Jeremy Paxman has called Newsnight a programme “made by 13-year-olds” in a parting shot after 25 years at the helm.
Paxman, who made his last appearance on the BBC’s flagship current affairs show earlier this month, dismissed its makers as “idealists” on a “fool’s errand”.
Speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival about his book on the First World War he said: “Look, Newsnight is made by 13-year-olds. It’s perfectly normal when you’re young that you want to change the world.
"The older you get, the more you realise what a fool’s errand much of that is and that the thing to do is to manage the best you can to the advantage of as many people as possible.”
Paxman admitted that he was a “one nation Tory” — as London Mayor Boris Johnson suggested in a feature in his final show — but refused to say whether he was the last Conservative at the BBC.
