Nick Robinson used a Today Programme interview this morning to sneer at GB News’ viewing figures, entirely unprovoked. During a chat with Big Jet TV –who shot to fame yesterday livestreaming planes arrived at Heathrow mid-Eunice – he compared the channel’s one-day peak with GB News’ figures:

“Robinson: And you got 200,000 viewers at one point?

Jerry Dyer: 238,000 live viewers at one point

Robinson: They dream of that at GB News, I’ll tell you that”

Perhaps most awkwardly this sneering jibe got no reaction from the interviewee. It’s not just Guido who thinks this inappropriate; the Mirror’s Rachel Wearmouth described it as “Really unattractive attitude. Arrogant, even.”

It’s one thing for Robinson et al to leech off the licence fee taxpayers for their jobs, it’s another to sneer at independent rivals putting in hard work and taking risks to plug a gap in the broadcasting market – work that’s paying off as their latest Sky News-beating viewership proves. Time will tell whether Robinson reflects on the tone of this high-handed snobbery…