgruntled electorate.
Yet honestly confronting the voters with a clear argument over whether they deserved a pay rise would surely have been preferable to sneakily designing and milking a system that boosted their income through the back door.
If it takes attack-dogs such as Paxman and Humphrys to expose their hypocrisies, then I for one am happier than ever to pay my licence fee.
How to get ahead at Cannes
The Cannes Film Festival is a curious beast. TV and newspaper reports major on the apparent glamour of the stars, the super-yachts and, not unreasonably, the movies.
Let me tell it how it really is … if you're billeted on La Croisette you'll be fighting through crowds of clapped-out Côte d'Azur tanorexics, tripping over bargain bins of Perspex high heels and lucky to get a glimpse of the back of Johnny Depp's head.
But if you're properly famous, disgustingly rich or both you may snag a suite a few miles beyond the tat of the town at the Hotel du Cap. It's like heaven, only everyone wears Tom Ford sunglasses.
The Bellinis come in turned crystal flutes the size of lampshades and the waiters look like Yves Montand's more handsome brother.
As one of the chosen few you will not be subjected to low-rent launches where the beer is lukewarm and the pizza cold and you will not have to make conversation with Paris Hilton.
Whose representatives, incidentally, called the organisers of an exclusive Film Festival dinner to ask: “How much will you pay for Paris to attend your party?” The reply? “We'll pay her not to.”
Murray's in a hurry to get to the top
It's now official — Andy Murray has entered the world top three in tennis, the first Briton in the history of the ATP rankings to go that far.
True, it took a while for the wonderful Wimbledon crowds to take him to their hearts and maybe in the early days he didn't always make it easy. But believe you me, in Scotland Andy's communication skills pass for ebullient.
Yes, he frowns. Yes, he roars. But one flash of that double-handed backhand and surely all is forgiven?
Even as he emerged on to the professional scene some years back, it struck me that he had the makings of a champion; that sliver of ice in the heart that separates true sporting heroes from the rest, which makes them dedicate endless hours to fanatical practice regimes and punishing physical privations when lesser mortals are settling down to a Snickers and a little nap.
And so Andy, the wee boy who survived the horror of the Dunblane school shootings when so many of his school mates died, the 15-year-old who left home for Spain to live among strangers and endlessly hone his game in the searing heat, the young man who even managed to turn a hostile Henman Hill into a spellbound Murray Mount — a new challenge now awaits you... just the small matter of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal stand in your way now.
My date with the Pilates God
It was, I think, Joan Rivers who said of exercise: “If God wanted me to bend over he'd have put diamonds on the floor.” She has a point.
But around six months ago I began to hear myself making an involuntary noise when I got up from a prolonged stint in an armchair.
An almost inaudible but grateful grunt as my joints propelled me upwards and forwards. I remember as a tot wondering why my parents made that same sound … Forty years later I'm not so smug.
So this lunchtime, in a bid to cheat decrepitude for a while longer, I'll spend an hour at an exercise class. My torture of choice, three times a week, is power Pilates, run by Dave.
In my corner of west London more people believe in Dave than in God. From supermodels to City brokers he attracts disciples eager to look as though they could crack walnuts with their butt cheeks.
My own goals are more modest... all I want for summer is arms like Michelle Obama.
Reader views (6)
Very nice Kirsty Young. Explain to me this please why it is we have to pay top price for BBC DVD's even though we paid for the programmes to be made?
Why do we not receive a discount as a shareholder would for these DVD's? The BBC is a public funded state propaganda machine used to brainwash naive British subjects. They are riddled with double standards and hypocrisy. Potty mouth Ross tops the charts in this category and almost every programme is simply ripped from another channels latest vogue hit. I can not stand to watch one second of BBC breakfast's smugfest and as for the attack dogs they are nothing compared to the really skills of people like frost who managed to get answers not silence
Set the donkey free and see how it manges in the real commercial world
- Gary, Brentwood
there are many more snouts in the trough at browns broadcasting corporation
- Terry Sullivan, morden england
Kirsty quotes Lord Foulkes' expenses as proof that he earns more than BBC newsreader, Carrie Gracie. But a politician’s expense claims have to include the cost of researchers, PA, their offices, computers, telephone bills, transport and accommodation. Carrie doesn’t account for the equivalent costs at the BBC but we still pay for them. So we pay 50% more for a second level newsreader than we do for the parliamentary representative of around 100,000 British people.
And I bet Carrie gets a fraction of the amount of public cash that Andrew Neil, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys or Kirsty’s other beloved “attack dogs” get from the public purse.
Of course, we need a strong, independent news media. It’s a critical part of a democracy. Of course, those politicians who rip us off should be brought to book and punished. But a free press should be a responsible press and that means balanced reporting of even the strongest story. The people of Dunblane and Soham know all too well the consequences of a press-pack “seeking the truth”.
The current feeding frenzy is no evangelistic purge of a corrupt system. It’s purely about a good story, good telly, good circulation figures but it's likely to start an avalanche. In tough times, it doesn’t take long for an angry public to start turning their ire on other sections of our new aristocracy, Kirsty.
- Neville Farmer, London, UK
he 15-year-old who left home for Spain to live among strangers and endlessly hone his game in the searing heat...
Just what I thought of pathetic Britain.
The UK is the richest tennis nation (thanks to the gazillions coming to Wimbledon) and we have the worse players in the world. Murray is a champ but only because his mum was a pro (or semi pro). Henman had a tennis court at home. Other thn that, no chance to be good.
Good luck to Murray (the scot), but it just shows what a pathetic country we live in.
- Baba, london uk
"We thankfully no longer live in a world where sycophancy towards those in positions of power is a given"
Have you ever heard the Radio 4 Today presenters interviewing a member of the Cabinet? They are so far up their backsides that you need to send in Mountain Rescue to retrieve them!
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
Whether it be MP`s, Eurocrats, local politicians or BBC presenters, the basic principle is the same - if they are paid for out of our taxes (which are TAKEN from us, we have no choice) then their salaries and expense claims should be a matter of public record.
Knowing this would deter them from excess (especially in times like these) and help nurture the shrivelled gland of morality that lurks within all right minded people.
Many, however, would have been surprised by the salary of a BBC news presenter who is NOT in the "big league" et al Paxman etc.
Perhaps another reason why this public funded bodies` expenditure should be made public!
- Darius Midwinter, London UK
