PAXMAN TORY TOFF CLAIMS

PAXMAN TORY TOFF CLAIMS

I've known Jeremy Paxman since I worked with him on the university newspaper in Cambridge in 1971. Then, like most students of that era, he was an crusading lefty. Over the years, his politics have undoutedly changed, partly, I suspect, because he's now firmly part of the hunting/fishing set. But elements of that sneering lefty, it seems, are still not far beneath the surface. They came out last night when he interviewed Boris Johnson on Newsnight. Boris strongly pooh-poohed suggestions that his past as a member of the Bullingdon Club was relevant to what he is doing now. Jeremy was having none of it. He descended into muttering name-calling, the main theme of which (though it was largely incoherent) seemed to be that Boris was a toff and the Tories were a party of privilege. That, of course, is a constant theme of BBC coverage of the party conference. Well worth a look.