WISE VOICES ON NEWSNIGHT

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Last night's Newsnight contained a scorching interview of Labour's Mike O'Brien by Jeremy Paxman on the NHS Out Of Hours service (I.C. of 3.2, the highest so far this month - one ahead of Philip Hammond on 3.1). This shows again that Paxo lands punches across the political spectrum - except on 'wise' Dr Vince Cable of course. Vince was on the programme discussing bank bonuses, and was (as so often) treated as an independent economist rather than as a Liberal Democrat politician. He was in discussion with the American author Janet Tavakoki. This followed a report on America and the bankers by 'former' Trot Paul Mason ("While Wall Street wallows in bonus billions here in the job centres there is real economic pain") and featured as his star witness Robert Kuttner, co-editor of the liberal American Prospect magazine. Later still Peter Taylor's report about Alki Ada in Yemen featured the ubiquitous (on the BBC) Michael Scheuer - the former CIA agent who wants the West to repudiate the Bush Administration's war on terror and adopt an approach centred on removing Moslem grievances, especially by getting very tough on Israel.