Kirsty Wark in hot water

The gathering storm: anger over Jack and Kirsty's island idyll

BRIAN BRADY
WESTMINSTER EDITOR


‘She is not breaking any rule, but we all know this looks pretty grim’

IT IS the picture that the Scottish Labour elite, and the BBC as well, would rather the nation did not see. The first families of Scottish politics and broadcasting are shown strolling through the Majorcan countryside on Hogmanay.

The First Minister, and his wife Bridget, accepted the invitation of TV journalist Kirsty Wark and her husband Alan Clements to spend new year at their holiday home on the Spanish island.

But by doing so, McConnell opted to risk the criticism of political opponents and some nonplussed colleagues about the cosy nature of the relationship between senior politicians in Scotland and the media.

Now criticism is focusing on Wark. She makes her living from interrogating politicians on the BBC’s flagship Newsnight current affairs programme, and some of her colleagues say her friendship with the McConnells clashes with her impartial role as a BBC news anchor.

The First Minister will have been well aware that he was flirting with controversy in spending such quality time with Wark and Clements at their villa close to the Mediterranean island’s north coast.

Wark Clements, the couple’s Glasgow-based film and TV production company, won the lucrative deal to make The Gathering Place, a documentary on the creation of the £431m Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.

The chance to wander in the warmth, through woodland, orange groves and villages dotted with cosy cafes and restaurants made it a risk the First Minister calculated was worth taking.

But for Wark and her employers, the graphic demonstration of her closeness to Scotland’s New Labour elite may turn out to be a holiday too far.

While the First Minister last night faced more criticism of his dalliance with the media, some of Wark’s own colleagues were starting to question the wisdom of allowing her professional life to intrude so visibly on her private activities.

The spectacle of Sir Cliff Richard entertaining the Blairs at his residence in Barbados raised many eyebrows last summer - but the day job of the ‘Peter Pan of pop’ does not involve grilling the Prime Minister in public on the performance of his government.

"Maybe she is not breaking any rule, but we all know this looks pretty grim," one disgruntled BBC Scotland insider said. "It’s not really on. How on earth is she supposed to interview anyone in politics and keep her credibility?

"Anyone can just fire back at her: ‘Well, we know where you stand, given the holiday chums you have.’ Can you imagine what would happen if John Humphreys had Tony Blair go off on holiday with him? There would be hell to pay."

A source at the BBC in London said: "It is something a serious BBC news programme would normally be interested in covering, as a story". Another described Wark’s trip as "misguided".

It is not the first time Wark’s connections with the Labour establishment have raised eyebrows, not simply because McConnell was in fact invited to stay at the £150,000 villa during the summer as well.

She was also a close friend of McConnell’s predecessor, the late Donald Dewar - a relationship which prompted concerns when he appointed her one of the judges to select the architect for the Scottish Parliament. During her appearance at the Fraser Inquiry into the parliament fiasco, it emerged Wark had been a bridesmaid at the wedding of inquiry QC John Campbell, who was in charge of questioning her.

The Gathering Place had an original budget of £360,000, which has reportedly mushroomed to more than £800,000. Wark Clements also holds a £3m contract, won three years ago, to make programmes for the BBC.

In addition, Wark, 49, commands a £250,000 salary from the BBC, mainly through her work as a front-line presenter of Newsnight, along with a select band of figures including Jeremy Paxman.

McConnell endured a torrid round of criticism when it emerged that he would be fleeing Scotland for warmer climes during the most important holiday of the year.

Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP at Holyrood, said: "I think people would probably think Scotland’s First Minister should have been doing his bit by celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland.

McConnell’s reluctance to have his movements publicised was again obvious on New Year’s Eve, when he attempted to dodge a photographer - even hiding behind Wark at one point to avoid being snapped. The seven-strong party, including the McConnells, Wark, Clements and their children, set off for an afternoon ramble along the secluded lane which leads up into the hills behind the villa. Later on, they returned to Alaro for a private celebration.

The house, bought for £150,000 four years ago, has four bedrooms spread across three storeys, backing on to a narrow road in the north of the island.

It is thought to have at least doubled in value in four years. As well as its own outdoor heated swimming-pool, the traditional granite property boasts satellite television, a heavy electronic garage door and a secluded paved garden, surrounded by a high wall.

Wark and Clements are believed to visit their holiday home several times a year with their two children and a select group of friends. The area in which their villa is located is popular with wealthy Britons, such as nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow, anxious to escape the rigours of a British winter.

BBC chiefs have been under pressure to maintain the independence of their reporting staff in the aftermath of the Hutton report, which raised concerns about their relationships with contacts. But a number of BBC employees insist there have always been strict ‘Chinese walls’ designed to preserve the BBC’s impartiality.

BBC political correspondent Elizabeth Quigley was switched to reporting on general news after it emerged that she was in a relationship with the then SNP leader John Swinney. The couple later married.

Wark has dismissed concerns about the impact her friendship with McConnell has on her professional integrity, maintaining: "Most people would agree that who we go on holiday with is an entirely private matter."

But that view is not shared across the BBC. Another BBC Scotland insider drew comparisons between the Wark-McConnell affair and the fact other BBC employees with close links to people in politics had had to make sideways moves.

She said: "So Liz Quigley went out with John Swinney and she had to quit covering politics. And [BBC Scotland political correspondent] Kirsten Campbell went out with [Liberal Democrat minister] Tavish Scott, but Kirsty can have Jack round for the new year and it’s supposed to be OK. It just isn’t."

Sorry, have to say it - but my quick glance at this threads' title made me wonder how the hell the swear filter didn't pick it up - but then I realised it did actually say Wark.

Kirsty Wark simply cannot remain a Newsnight presenter or have any role related to political reporting after this catastrophe. Her impartiality is shattered. Even becoming an arts correspondent or presenter of Newsnight Review would be questionable, because connections do exist between politics and the arts.
This is very unfortunate, because Wark is a very eloquent presenter and an excellent interviewer - certainly one of the best on British television. Yet, this incident cannot be forgotten.

I agree with cat. Just because they may be friends, that doesn't mean opinions and impartiality will be distorted. As cat says, due to the nature of the job, it is inevitable that journalists will make friends with certain politicians.

Oh, come off it.

Are you really saying that someone as politically aware as Kirsty Wark is forbidden from making friends with people who are politicians?

Adam Boulton has been (or at least was) dating someone from the Labour Party... in my eyes, his journalism has remained as solid as ever.

I'd argue that Andrew Marr coming from a background of staunch left-wing politics as editor of the Independent, or Nick Robinson being a member of Young Conservatives were more questionable than Kirsty Wark being friends with the First Minister of Scotland.

Right, so Adam Boulton should resign his position as political editor of Sky because he dated someone from the Labour Party, and throughout and since (not sure if he is still with her) he has remained entirely impartial and his quality as a journalist has not altered.

I think that does rather go some way towards disproving your point.

I agree that it would put her into an awkward situation if she were to be interviewing the man directly, but frankly that doesn't happen very often.

And what do you mean about Andrew Marr not choosing his background? He wasn't born into the editorship of the Independent, it was a decision he made. Everyone knows his politics, because he made them so clear at the paper, but that hasn't stopped him being an excellent (if patronising) political editor.

Do you really think that us journalists shouldn't be friends with the people we're talking about? It'd be a pretty quiet world to be honest - many journalists, especially political journos, live in a world of Westminster, mixing with politicians day in, day out.

That Adam Bolton goes out (and I think still does, cat) with a politico, and Andrew Marr has had strong opinions in the past, doesn't make them unable to be impartial - as is proved in both cases day in, day out.

A professional knows when it's time for work and time for socialisting, a friendship works if both parties accept and understand each other, I can't really see a problem.