FOR

its loyal audience of political anoraks and late-to-bed students, the axing of BBC1’s This Week — following host Andrew Neil’s decision to step down — is a big loss. Countless politicians have been skewered by Neil’s brutally forensic but fair interviewing. A recent victim was Ken Livingstone, who was left flailing after his woeful ignorance was exposed. If appointments at the BBC were made on merit alone, Neil would be occupying one of its main interviewing berths. But he has suffered for being a hate figure for the Left. His departure, following soon after John Humphrys’s announcement that he’s stepping down from Radio 4’s Today programme, means politicians will feel they will soon be able to escape proper interrogation by Britain’s two foremost political broadcasters. And that is very bad news for the public.