New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Spotlight on Policy
  2. Elections
7 November 2019updated 25 Jul 2021 6:57am

LISTEN: Jane Aitchison has given what is probably the worst interview of all time

"People do celebrate deaths sometimes... for instance, people celebrated the death of Hitler."

By Election Mole

Pity poor Jane Aitchison. Not only does she have the ignominy of contesting a seat named after a charity bear (type Pudsey into Google if you don’t believe me). But the Labour parliamentary candidate also found herself having to defend someone else’s four-year old tweets on BBC 5 Live. You have to ask yourself as a politician  why be interviewed by Emma Barnett?

Zarah Sultana, Labour PPC for the much more respectably named Coventry South, once wrote that she would “celebrate” the deaths of Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu. Barnett asked Aitchison what her opinions were on the matter? Should Sultana be allowed to stand for the Labour party?

What followed was painful. Barnett reckons there was a pause of 12.5 seconds. I make it 12.7. Across the country listeners started twiddling knobs. Had the interview ended? Had the radio broken? Had Aitchison broken? All we heard was the scraping of plates. Maybe Barnett had eaten her interviewee alive. Too far Emma, too far.

I’m good at digging holes. I’m a mole. But I have to take my hat off to Aitchison. Because rather than use her 12.7 seconds to come up with a line, she managed to dig herself not a hole, but a veritable mine.

“People do celebrate deaths sometimes,” said the parliamentary candidate for Pudsey. Where was she going? Barnett prodded. “For instance, people celebrated the death of Hitler.”

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

There are bad interviews. There are really bad interviews. And then there are interviews where you compare Tony Blair to Hitler. An all-time car crash.

Content from our partners
Can green energy solutions deliver for nature and people?
"Why wouldn't you?" Joining the charge towards net zero
The road to clean power 2030