Ross stands by 'obscene' Cameron interview

The television presenter Jonathan Ross has said asking the Conservative leader David Cameron whether he had ever fantasised about Baroness Thatcher was valid, despite complaints to the BBC.

Lord Tebbit, the former Tory minister, said the interview was "obscene" and 21 people complained to the BBC about it. During Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the presenter had asked Mr Cameron: "Did you or did you not have a wank thinking 'Margaret Thatcher'."

Ross told BBC Radio Five Live: "I stand by it. It was a perfectly valid question. He [Lord Tebbit] said 21 people complained out of the four million who watched, and viewers had been warned the show contained 'language'.

"We don't set out to upset people. I wouldn't want to do that, even though upsetting Norman Tebbit has given me some small sense of satisfaction because he's spent 12 years upsetting me."

The BBC has said it stands by the interview, screened after the 9pm watershed.