The Iron Lady’s legacy is proving more divisive than even she could have anticipated. First there was last week’s fight to top the pop charts between Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead and rival anthem I’m in Love with Margaret Thatcher by punk band the Notsensibles. Now it seems that the controversy over ITV’s coverage of Lady T’s funeral has become the next battleground.
While the BBC has chosen veteran reporter David Dimbleby to present a three-hour special, ITV has decided to leave proceedings in the hands of their regular This Morning presenters — Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
Some doubt whether the breakfast TV presenters have the gravitas that such an occasion requires — especially considering the embarrassments that the show has had to endure. Schofield and ITV were forced to pay £125,000 in damages to Lord McAlpine after including his name on a list of alleged paedophiles and then the show accidentally broadcast the unauthorised bikini photos of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.
A Twitter campaign is calling for London Tonight stalwart Alastair Stewart to do the job. But when asked by supporters, the seasoned election anchor gracefully demurred, tweeting: “Alas, decisions above my ‘pay-grade’. I hope to do lunch and evening news.”
In response to further pleas, Stewart replied he “blushes but doesn’t hold breath...” Is it too late to draft him in?
