“I can be exceedingly aggressive when I want to be,” he says, claiming that encounters with Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling on his Sunday morning BBC1 programme, The Andrew Marr Show, “were as aggressive as any interview you will have seen for a long time”.

Yes we all remember that aggression when a nervous Gordon Brown gave him an exclusive interview immediately post Gordon’s attempted coup d’ etat and was a crucial opportunity to get to the truth. Gordon’s fingerprints were all over it, he was clearly lying about his knowledge of, and attitude to it. He had even met Tom Watson on the eve of the putsch. It was clear for all to see and Gordon was in difficulties. Nick Robinson, Paxman or Andrew Neil could have crucified Brown, Frost would have ambushed him silkily. Even Ant and Dec would probably have scored a goal. What did Marr do? This pathetic interview was the political equivalent of fellatio. Marr had an open goal yet Gordon left smiling and relieved.

It was hardly a fearsome interrogation that revealed Gordon would not be having an election., more a summons for an official communique delivered by Marr (see picture above). The eve of premiership biopic in Kirkcaldy was more soft-focus than hard questions was hardly aggressive. Marr may now regret being a patsy, but that is what he was, so spare us the false claims to aggression Andy. The reason he is Brown’s preferred interlocutor is not because Brown is courageous…