Not tapped up

It was Clementi who thought that Clementi would make a good chair of the BBC.

Sir David Clementi told the Culture Select Committee that he decided to apply for the job created by his report only two weeks before the November closing date; it was his idea; he called the Permanent Secretary at the DCMS, Sue Owen "and she neither encouraged or discouraged me".

In a rather hunched, arms-folded-close-to-stomach performance, lanky, affable David also turned out to be rather literal, taking opening questions without much obvious humour. He told the MPs he would be looking for a minimum of one non-exec with a strong editorial/journalistic background. He endorsed Director of News James Harding's continued commitment to "reality checks", saying accuracy was at least equally as important as impartiality; the BBC ought to be a place of record, where people "can go to distinguish the difference between fact and fiction."

Sir David revealed he spends Friday night with Graham Norton on BBC1.