I had Lembit Opik down as many things - naive, fluffy, foolish. Yesterday, I'd have agreed he probably deserved to lose his seat after his Cheeky antics, but I'd have stopped short of wishing malice on the man.
But joining Press TV is more than naive, fluffy or foolish. It proves how desperate seatless politicians can get. He has joined George Galloway, Lauren Booth and Yvonne Ridley at the violently anti- Zionist mouthpiece of the Iranian regime - a network accused almost daily of antisemitism.
When questioned by the Daily Telegraph, Opik replied:
“It is necessary for me to work. I don’t see that Press TV is 'controversial’: that is to pass judgment and it is not for one media organisation to pass judgment on another.”
Not controversial Lembit? Maybe not quite as controversial as when you left that nice weathergirl Sian Lloyd for an X Factor reject, but a channel which gives a platform to Holocaust deniers like Nicholas Kollerstrom, and runs stories on Israelis abducting Algerian children for their organs is quite high on the controversial scale. I'm pretty sure it qualifies me to "pass judgement".
On his last stint on Have I Got News For You Opik said he was pursuing a career as a stand-up comedian. For his sake, I hope this latest career move is one big joke.
UPDATE
Apparently Lembit's first show will be about bias in the media. You couldn't make it up.
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