Farewell to Paxo, BBC’s star sausage piercer ...
AFTER 25 years, Jeremy Paxman presented his last Newsnight on Wednesday. Here QUENTIN LETTS pays tribute to the 64-year-old broadcaster, who is in talks with Channel 4 over a new role.
WHEN great tenors retire, the patrons of La Scala rattle their jewellery and throw roses. When Donald Bradman walked out to bat in his last Test match, he was clapped all the way to the Oval wicket – and was duly bowled second ball.
For Jeremy Paxman’s final appearance on Newsnight, the BBC packed the old boy off on an antique gooliecruncher of a tandem with Boris Johnson through the streets of London.
Much creaking of muscles and middleaged grumpity-groaning ensued as they tried to mount the boneshaker. But for the fluorescent cycle helmets (another BBC risk assessment had plainly struck!) it could have been Compo and Foggy in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine.
Or summer whine. For that was Jeremy, wasn’t it? Paxman the lemony sceptic. Paxo the stuffer of politicians and public officials. What a top man he was.
His retirement from Newsnight after a quarter of a century not only robs the BBC of one of its great journalists but also leaves British public life without its star sausagepiercer, the bloke who could take those bloated, oily snorkers from the public trough and prong them with his questions and – heck – his downright rudeness. More often than not they deserved it. He bowed out on Wednesday night on terrific form. The programme began with a section on Iraq – world affairs editor John Simpson had shifted his bottom for once and got to Baghdad – and this included an interview with Iraq’s ambassador to the United States. ‘Was your military incompetent?’ Paxman asked this diplomatic waffler. His Excellency jawed away for a bit. Paxman concluded: ‘So, your military WAS incapable.’
Duncan Weldon, Newsnight’s new economics correspondent (and something of a Leftie), popped up at the Paxman table for a quick two-way. Paxman inspected him as an old lion might regard a very small rodent. Then the programme took a few chunks out of Labour leader Ed Miliband. Not that Mr Miliband was really the target.
The news peg was Ed Mil’s terrible personal poll ratings but the real aim, I think, was to allow Paxman to let us know what he felt about the great poisoning of politics during the 25 years he has been fronting Newsnight. And so we had a clip of Michael Howard monster- ing Alastair Campbell – accusing him of ‘bullying and lying and lowering the tone of British politics’. All of which was followed by a live interview with – ta-rah! – Peter Mandelson. Was that thunder and lightning off-stage?
‘Baron Mandelson of Foy,’ said Paxman, enunciating the title to bring home its silliness. ‘The man who makes Svengali look like an amateur.’ We were shown film footage of Mandy from the late 1980s (just when Jeremy was starting his stint). I swear he was wearing blue eyeliner.
After saying that Ed Miliband had ‘not much more appeal than a flatulent dog in a lift’, Paxman called Mandelson ‘the prince of darkness’ (Peter was already looking fed up) and pressed him to enthuse about the Labour leader. He did so with exquisite reluctance.
Paxman asked his noble guest, the man who invented New Labour spin, if he was responsible for the drop in public trust in politicians. Lord Mandelson said it was more to do with economic and social change. Then they were on to Iraq and Tony Blair.
Paxman: ‘Do you think he’s gone a bit nuts?’ Wonderful. Only Paxman, so effortlessly patrician, so classily iconoclastic, could ask that. Michael Howard popped up in the studio for a second and made some joke about not answering questions (when Home Secretary, he had dodged a Paxman question 12 times).
AND
so to the finale of the tandem ride with London’s Mayor Boris. ‘It’s a bloody nightmare,’ said Paxman as they wobbled down the road, Boris concentrating more on saying hello to voters than on steering a straight path. There’s a metaphor in that. And did Boris let slip a secret about Paxman’s politics? BBC presenters are not meant to betray their leanings – ha! – but Boris, in some valedictory remarks to Jeremy, called him ‘ the last remaining one-nation Conservative at the BBC’.
The programme ended with presenter Paxman saying ‘thank you for watching Newsnight. I hope you’ll continue watching it’. Cue fade music of I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmoneeee and Jeremy looking distinctly doleful as the camera panned that final time.
All of which was followed by the weather. This was presented, yes, by Paxman saying ‘more of the same – I don’t know why they make such a fuss about it’. We made a fuss about him though, and he deserved it. This article appeared in later editions of yesterday’s Mail.