I knew Michael Crick, the C4 news reporter (he was at Newsnight for ten years) when I was an MP and we met up more recently at a Trinity Hospice Open Garden Day. It transpired that a close relative of his was in our hospice late last year.
This week we met up for lunch at The Atrium close to Parliament. It houses the Westminster media pack. As we were surveying the menu, Michael espied Denis MacShane MP walking down the stairs. "Well, he'll be pleased" he said " my twitter account tells me he will not be prosecuted over his expenses". Nowadays, everyone else knows your news before you do.
Denis has been a good friend of my family and we have skied together over the years. His case brought by the BNP has probably cost him north of £100k in legal expenses.
With Michael, I said he'd made a good decision leaving Newsnight which has lost its complete focus. Paxman should be relieved of his duties. It is dull and predictable. I doubt whether it attracts 200,000 viewers.
We then had a long discussion about our careers or in my case my non-career and plotted how we might work together on a film.