Newsnight

It appears there was a nasty atmosphere down on Whitehall yesterday, where an anti-lockdown demonstration took place. Footage has emerged today of the BBC Newsnight presenter Nick Watt being pursued by an unpleasant mob at the event, with a group screaming at the journalist and calling him a ‘traitor’. Eventually, Watt was forced to run away from the group and finally found refuge behind a line of police. Mr S can only hope that Watt is well after the disgusting incident... Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1OK1K4o_p0 Update: Earlier footage of the incident appears to show that the police did nothing to protect Watt from being harassed. Instead, officers stood by as the presenter was chased on the doorstep of Parliament: https://www.youtube.

Charles Walker, the former chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, took to the airwaves last night in an attempt justify Boris Johnson's growing list of TV no shows. The interview followed a Channel 4 leaders' debate on climate change in which the public service broadcaster decided to replace Boris Johnson with a melting block of ice. In return, the Tories threatened to put Channel 4's current broadcasting licence on ice. Speculation abounds that Boris Johnson is attempting to wriggle out of an interview with Andrew Neil following Jeremy Corbyn's disastrous appearance earlier this week. That speculation was only made worse when the BBC press office confirmed that they had yet to pin the PM down.

For those of you who were not watching, if you have the time, take a look at the interview I did on Newsnight with Emily Maitlis about my book. And tell me if you think that it was an even-handed, unbiased, rational discussion. The complaints are piling up at the BBC: here’s one from a remainer: Dear sir or madam, I am writing in relation to Emily Maitlis's interview with Rod Liddle on Newsnight yesterday. I have the highest regard for the BBC: over many years, I have relied on the organisation to provide impartial reporting and comment on a wide range of issues. Moreover, I am well aware of the challenges the organisation faces in providing such reporting and comment, particularly in recent years.

In recent years, George Osborne has attempted to rebrand himself. Once known as the austere chancellor, the Evening Standard editor is keen to be depicted these days as a liberal progressive – who has more in common with Emmanuel Macron than Boris Johnson. The problem is that many of those who regard themselves as progressive don't feel the same way. As was displayed on Newsnight when Grauniad hack Polly Toynbee launched a broadside on the former chancellor: 'This man has done such harm and damage to the country. He has been the most right wing chancellor we have ever had. Nor do I think your ideas are in the centre. The idea that he's a centrist. I mean you can talk about gay marriage – you'd never have done gay marriage if Labour hadn't done civil partnerships.

After Tony Blair's call for a second referendum (and maybe even a third if that one didn't work out) fell flat on Thursday, the campaign to stop Brexit looks on shaky ground. However, Newsnight have put forward an argument that could be just the thing to put life back in the campaign. In a film for the BBC current affairs programme, David Aaronovitch – who once said 'if every one of the PM’s demands had been turned down I would still have been in favour of remaining in the European Union' – appears to find a glimmer of hope: Brexit voters are dying at a faster rate than Remain voters!

After Theresa May's leader's speech fell victim to pranks, health issues and technical glitches, the Prime Minister has received a rough ride in the media. Last night's episode of Newsnight was no exception – the programme promised to 'make sense' of the 'hitches' in May's speech: https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/915679701137575936 Alas Newsnight producers soon discovered that they weren't immune to technical glitches themselves. There were several hitches in the cutaway packages – with Theresa May even labelled as 'Jeremy Corbyn' at one point: Happily, viewers were on hand to remind producers of the irony: https://twitter.com/Tom_Hamer7/status/915695969689317376 https://twitter.com/huwthomas_Wales/status/915700589866180608 https://twitter.

Well, this is going well. As chaos reigns in Venezuela with at least 100 protesters dead in recent months and opposition leaders under arrest, Jeremy Corbyn has come under pressure to speak out against the socialist regime he previously claimed showed a 'better way of doing things'. While the Labour appears to have taken a vow of silence, his shadow cabinet are at least proving more forthcoming. This evening top Corbyn ally Chris Williamson appearing on Newsnight, alongside former Labour MP Tom Harris, to discuss recent events. However, rather than just condemn Maduro's regime, the shadow minister went on the offensive about America. Asked about the political turmoil in Venezuela, Williamson was quick to blame the USA before going on to blame the pesky media: http://www.