Children and Politics Do Mix  

There is one, simple, cardinal rule in live TV: never, ever, do live shows with either children or animals.  Both are completely unpredictable and you just know that something will go wrong.  The victim, of course, is the presenter – the grown-up – who is made to look foolish, whether it’s by the dog mounting their leg or the child refusing to co-operate. But to my mind children are far more dangerous for the live show – because they have a knack of speaking out, pointing out the obvious but embarrassing, putting the question that everyone wants to know but no one has the balls to ask. And for live shows, you should read politics too.  Too many politicians depend on the carefully pre-planned visit: the staged questions, the well-timed smile, the speech that offends no one but leaves everyone none the wiser as to their intent.  Such is our crowd...