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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

Political interviews in Britain remained obsequious until<br />

the arrival <strong>of</strong> Reginald Bosanquet, who is credited with<br />

producing the first aggressive interruption <strong>of</strong> a British<br />

politician, although by today's standards it was a model <strong>of</strong><br />

reticence. It happened in 1957 when Bosanquet interviewed<br />

Harold Macmillan. 'Sir', he interjected, 'as time is<br />

short could we question you on a domestic matter which<br />

I think is uppermost in our minds at the moment?' 'If you<br />

must', replied Macmillan.<br />

Gone are the days when interviewers apologized for<br />

interrupting, or allowed politicians to set the agenda<br />

for the interview. Nowadays interviewers have much more<br />

power and they are prepared to be combative. Politicians<br />

are now understandably nervous about interviewers,<br />

especially when, like the BBC's Jeremy Paxman, they are<br />

reputed to eat politicians for breakfast. Paxman is best<br />

remembered for a television interview in which he asked<br />

Michael Howard, the then Home Secretary, whether he<br />

had threatened to overrule the director <strong>of</strong> the Prison<br />

Service. <strong>The</strong> Home Secretary gave an evasive answer, so<br />

Paxman kept repeating the same question until he got a<br />

satisfactory answer. Indeed, he asked the same question<br />

a total <strong>of</strong> fourteen times!<br />

For a combative interview to take place it's necessary for<br />

both parties to play by the rules. <strong>The</strong>re are occasions when<br />

both parties get hot under the collar - the altercation in<br />

1988 between Vice President George Bush and Dan Rather,<br />

the CBS anchor, over the Iran-Contra affair is one example<br />

- and there are times when the interviewee decides that<br />

enough is enough and leaves. 12 This has happened several<br />

times with politicians. In 1982, when Robin Day was<br />

interviewing John Nott, the Defence Secretary, he referred<br />

160

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