I'm not referring to what they have to say as I've long stopped listening to that, but the adversarial manner of the interviews.
Yesterday morning I was listening to BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley interviewing James Cleverley. It wasn't so much an interview as an argument. Which makes it a pretty pointless piece of television. Actually it's a pretty pointless piece of television anyway. The interviewer is deliberately being bloody minded and the interviewee is just trotting out the party line. I'm not sure what the interviewer is trying to achieve by this kind of interview. Is he/she expecting the MP to cave in and agree that the new Prime Minister is doing an appalling job and should be replaced.
As a result, all these interviews are absolutely pointless. The interviewer is trying to tie the interviewee in knots, but that's not going to happen because the interviewees have all been well schooled in avoiding answering questions and getting their message over. I have some experience in this field with training police officers in how to respond to the Media.
Our message was always 1/ tell the truth 2/ don't avoid the question and 3/ ensure that you get your message over.
Of course point one is a matter of opinion and just what is the truth? One person's truth is another person's lie. Point two has been overtaken by the modern world as most politicians are well versed in avoiding the questions.
As for the interviewers. Well many have been dragged down to a new low as they try to wind up their subject by asking tough questions.
On breakfast TV a few days ago the level of interview hit a new low when Naga Munchetty quizzed a politician on just how many pages of written material constituted a mini budget and how many a full budget (as if this had any bearing on anything). She was trying to prove that the mini budget was actually a maxi budget!
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All these wonderful marathon efforts aimed at raising money for charity, raising awareness of something and improving human endurance get watered down because nobody ever fails.
But oh yes they do. Ross Edgley set out to swim Loch Ness for 72 hours non stop. He completed 52 hours (still a ridiculous amount of time) and had to give up after contacting cellulitis - something that put him in hospital. It was still a heck of an achievement and you could say a Monster attempt!
These challenges seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Former rugby player Kevin Sinfield is soon going to attempt seven ultra marathons in seven days. That's running over 40 miles a day for an entire week. There must be a madness to all this and they put my little effort into the shade, although I have to say even just walking an average of just over four miles a day has been problematic.
Even that has brought ankle problems, the loss of two toenails and a few other aches and pains. The problem is even at that level it becomes a mental battle, knowing that every day you have to go out and walk for well over an hour just for the hell of it. It may not sound much but it's day after day after day and some days you just don't make that four miles which means you have to do eight or ten on another day. I am still just about on target. At one point it looked as if I would finish the effort in the first week of December. But now it looks as if it will take me the entire year and it will be going right to the wire.
I have to finish it though as so many people have already contributed to my chosen charity - the East Anglian Air Ambulance. My target was £500 for the year. I'm already over £1,000 (if you include gift aid) and that could raise as high as £1,500. I am very grateful. There have only been three days when I haven't undertaken a walk of some kind. The first was back in February when we had that dreadful storm which brought wind and torrential rain. I could have gone out for a short walk in the evening when things had calmed down but, by that time, just couldn't be bothered. Then there were a couple of days in the summer when the temperature soared to over 40 degrees and it would have been silly to have gone out.
Hopefully I will be able to walk every day between now and the end of the year. It's just my way of thanking everyone for their generous donations.
As for Edgley. Well he's now looking at a map of the world and thinking about swimming round various countries. North Korea could be interesting. Unlike him I will not be taking out any map to plot another marathon walk. Those days are over (for now).
I cringe when I hear the word cellulitis. It's a dangerous condition and something I put in the same group as Sepsis. In the summer when we were on the Isles of Scilly my leg swelled up and I contracted a fever. At first I thought it was COVID but a test was negative. Back on the mainland we went to a chemist and they mentioned lots of nasty things like cellulitis, sepsis and thrombosis. It turned out to probably have been a horsefly bite which was certainly a relief as my leg went back to normal after taking some tablets.
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There was an item on the news yesterday about petrol and fuel prices plummeting, but supermarkets not passing the drop onto customers but pocketing the money to boost their own profits. Now why doesn't that surprise me?
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On the weather forecast yesterday Carol Kirkwood told us it would be chilly in the Trossachs. You can say that again. My Trossachs always feel a touch cool.
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Finally today the answer to my catchphrase quiz.
1/ I'm In Charge - Bruce Forsyth
2/ Can You Hear Me Mother? - Sandy Powell
3/ You Lucky People - Tommy Trinder
4/ I Don't Believe It - Vistor Meldrew (Richard Wilson)
5/ How You Doin' - Joey from Friends (Matt Le Blanc)
6/ You Are Awful But I Like You - Dick Emery
7/ I'm Free - John Inman in Are You Being Served
8/ Cheap as Chips - David Dickinson
9/ Am I Bovvered - Lauren Cooper (Catherine Tate)
10/ Computer Says No - Carol Beer (David Walliams).