I have James Callaghan to thank for teaching me everything I needed to know about politicians. He was Foreign Secretary at the time of our encounter and I was the BBC’s man in America. I was a very young man. I had to interview Callaghan for TV news at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and he made it clear that it was not his idea. He was very irritable as we waited to be made up; I confess to having been a bit scared of him.
So I tried to make light conversation. I mentioned that I’d been born in his Cardiff constituency and my parents still lived there.
The transformation was miraculous. His scowl became a beaming smile. He leaned across and grasped my knee.
‘My dear boy!’ he gushed (no other
