Andrew Marr is hopelessly out of his depth. Peter Mandelson has just given him the absolute run around on the BBC. If you want to know why there is a crisis of faith in our institutions, look to the abject failure of journalists like Andrew Marr. That is where the rot begins. Obsequious, fawning, hopelessly deferential, he seems to have absolutely no conception of the proper role and function of a political journalist.

What we’ve just watched was a painful illustration of just how far political journalism has fallen on the BBC. This is the BBC’s flagship political programme and it is fronted by a chat show host. Marr should drop the absurd pretense that he is a political journalist and concentrate on the fluff, because nobody interested in serious political analysis will look to him after that performance.