Up until about 12 years ago we never, ever, wore flak jacket or helmets but now the nastiness has got worse.

It's totally mistaken to suppose that an armed escort is going to give a journalist any protection - on the contrary, journalists who turn up surrounded by armed personnel are just turning themselves into targets and in even worse danger.

I will never retire.

It wasn't glamorous in my day. In the regions, reporters were seen as such low life that they didn't merit their name in the Radio Times. Now people are interested in being famous. I never gave it a thought.

Now children as young as nine carry AK47s which can kill 30 people in seconds.

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.