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Only a few days ago I warned of the dangers for Conservative spokesmen of being interviewed with their Labour and Lib Dem opposite numbers by Kirsty Wark. Last night's short Newsnight debate provided more proof of that.
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The issue was policing and the guests were David Hanson (Labour), Chris Grayling (Conservative) and the ubiquitous Chris Huhne (Lib Dem).
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The interruptions flew, and they flew mostly at Mr Grayling (called 'Christopher' throughout by Kirsty).
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Who received the most interruptions?
***Chris(topher) Grayling - 6 (I.C. of 2.6)
***Chris 'Huhnework' Huhne - 3 (I.C. of 1.9)
***David Hanson - 2 (I.C. of 1.0)
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The interruptions were only one aspect of the bias. As ever, Kirsty aimed her fire at the Tory:
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Who was questioned the hardest?
***Chris Grayling - 8 questions
***David Hanson - 4 questions
***Chris Huhne - 3 questions
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She also ended one of her volleys against Mr Grayling with a classic editorial criticism of his final answer before moving straight on to another guest (without giving him the chance to defend himself against her criticism).
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All of this was easily predictable. Kirsty Wark is one of the worst interviewers on the BBC.
As a Scot may I apologise to the rest of the UK for inflicting on you Gordon Brown, Michael Martin and Kirsty Squawk. You have done nothing to deserve this.
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