Evan Davis sparked accusations of censorship on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday when he revealed he was "not allowed" to ask David Cameron about the referendum on the Alternative Vote (you may have heard about it – Cameron isn't keen). Davis said it was "above my pay grade" to ask his bosses why, prompting a minor Twitter storm with listeners urging him to ask anyway and face the consequences during the programme's main 8.10am interview. It turned out the truth was slightly more prosaic as the Today man indulged in a rapid reverse ferret. "The AV restriction concerns the need to run balanced numbers of interviews with proponents of each side of the argument I think," he explained. "We did not ask Clegg about AV last week, and I'm anticipating that we will get both him and the PM on later on that topic." Still Twitter wasn't satisfied. "To be clear, for those getting worked up. It is a BBC decision, not a prime ministerial one, to restrict the scope of the interview." About this time Davis began to give a passable impression of a chap trying to put out a chip-pan fire with a handkerchief. "I shouldn't have mentioned it – no great conspiracy. No deal." Yeah right. Maybe the BBC could have made things a whole lot simpler and asked them both about it – save the bother of getting them back in next week.
