Big Cat Diary

Sir Bill Cash (centre). Kate Hoey (bottom left). And the rest.

When it comes to parliamentary select committees BBC high-ups must fear Bill Cash's European Scrutiny Committee most of all. 

In the last parliamentary session it contained many a Leave-backing lion, ready and willing to sink both teeth and claws into any passing BBC editor hoping to graze peacefully on the Westminster savanna.

Well, the committee's new post-election complexion is now known and I'm guessing that BBC bigwigs will be even more loath to appear before it than before, simply because there are even more lions this time around. 

As 'panels' go this is like a mirror image (or a photographic negative if you prefer) of the stereotypical BBC Remain-biased 'panel'. It's 10-6 for Brexiteers:

Sir William Cash - Leave
Douglas Chapman - Remain
Geraint Davies - Remain
Steve Double - Leave
Richard Drax - Leave
Marcus Fysh - Leave
Kate Green - Remain
Kate Hoey - Leave
Kelvin Hopkins - Leave
Darren Jones - Remain
David Jones - Leave
Stephen Kinnock - Remain
Andrew Lewer - Leave
Michael Tomlinson - Leave
David Warburton - Leave
Dr Philippa Whitford - Remain

Admittedly many of the lions - and the zebra - aren't well know to the public, and I must admit to having only heard of seven of them, but they seem, from Googling around, to be passionate types (from both sides), so it could well be quite a feisty committee.

If, after my big build-up, BBC executives actually end up escaping with a gumming then these are the very people we should hold responsible for failing to hold the BBC to account over their Brexit coverage.