Channel 4 between a Rock and a hard place

Gibraltar’s honour has been besmirched. But, on this occasion it is our own Channel 4, not its Spanish neighbours, who are the offenders.

During its series, On Tour with the Queen, the broadcaster accused Peter Caruana, the Chief Minister, of “media censorship”. Mr Caruana had refused to discuss the Queen’s visit in 1954 if the producers also interviewed a Spanish journalist. The rapturous reception given to the Queen led to General Franco renewing Spain’s sovereignty claim.

“The accusation of censorship was mendacious and I intend to make a formal complaint to Ofcom,” Caruana told us at the territory’s Labour conference reception. “They wanted to politicise the programme. It wasn’t what I had agreed to.”

Perhaps Channel 4 should make peace by offering Caruana, who won £500,000 in a jackpot win in the Gibraltar lottery, his own Derren Brown-style prediction show.

“My secretary bought the ticket and I’ve shared the winnings with my staff. My wife wanted to go on an exotic holiday but I’ve put the money into the London stock market.”

Mrs Caruana’s plan might have produced the better return.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Affairs Select Committee, was sailing close to the wind at the Diversity party in Brighton where he took to the floor with a troupe of belly dancers. “Thank God they’ve finished, Harriet’s about to arrive,” he added later. “She’ll probably think they’re lap dancers and shut them down.”

After his predecessor Andy Burnham’s endorsement of the Stone Roses’ debut album, what is the Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw’s favourite ever? “It has to be Kaya by Bob Marley,” he said. “That one always gets me dancing around the kitchen.” Enough detail we think.

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