BBC News went a bit overboard yesterday

in their coverage of the publication of Alistair Campbell’s sanitised diaries – you’d almost think they have a three-part series to promote (BBC2, Wednesday 8pm, Thursday 8pm and Friday 7pm – just to catch you out).

Michael Crick on Newsnight concluded his filmed piece on the Campbell diaries with:

Crick: “This journal doesn’t match those of Richard Crossman, Tony Benn or the right-wing Tory Alan Clark, [pause] seen in these pages as a surprisingly close Campbell chum.”

– which is a bit rich – if Alan Clark really needs a prefix of ‘right-wing Tory’, surely Tony Benn merits a prefix of ‘left wing socialist’ – though on playing it back a second time, to give Crick the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he was trying to contrast Clark’s politics with his chumminess with Campbell, but that’s not how it came across on first hearing.

While we’re on the subject of Newsnight, I thought Richard watson’s lead item and follow up discussion were interesting and informative – and deserving of greater length than the puff for The Blair Years.