"As a middle class Jew from Pinner I found him quite aggressive," joked Times Columnist Daniel Finkelstein during a fascinating Newsnight piece on the life and legacy of Bob Crow, who died on Tuesday morning, aged 52.
"The tragedy and shock of his death has brought out a decent instinct... I didn't agree with his politics, I thought he was quite wrongheaded, but on the day he died, naturally people are respecting him," the journalist added.
Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone was more pointed in his praise: "I can’t think of any other group in working class jobs whose pay, pension and conditions haven't been degraded over recent years. He [Crow] fought to keep them [the RMT members] in good conditions and he succeeded."
Paxo, who had his own run in with the late RMT chief on the same programme in February, was clearly enjoying the discussion, reining in Livingstone while laughing at Finkelstein's assessment of Crow as a capitalist socialist.
Watch the Times man's reaction when Livingstone makes a quip about Thatcher and suicide rates…
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