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Peter Oborne 'Idiot' Comments Prompt EU Spokesman To Storm Off Newsnight

Paxman Amadeu Altafajtardio Newsnight Oborne

The Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 29/09/11 03:40 BST Updated: 29/09/11 15:10 BST

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An EU Commission spokesman has stormed out of a BBC Newsnight panel discussion on the Eurozone, after the Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne repeatedly referred to him as an idiot.

(Scroll down for video...)

Amadeu Altafaj-Tardio was trying to defend the EU's attempts to resolve the Greek debt crisis, which is threatening to further destabilise the Eurozone. Peter Oborne - never one to hold back - responded to Altafaj-Tardio's claim that EU leaders were handling the crisis properly by calling the spokesman "that idiot in Brussels".

After being branded an idiot for a third time, Altafaj-Tardio unclipped his microphone and left. Jeremy Paxman then castigated Oborne for being rude, arguing that because the spokesman had walked out of the Brussels studio, he couldn't be challenged further. Oborne also used the discussion to plug his book, which attacks those who support the Eurozone project.

The discussion led to a mixed response on the Newsnight Web Team blog and, of course, there was plenty of reaction to the Newsnight Twitter account

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An EU Commission spokesman has stormed out of a BBC Newsnight panel discussion on the Eurozone, after the Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne repeatedly referred to him as an idiot. (Scroll down...
An EU Commission spokesman has stormed out of a BBC Newsnight panel discussion on the Eurozone, after the Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne repeatedly referred to him as an idiot. (Scroll down...
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billstrahan
23 Fans
05:39 PM on 11/10/2011
Oborne is of course on the money (sorry!) and very rightly indignant about the damage the euro is doing. But it would have been better to exercise a little decorum (although I'd have struggled myself) and demolish 'the idiot's' argument than his person.
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John Durrant
61 Fans
 
03:05 PM on 11/03/2011
I like Oborne, but in certain situations it's really advisable to play the ball, rather than the man...
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Fiale
22 Fans
 
10:25 PM on 10/01/2011
Sticks and stones blah blah blah

Any good coherent argument would make jibes like "idiot" irrelevant, sadly there are none in relation to the Euro currently.

So as they say, if the cap fits.
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cincypix
262 Fans
08:49 PM on 10/01/2011
Talking at people in the third person and calling him an idiot is one thing.

Applying a rigourous line of questioning (as Katie Couric did to Sarah Palin) to show the person is in fact a dunce is beyond Oborne's skill set.

If I want a second rate jouno, i'll watch Couric. If I want to watch a Tory, I'll put on some Top Gear & watch Jeremy Clarkson. At least he is aware of his own pomposity...
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Dunnemarogra
105 Fans
 
01:48 AM on 10/01/2011
Get the EU out of our Countries. Before the People get totally sick of this and Force them out.
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bababengali
6 Fans
05:45 PM on 09/30/2011
Irrespective what Oborne was saying is completely true!
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Blockem1
When will our politicians start putting policies
195 Fans
 
05:38 PM on 09/30/2011
http://www.scoop.it/t/euro-crisis But he is right , its time we called them what they are , we have to stop listening to these idiots , they have absolutely no creditability nor do they have any idea what to do , its time to get angry and remove from the recovery process the very idiots that got us in to this mess. We have to stop bailing out the banks and ensure the money goes where it will stimulate growth not stupidly keep lending to countries that are unable to pay back existing loans never mind new ones, In every EU country the people that are strangling any hope of economic recovery are the Bankers and the Politicians selfs and we will be the idiots if we dont do anything about it !.
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TruelyFedUp
Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.
768 Fans
01:10 PM on 10/01/2011
We keep on putting diamonds on corpses!
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edfou5
1171 Fans
11:15 PM on 09/29/2011
From a friend in the States...

I'd say any professional desirous of even the slightest credibility choosing to wear white socks with a suit on national television is clearly begging to be labelled an idiot himself, and he eloquently if unknowingly proves the old adage that "it takes one to know one."

Childish, boorish behavior. Makes me miss Vivian Stanshall all the more... though it's a poor analogy as Mr. Stanshall was a bit of a genius and much beloved...

Mr. Oborne, Mr. Stanshall could intellectually kick your poodle down the High Street........ and make people smile in the process.

And what an encounter to drool over... Jeremy Paxman interviewing Vivian Stanshall... or vice versa...
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wildsnorlax
2 Fans
10:11 PM on 09/29/2011
The idiot is sitting there in the studio.
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An Independent Woman
Honni soit que mal y pense
644 Fans
09:16 PM on 09/29/2011
The man is called an idiot by the journalist (god, how pompous does that sound? In the case "hack" might be more appropriate.) I think he proved how smart he was by getting up and leaving. I believe is rigorous and vigorous questioning of public servants, but rudeness? Never. Not even in response to rudeness. It just makes the questioner look silly and childish. "Journalist".. .sigh
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Ian Matthews
41 Fans
 
08:00 PM on 09/29/2011
I suspect the Brussels wonk wasn't used to not having the usual deferential manner that is seen in the corridors of the European Commission. Oborne was hilarious, deliberately provocative and made the excellent point that if the FT editor's campaign had been followed and the UK had joined the Euro we would be in a much worse position than we are, and with virtually no control over our own economy.
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Sickofpoliticians2
241 Fans
08:08 PM on 10/07/2011
Europe- created to give upper middle class twits on the continent something to do while milking the extended system of as much as possible in the process, I think if a referendum was Europe-wide we'd find an overall majority to disband this failed experiment, it works only for the politicians and civil servants directly employed and overpaid by Brussels via our taxes.
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Tim Haselden
An Enemy of Rupert Murdoch, since 1984.
291 Fans
 
07:39 PM on 09/29/2011
I always had Oborne down as a failed or wannabe tory MP. Seems he's got the bullying attitude necessary & the platinum lined bank account. Might we see a career change soon?
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Tony Struyf
1 Fans
03:11 PM on 09/29/2011
Oborne is no worse and no better than Nigel Farage and a good illustration of what Britain has become. I used to travel and visit Britain a lot, south to north and east to west, but I've decided never to set foot again on British rotten soil.
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Matthew Harrold
Huzzah!
737 Fans
03:45 PM on 09/29/2011
You know you could avoid on the rotten soil and use the pavements instead? It's a rather civilised way to travel.
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coco51
168 Fans
04:22 PM on 09/29/2011
lol!! well said.
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coco51
168 Fans
04:23 PM on 09/29/2011
you're so funneeee.
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Andrew Griffiths
42 Fans
01:02 PM on 09/29/2011
Peter Oborne embarrassed himself. Is he one of these right wing journalists who continually complains about declining standards of behaviour? He came across as a real yob. He shouldn't be invited back on to the BBC if he can't behave better than that.
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MolliBlum
2331 Fans
01:36 PM on 09/29/2011
Yes, he was the one pontificating in the Torygraph about the "moral decay of society" during the recent riots.
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Matthew Harrold
Huzzah!
737 Fans
03:40 PM on 09/29/2011
You mean the moral decay the rest of us have to pu up with whilst they swim around in their Bentleys, looking down their noses at us common folk?
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lukebrambles
57 Fans
04:47 PM on 09/29/2011
I believe he worked for the Daily Mail. that should tell you all you need to know.
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mauibucky
18 Fans
 
06:43 PM on 09/29/2011
He's wearing white socks. That's all I need to know.
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Skip Sanders
61 Fans
12:01 PM on 09/29/2011
I like this guy Peter...he get's it!
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gerrydoyle
Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum @gerrydoyle2012
70 Fans
 
03:06 PM on 09/29/2011
I'm not sure he get's it but he's certainly full of it.
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Matthew Harrold
Huzzah!
737 Fans
03:41 PM on 09/29/2011
But Tory manure smells better then any other kind of manure, didn't you know?
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