Samantha Who?

Maybe it's because everyone is shutting down for Christmas, but conversation on Marr this morning was particularly dire. Extract...

AM: It has been an incredibly dynastic time in American politics, with the Bushes, the Clintons and the Kennedys.

Samantha Bond: Yes.

(Silence. Nervous laughter.)

AM: Let's talk about Strictly Come Dancing.

Who is Samantha Bond again? She obviously didn't think enough people knew as she decided to use her first 'pick of the papers' choice to highlight a story about a film she is in.

Her other choice was an article on Heathrow's third runway.

She said it was because of the environment, but let her nimbyism slip when she claimed it would be awful for people, like her, who lived in West London.

I was amused, however, by Neil Kinnock slating a Government plan to charge interest on state loans.

"I don't know where it came from," said the former Labour leader of James Purnell's plan, "but I know where it's going."