And you think the US media is corrupt…
I watched this interview on BBC2 the other night and I wondered why Jeremy Paxman had given the pensions minister such an easy time of it.
Now I know why:
Minister’s fling with BBC girl who booked him for NewsnightBy PAUL REVOIR and GORDON RAYNER –
Last updated at 22:07pm on 22nd January 2007When pensions minister James Purnell appeared on Newsnight, viewers were mystified by the ‘easy ride’ he was given by the normally pugilistic Jeremy Paxman.
Licence payers complained to the BBC that Mr Purnell had been allowed to “get off lightly” instead of being thoroughly grilled over the nation’s pensions crisis.
Now it has emerged tha the BBC has held an inquiry into the role of Newsnight producer Thea Rogers, who booked Mr Purnell to appear on the show – and who just happened to be in the middle of a fling with him at the time.
Mr Purnell, 36, also faces questions over whether he broke ministerial rules by using his chauffeur-driven government car to whisk his glamorous 25-year-old girlfriend off for a romantic meal immediately after the programme.
The ministerial code of conduct clearly states that ministers should not use their cars for “private business”.
Last night Mr Purnell, regarded as one of the brightest young stars of the Blair government, insisted he had done nothing wrong in using his ministerial car to take Miss Rogers out for dinner, but Tory MP Mike Penning said: “That’s not for him to decide. Only his permanent secretary can decide if there has been a breach of the ministerial code.”
The ambitious Miss Rogers, who worked for Labour during the 2005 election campaign and is said to be on first name terms with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, did not tell her Newsnight bosses that she was dating Mr Purnell at the time she was asked to book him as a guest on the show last October.
At least no falafel were involved, as far as we know at this point. But that’s about the best you can say for this scummy behaviour.
