the trouble with john humphries

i am very sorry to hear that john humphries has once again upset a strident element of the bbc radio 4 listening public. how could he be so impertinent to that nice mr cameron on the today program? especially when the latter was wriggling like a worm on a hook, desperate to oil his way out of the inconvenient contradictions in his position on income tax. it's high time that young humphries was hauled up before the beak for more smacked legs and public humiliation.

if nothing else it will give mr grade the opportunity to further ingratiate himself with the compilers of the honours lists. although hopefully thats a side issue, the question of how many troublesome welshmen you need to bully before you can claim your title remains. whatever, its got to be cheaper than cash up front.

but then humphries isn't quite so young is he? despite his youthful enthusiasm as he duffed cameron up in an exchange worthy of a first term at public school when the new bug gets his head shoved down the lavatory, he's been treading those radio boards for quite a while now.

i wonder how far back his career stretches. back to the brief intermission in deferential wireless that followed the 1960s perhaps. back even to the age of integrity in public life where peccadilloes and improper conduct could actually lead to a principled resignation. (cf. john profumo. although i don't suggest that there is any issue of resignation here. ) back in fact to when our media sleuths were not afraid of losing their jobs if they rattled the bars of westminster. or those that populate them.

perhaps that's the trouble with john humphries. maybe his understanding of the function of a radio journalist is too old-fashioned for modern listeners. perhaps in this virtual age, ferreting after uncomfortable truth is too clearly unacceptable and an indication that it's time to hang up the mike. as is the innocent belief that being in the right is its own validation.

well all i can say is long live john humphries. long may he sink his teeth into our deserving pillars of public life and shake them like a terrier shakes a rat. they do get quite handsomely paid after all.

we need more voices of his calibre on the airwaves. especially on massively bourgeois radio 4. but i fear that in these post- gilligan days of polite media the likes of jh are becoming an increasingly endangered species. who knows when the poison dart is going to find its target between his shoulder blades? much as i'd like to i can't protect him from those who obviously wish to god he'd shut up. but i can admire him. and his stance.

and i do.

patrick ellis