UK Government Minister Savaged by BBC Interviewer

June 26, 2012 from BBC Newsnight

When Chloe Smith, a junior UK Treasury minister, appeared on the BBC's Newsnight show to defend a change in the government's tax policy, she probably didn't expect an easy ride. She was there after the government announced plans to scrap an increase in petrol duty it had only announced in March, the latest in a string of embarrassing budget reversals for the ruling coalition. However, even she was likely surprised by the harshness of some of the questions from notoriously tough interviewer Jeremy Paxman, including, "Is it hard for you to defend a policy you don't agree with?", "Is this some sort of joke?", and "Do you ever think you are incompetent?"

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Chloe Smith

Chloe Rebecca Smith is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Norwich North. She was elected to the seat in a by-election on 23 July 2009 following the resignation of Labour MP Ian Gibson after the MPs' expenses scandal. Explore this topic

Jeremy Paxman

Jeremy Dickson Paxman is an English journalist, author and broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC since 1977, and is known for his forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme... Explore this topic

UK Government

Her Majesty's Government, commonly referred to as HM Government, the British Government or the UK Government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Minis... Explore this topic

Newsnight

Newsnight is a daily BBC Television current affairs programme which specialises in analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades. Several of the programme's editors over the years have gone on ... Explore this topic

HM Treasury

Her Majesty's Treasury, or informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Treasury maintains the Combined Online Information System containing... Explore this topic

UK budget

The United Kingdom budget is a typically annual budget set by HM Treasury outlining the revenues to be gathered by HM Revenue and Customs and the expenditures of the public sector, in compliance with government policy. Budgets are usually set once every year and are announced ... Explore this topic

Flip-flop (politics)

A "flip-flop", U-turn, or backflip is a sudden real or apparent change of policy or opinion by a public official, sometimes while trying to claim that both positions are consistent with each other. Often it will occur during the period prior to or following an election in orde... Explore this topic

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the fifth most senior ministerial post in the UK Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the paymaster-general and the financial secretary. It is not a cabinet office. The office was origin... Explore this topic

George Osborne

George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, roles to which he was appointed in May 2010. He has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001. Osborne ... Explore this topic

Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee. Although interviews are a standard part of journalism and media reporting, the focus of this piece is on how interviews ca... Explore this topic

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Chloe Smith

Jeremy Paxman

UK Government

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