As regular readers will know, many on my evenings end with your humble correspondent grafted onto the sofa of sloth, getting ever so gently comatose on a combination of Scotland’s finest & electronic wallpaper. At that time of night, my usual viewing comprises whichever late night politics programme is on because the manual dexterity required to load Band of Brothers into the DVD player has long since vanished … & there is after all, no better way of spending those last few fleeting moments of lucid thought than hopefully watching some pondlife politician, getting a proper verbal kicking. I know, I know – it is the height of bad manners to mock the afflicted, but when these political stooges (of whatever hue) all of whom are more slippery than a greased weasel, start being evasive or trotting out the same old manifesto mantras, I can’t but help thinking that either this person has severe brain damage, or the new vacuum cleaner has arrived. *

Now, it transpires that our politicians are getting a little petulant about being asked pertinent questions & then, actually being expected to answer them. So the parliamentary sub-committee that is reviewing the BBC’s TV tax is taking the opportunity to haul one or two of the BBC’s political jurnos that aren’t Nu Labour lapdogs to complain that these presenters don’t show politicians enough reeeespekt! Oh, the irony…