Pandora: I'm just too busy for all this, declares Peston

While Nick Robinson enjoyed a successful stint as guest host on Newsnight this week, his high-profile colleague and rival Robert Peston – the BBC Business Editor who is said to covet Robinson's gig as the corporation's political supremo – announces that he is far too busy for similar undertakings.

Peston was in a dismissive mood when asked if he might have ambitions to follow Robinson's example and stand in for Jeremy Paxman on the flagship current affairs show.

"I haven't given a moment's thought to guest presenting," he proclaimed yesterday. "Probably because I am snowed under making a Radio 4 series of four half-hour programmes that fill the Start The Week slot from mid-August on the causes and consequences of the financial and economic mess we're in. The working title is Peston And The Money Men."

And don't think it stops there. The good-humoured (?) Pesto quickly adds: "And a BBC News eight-part series of half-hour business interviews and a film for Newsnight to mark the anniversary of Lehman Brothers collapse."

So the message for BBC execs is clear: you can keep your prestigious guest presenting slots for those with nothing better to do with their time! When asked yesterday about whether he might fill Robinson's shoes and become BBC political editor, Peston was unusually quiet.

Wiping McBride's slate clean

Damian McBride's feet barely touched the ground when he was memorably sent packing from No 10 in the wake of the Smeargate scandal. So, curious to see that some in the Cabinet now seem to be attempting a gentler recollection of events, three months after the portly henchman was forced to fall on his dagger. Following a Tory question about when Alistair Darling last saw the PM's former aide, a response states that the Chancellor has not met him since McBride "retired" as a special adviser. Not quite how we remember it.

Fry's BBC trust training

It seems that even Stephen Fry is occasionally thrown by the BBC's anxiety to tick the boxes.

The ever-multi-tasking Fry, part of the corporation's furniture for many a year, has on his recent assignments travelled across America and fronted a show about bipolar disorder, from which he suffers.

He brings us up to date with the latest demands placed on him and his small screen contemporaries. "Blimey," remarks the newly svelte star. "Even to be a presenter on a BBC documentary, you now have to complete an online ethical training module called 'safeguarding trust'."

'What's better? Dukes or A-Team?'

Clearly buoyed by the considerable publicity generated by David Cameron's expletives on his breakfast show this week, the Absolute Radio DJ Christian O'Connell has his sights fixed on Gordon Brown. In order to avoid any charges of political bias, the DJ will again ask Downing Street for an audience with the PM. O'Connell tells me: "We're not Paxman, but we ask all the important questions, like 'What was better? The A-Team or The Dukes of Hazzard?'"

How could Gordon refuse?

Amber set for a sparkling future

She may be following parental footsteps on the catwalk, but Amber Le Bon assures us it is not her true vocation. She has already been snapped up by the agency Models One, which has also employed her mother Yasmin Le Bon for these past 18 years. Yet Amber insists her main passion lies elsewhere: "I am much more visually creative," she declared at Esquire's Singular Suit bash. "I'm obsessed with Victorian and Indian-style jewellery. A jewellery line would be very exciting, if anyone will have me design them?"

pandora@independent.co.uk

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
From the blogs

Justice for sale but who pays for the cost?

Justice, the bedrock of our society is for sale under the Government’s latest plan to sell legal aid...

Dish of the Day: How to… make flower power cocktails

Take inspiration from the green-fingered brigade who have been showing off their creativity at the R...

The Retail Ready People project means the future of the high street is in your hands

There are more empty shops on our high streets than ever before, says another report into the state ...

A changing of the guards in English football: From Sir Alex Ferguson to Jose Mourinho

The guard has changed at Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years. Meanwhile, down the road, the ...

       

Day In a Page

James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats
Giro d'Italia: The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

The Stelvio Pass - cycling's killer climb

As the Giro d'Italia tackles the brutal climb, Simon Usborne takes on the snow and switchbacks – and soon realises what the fuss is about
National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again