One foot in the grey

Not that long ago, Jeremy Paxman and Gerry Adams were pretty much permanent fixtures on our TV screens. Since Paxo left Newsnight, you don’t see much of him unless you watch University Challenge.

And after standing down from mainstream politics, the IRA’s — sorry Sinn Fein’s — Adams has been fairly elusive. But both were back in the news this week. Paxo celebrated his 70th birthday and Adams won an appeal against his conviction for attempting to escape from the Maze Prison in the Seventies. Stand by for a wave of legally aided claims for compensation from Irish terror suspects — alleging unlawful detention half a century ago.

Still, until now I hadn’t really clocked the uncanny resemblance between Adams and Paxman. one was locked up and now they’ve both been locked down — without access to a barber.

they haven’t gone away, you know.