Vivisection (from Latin: vivus — “alive,” and sectio — “cutting”) is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The term is sometimes more broadly defined as any experimentation on live animals (see animal testing.)^[1][2][3] The term is often used by organizations opposed to animal experimentation^[4] but is rarely used by practicing scientists.^[2][5] Human vivisection has been perpetrated as a form of torture.

Animal vivisection[link]

The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with English-speaking territories and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (October 2011)

Prior to vivisection for educational purposes, chloroform was administered as an anesthetic to this common sand frog.

Research requiring vivisection techniques that cannot be met through other means is often subject to an external ethics review in conception and implementation, and in many jurisdictions, use of anesthesia is legally mandated for any surgery likely to cause pain to any vertebrate.^[6]

In the U.S., the Animal Welfare Act explicitly requires that any procedure that may cause pain utilize “tranquilizers, analgesics, and anesthetics,”^[7] with exceptions when “scientifically necessary.”^[8] The act does not define “scientific necessity” or regulate specific scientific procedures;^[9] instead, approval or rejection of individual techniques in each federally-funded lab is determined on a case-by-case basis by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which contains at least one veterinarian, one scientist, one non-scientist, and one individual from outside the university.^[10]

In the U.K., any experiment involving vivisection must be granted a licence by the Home Secretary. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 “expressly directs that, in determining whether to grant a licence for an experimental project, ‘the Secretary of State shall weigh the likely adverse effects on the animals concerned against the benefit likely to accrue.’” The Code of Practice in Australia “requires that all experiments must be approved by an Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee” that includes a “person with an interest in animal welfare who is not employed by the institution conducting the experiment, and an additional independent person not involved in animal experimentation.”^[11]

Anti-vivisectionists have played roles in the emergence of the animal welfare and animal rights movements. Among their arguments is that it is immoral to inflict pain or injury to another living creature, for whatever purpose.^[4]

Human vivisection[link]

Unit 731, a biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).^[12] Prisoners of war were subjected to various forms of vivisection, in many cases without anesthesia.^[13][14]

Nazi human experimentation involved medical experiments on live subjects, such as vivisections by Josef Mengele,^[15] usually without anesthesia.^[16]

See also[link]

• Pro-Test
• Speaking of Research
• American Anti-Vivisection Society
• Animal testing regulations
• Dissection
• History of animal testing
• Human subject research
• Intrinsic value (animal ethics)
• Bionics

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Pro-Test advocacy website [1]
• Speaking of Research website [2]
• "Paixao, RL; Schramm, FR. Ethics and animal experimentation: what is debated? Cad. Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, 2007"
• Yarri, Donna. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation, Oxford University Press U.S., 2005

v t e Animal testing Main articles Animal testing Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing on invertebrates Animal testing on frogs Animal testing on non-human primates Animal testing on rabbits Animal testing on rodents Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms Laboratory animal sources Toxicology testing Issues Animal rights Animal welfare Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Biomedical research Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Great Ape research ban International trade in primates Controversial experiments Brown Dog affair Britches Cambridge University primates Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Companies Charles River Laboratories, Inc. Covance Harlan Huntingdon Life Sciences Laboratory animal suppliers in the United Kingdom Nafovanny Shamrock Farm Groups/campaigns Americans for Medical Progress American Association for Laboratory Animal Science American Association for the Advancement of Science Boyd Group British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Dr Hadwen Trust Foundation For Biomedical Research National Anti-Vivisection Society People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ALF Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SPEAK Research Defence Society SHAC Stop Sequani Animal Testing Writers/activists Colin Blakemore Carl Cohen Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Neal Barnard Jerry Vlasak Simon Festing Tipu Aziz Categories Animal testing Animal rights

v t e Animal rights Focus Main topics (Portal:Animal rights, Category:Animal rights) Animal cognition Abolitionism Animal protectionism Animal rights Animal welfare Bioethics Sentience Speciesism Veganism Vegetarianism Subtopics Animal model Animal rights and the Holocaust Animals in sport Animal product Animal testing Animal testing on non-human primates Anti-hunting Bile bear Blood sport Covance Cruelty to animals Ethics of eating meat Factory farming Fox hunting Fur trade Great ape research ban Green Scare Huntingdon Life Sciences International trade in primates Livestock Nafovanny Open rescue Operation Backfire Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Recreational fishing Seal hunting Slaughterhouse Stock-free agriculture Veganarchism Women and animal advocacy Zoo Animal law Category:Animal law Category:Animal rights and welfare legislation Animal law Cases Britches Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates McLibel case Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Notable advocates Academics/writers (List of animal rights advocates, Category: Animal rights advocates) Carol Adams Douglas Adams Jeremy Bentham Steven Best Paola Cavalieri Stephen R. L. Clark Priscilla Cohn Lawrence Finsen Gary Francione Robert Garner Antoine Goetschel Anna Kingsford Andrew Linzey Mary Midgley Tom Regan Bernard Rollin Mark Rowlands Richard D. Ryder Peter Singer Henry Stephens Salt Steve Sapontzis David Sztybel John Vyvyan Steven M. Wise Roger Yates Activists Greg Avery Brigitte Bardot Martin Balluch Gene Baur Frances Power Cobbe Rod Coronado Karen Davis Bruce Friedrich Juliet Gellatley Celia Hammond Barry Horne Ronnie Lee Lizzy Lind af Hageby Keith Mann Ingrid Newkirk Heather Nicholson Alex Pacheco Jill Phipps Craig Rosebraugh Henry Spira Kim Stallwood Marianne Thieme Andrew Tyler Robin Webb Nathan Runkle Notable organizations List of animal rights groups Category:Animal rights movement Animal Aid Animal Legal Defense Fund Animal Liberation Front British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Chinese Animal Protection Network Great Ape Project Hunt Saboteurs Association Mercy for Animals Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals United Poultry Concerns Parties List of animal advocacy parties Category:Animal advocacy parties Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada Animals Count (UK) Animal Justice Party (Australia) Animal Protection Party (UK) Party Against Bullfighting, Cruelty and Mistreatment of Animals (Spain) Party for the Animals (Netherlands) Tierschutzpartei (Germany) Films A Cow at My Table The Cove Behind the Mask Earthlings Meet Your Meat Peaceable Kingdom The Animals Film Other media Animal Liberation (1975) Arkangel Bite Back No Compromise Categories Animal law Animal Liberation Front Animal rights movement Animal rights Animal testing Blood sports Livestock Poultry Veganism

Tipu Zahed Aziz (born 1966) is a professor of neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, and a lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford and the Imperial College London medical school. He specializes in the study and treatment of Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, dystonia, spasmodic torticollis, fixed abnormal posture of the neck, tremor, and intractable neuropathic pain.^[1][2]

Early life and education[link]

Tipu Aziz was born in Bangladesh into what The Guardian called a “medical dynasty.”^[3] He arrived in Britain at the age of 17 with just three O-levels, but after passing A-levels, he studied Neurophysiology at University College London, where he became interested in deep brain stimulation.

He went on to study for a doctorate at Manchester University, where he began his research on animals.

Career[link]

In February 2006, Aziz came to public prominence in the UK when he spoke out in favour of the use of animals in medical research to several hundred demonstrators during a rally held by Pro-Test, a new British group set up to promote the construction by Oxford University of a new biomedical centre in which research on animals will be conducted.^[4] Aziz is one of two Oxford neurosurgeons who sit on the Pro-Test committee.^[5]

In March 2006, he came to public attention again when he defended the use of animals in cosmetics testing, which is banned in Britain. His comments were described as “perhaps unfortunate” by one colleague.^[6]

Research interests[link]

Aziz’s work involves inducing Parkinsonian symptoms in monkeys, either surgically or using drugs, then switching off the symptoms using electrodes he has implanted in their brains. During development of his techniques he has used around 30 monkeys in tests over 20 years, and many believe that as many as 40,000 people around the world have benefitted from the techniques.^[7]

The Guardian writes that some patients have described the surgery as “miraculous.” In a 2006 BBC Two documentary Monkeys, Rats and Me: Animal Testing, animal rights philosopher Peter Singer described Aziz’s research as “justifiable” on utilitarian grounds.^[8] Singer later clarified his statement saying that it would only be justified, in his opinion, if Aziz were willing to do the same experiments on humans of a similar mental capacity.^[9]

Aziz has said that his future research interests will focus on viral, gene, and stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson's and similar movement disorders.

Research Criticism[link]

According to The Oxford Student, Malcolm Macleod, a clinical neuroscientist, was asked by Animal Aid to conduct a systemic review into Aziz’s research. Macleod accidentally sent an email intended for a colleague to animal rights group. The e-mail stated he felt that Deep Brain Stimulation was an “area of weakness often trumpeted as a success, but which in reality is probably a failure.” He asked for “advice” and suggested he would "avoid, play a straight bat or price [himself] out of the market” for the review requested.

Animal Aid said about the e-mail “He [Dr Macleod] feared that an objective investigation of the associated animal research would expose the treatment's shortcomings. He was determined to avoid being drawn into the front line of the vivisection debate.”

Dr Macleod claimed that he stood by his choice not to do the review “I was not comfortable taking part in a study which was motivated by a desire to undermine Aziz.”^{[10][verification needed]}

Animal testing controversy[link]

Aziz has been vocal in support of animal testing and his criticism of the animal liberation movement, calling them “misinformed and sometimes illiterate anti-vivisectionists who adopt terrorist tactics” and who “[undermine] the process of democracy” through “intimidation.” Britain has “probably the most violent and absurd animal rights movement in the world.” he told The Guardian. “The problem with British society is it has a humanoid perception of animals that’s almost cartoon-like.”^[3]

On 25 February 2006, he spoke out in favour of animal testing at a rally in Oxford organized by Pro-Test in support of the construction of a new biomedical research center, which will conduct experiments on animals, including primates. Pro-Test was formed to counter SPEAK, an animal rights organisation aiming to end vivisection in the UK.

Defence of cosmetics testing[link]

In an interview published on 4 March 2005, Aziz condoned testing cosmetics on animals, a practice banned in the UK since 1998 and due to be banned across the European Union by 2009. He said that to argue cosmetics testing is wrong is “a very strange argument,” and that “[p]eople talk about cosmetics being the ultimate evil. But beautifying oneself has been going on since we were cavemen. If it’s proven to reduce suffering through animal tests, it’s not wrong to use them. To say cosmetics is an absolute evil is absurd.”^[3]

Other scientists who use animals in research have “distanced themselves” from Aziz’s remarks. Clive Page, a researcher at the University of London, said: “I don't think we can justify using animals for cosmetics research. [Prof Aziz], like myself and a few others who talk out about this have worked very hard to try and explain to the public why we do medical research on animals and why it’s still necessary. To muddy the waters by bringing back an issue of using animals for something that’s not actually approved in the UK is perhaps unfortunate.”^[6]

Simon Festing, director of the pro-animal experimentation lobby group Research Defence Society said of Aziz: “He’s not involved in cosmetic testing himself, [Britain’s] not involved in cosmetic testing, it's been banned here. There’s no movement from the scientific community or the cosmetics industry to have it brought back in. I can’t see it being particularly relevant apart from being his personal view.”^[6]

Felix[link]

An animal rights campaign has formed around a seven-year-old macaque monkey that Aziz has used in his research. Named Felix by Aziz himself, he is one of 100 purpose-bred monkeys used in animal experiments by Oxford University.^[11] Felix was featured in a November 2006 BBC documentary about Aziz’s work, “Monkeys, Rats and Me.” The monkey was shown being “shaped,” that is, being encouraged to perform certain tasks by having food and water withheld, in advance of having the symptoms of Parkinson's disease induced. Electrodes were implanted in his brain to test the effects of deep brain stimulation on the Parkinsonian symptoms and on his ability to perform the tasks. He will be destroyed at the end of the experiment, which could continue for several years.^[7][11]

Since the BBC documentary aired, SPEAK, a British animal rights campaign formed in 2002, has focused on the “Fight for Felix” as a symbol of their efforts to halt the construction of a new £20 million animal-testing facility in South Park Road, Oxford^[12]

See also[link]

• British Bangladeshi
• List of British Bangladeshis
• John Stein (Professor of Physiology)
• Kevin Warwick
• SPEAK campaign

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Wishart, Adam. "Monkeys, Rats and Me: Animal Testing", BBC Two, November 2006; a documentary about the SPEAK campaign, featuring Tipu Aziz.
• Standing up for Science [1]

v t e Animal testing Main articles Animal testing Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing on invertebrates Animal testing on frogs Animal testing on non-human primates Animal testing on rabbits Animal testing on rodents Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms Laboratory animal sources Toxicology testing Issues Animal rights Animal welfare Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Biomedical research Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Great Ape research ban International trade in primates Controversial experiments Brown Dog affair Britches Cambridge University primates Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Companies Charles River Laboratories, Inc. Covance Harlan Huntingdon Life Sciences Laboratory animal suppliers in the United Kingdom Nafovanny Shamrock Farm Groups/campaigns Americans for Medical Progress American Association for Laboratory Animal Science American Association for the Advancement of Science Boyd Group British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Dr Hadwen Trust Foundation For Biomedical Research National Anti-Vivisection Society People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ALF Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SPEAK Research Defence Society SHAC Stop Sequani Animal Testing Writers/activists Colin Blakemore Carl Cohen Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Neal Barnard Jerry Vlasak Simon Festing Tipu Aziz Categories Animal testing Animal rights

v t e Animal rights Focus Main topics (Portal:Animal rights, Category:Animal rights) Animal cognition Abolitionism Animal protectionism Animal rights Animal welfare Bioethics Sentience Speciesism Veganism Vegetarianism Subtopics Animal model Animal rights and the Holocaust Animals in sport Animal product Animal testing Animal testing on non-human primates Anti-hunting Bile bear Blood sport Covance Cruelty to animals Ethics of eating meat Factory farming Fox hunting Fur trade Great ape research ban Green Scare Huntingdon Life Sciences International trade in primates Livestock Nafovanny Open rescue Operation Backfire Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Recreational fishing Seal hunting Slaughterhouse Stock-free agriculture Veganarchism Women and animal advocacy Zoo Animal law Category:Animal law Category:Animal rights and welfare legislation Animal law Cases Britches Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates McLibel case Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Notable advocates Academics/writers (List of animal rights advocates, Category: Animal rights advocates) Carol Adams Douglas Adams Jeremy Bentham Steven Best Paola Cavalieri Stephen R. L. Clark Priscilla Cohn Lawrence Finsen Gary Francione Robert Garner Antoine Goetschel Anna Kingsford Andrew Linzey Mary Midgley Tom Regan Bernard Rollin Mark Rowlands Richard D. Ryder Peter Singer Henry Stephens Salt Steve Sapontzis David Sztybel John Vyvyan Steven M. Wise Roger Yates Activists Greg Avery Brigitte Bardot Martin Balluch Gene Baur Frances Power Cobbe Rod Coronado Karen Davis Bruce Friedrich Juliet Gellatley Celia Hammond Barry Horne Ronnie Lee Lizzy Lind af Hageby Keith Mann Ingrid Newkirk Heather Nicholson Alex Pacheco Jill Phipps Craig Rosebraugh Henry Spira Kim Stallwood Marianne Thieme Andrew Tyler Robin Webb Nathan Runkle Notable organizations List of animal rights groups Category:Animal rights movement Animal Aid Animal Legal Defense Fund Animal Liberation Front British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Chinese Animal Protection Network Great Ape Project Hunt Saboteurs Association Mercy for Animals Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals United Poultry Concerns Parties List of animal advocacy parties Category:Animal advocacy parties Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada Animals Count (UK) Animal Justice Party (Australia) Animal Protection Party (UK) Party Against Bullfighting, Cruelty and Mistreatment of Animals (Spain) Party for the Animals (Netherlands) Tierschutzpartei (Germany) Films A Cow at My Table The Cove Behind the Mask Earthlings Meet Your Meat Peaceable Kingdom The Animals Film Other media Animal Liberation (1975) Arkangel Bite Back No Compromise Categories Animal law Animal Liberation Front Animal rights movement Animal rights Animal testing Blood sports Livestock Poultry Veganism

Jeremy Paxman
Paxman in September 2009
Born	Jeremy Dickson Paxman (1950-05-11) 11 May 1950 (age 62) Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Residence	Stonor, Oxfordshire
Nationality	British
Education	MA (St Catharine's College, Cambridge)
Alma mater	Malvern College, St. Catharine's College
Occupation	Journalist, news presenter
Employer	BBC
Salary	£1,040,000 (2006) per annum[1]
Television	Newsnight University Challenge
Spouse	Elizabeth Ann Clough (?-present)
Children	2 daughters, 1 son
Parents	Keith and Joan Paxman
Relatives	Giles Paxman (brother)

Jeremy Dickson Paxman^[2][3] (born 11 May 1950) is an English journalist, author and broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating and condescending, and also applauded as tough and incisive.^[4] He is also the question master of University Challenge, succeeding Bamber Gascoigne when the programme was revived in 1994.

Early life[link]

Paxman was born in Leeds. His mother, Joan, born 1920, was a housewife.^[5] Paxman is the eldest of four children and has two brothers, one of whom, Giles, is the British Ambassador to Spain (having previously been ambassador to Mexico), and a sister, Jenny, a producer at BBC Radio.

He was brought up in Yorkshire and Peopleton, near Pershore, Worcestershire. In 1964, he went to Malvern College^[2][6] and read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge,^[7] where he edited the undergraduate newspaper Varsity.^[3][8][9] While at Cambridge, Paxman was briefly a member of the Labour Club.

Paxman was the subject in January 2006 of an episode of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.^[5] The documentary concluded him to be descended from one Roger Packsman, a 14th century politician from Suffolk who had changed his name to Paxman (man of peace, "Pax" translates from Latin as peace) to impress "the electorate." His maternal grandmother was born in Glasgow, Scotland. The programme generated much publicity prior to its transmission by displaying the usually pitiless Paxman teary-eyed on camera when informed that his impoverished great-grandmother Mary Mackay's poor relief had been revoked because she'd had a child out of wedlock.^[5][10]

Career[link]

Journalism[link]

Paxman joined the BBC's graduate trainee programme in 1972. He started in local radio, at BBC Radio Brighton. He moved to Belfast, where he reported the Troubles. He moved to London in 1977. Two years later he transferred from the Tonight programme to Panorama. After five years reporting from places such as Beirut, Uganda and Central America, he read the Six O'Clock News for two years, before moving to BBC1's Breakfast Time programme.

Newsnight[link]

Paxman became a presenter of Newsnight in 1989.

On 13 May 1997 he spoke with Michael Howard in what became the programme's most notorious interview. Howard, who had been Home Secretary until thirteen days earlier, had held a meeting with Derek Lewis, head of the Prison Service, about the possible dismissal of the governor of Parkhurst Prison, John Marriott. Howard, having given evasive answers, was asked by Paxman the same question – "Did you threaten to overrule him [Lewis]?"  – a total of twelve times in succession (14 if the first two inquiries worded somewhat differently and some time before the succession of 12 are included). Howard did not give a direct answer, instead repeatedly saying that he "did not overrule him", and ignoring the "threaten" part of the question.^[11] Later, during a 20th anniversary edition of Newsnight, Paxman told Howard that he had simply been trying to prolong the interview since the next item in the running order wasn't ready.^[12] In 2004 Paxman raised the subject again with Howard, by then leader of the Conservative Party. This time, Howard laughed it off, saying that he had not threatened to overrule the head of the Prison Service.^{[citation needed]} Secret Home Office papers^[13] released in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act failed to corroborate this.

In 1998, Denis Halliday, a United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, resigned his post in Iraq, describing the effects of his own organisation's sanctions as genocide.^[14] Paxman asked Halliday in a Newsnight interview, "Aren't you just an apologist for Saddam Hussein?"

Later that year Paxman won a Royal Television Society award.

In 2003, Prime Minister Tony Blair opted to make the case for the invasion of Iraq via questions from a TV studio audience, mediated by Paxman. The programme is chiefly remembered for the fact that Paxman asked Blair if he and U.S. President Bush prayed together. Blair replied, "No, Jeremy. We don't pray together."^[15]

During the 2005 General Election some viewers complained to the BBC that Paxman's robust questioning of party leaders had been rude and aggressive.^[16] There was criticism of his five-in-the-morning results interview with George Galloway. Referring to Oona King, whom Galloway had just defeated, Paxman asked more than once whether he was proud of having got rid of "one of the very few black women in Parliament."^[17] An exasperated Galloway cut the interview short. Paxman later made a taped guest appearance on the Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show challenging Galloway to a follow-up session "with or without your leotard" (Galloway, a Big Brother contestant at the time, had in an earlier much-publicised stunt during the show dressed up in a leotard).^[18]

Paxman's brusque manner is not restricted to political interviews. When Newsnight's editor decided to broadcast brief weather forecasts instead of financial reports he openly ridiculed the decision: "And for tonight's weather – it's April, what do you expect?".^[19] The financial reports were re-introduced after a few weeks. In a Radio Times poll of 3,000 people in 2006, he was voted the fourth "scariest" TV celebrity.^[20]

Other TV work[link]

Paxman has presented the weekly TV programme review Did You See?, You Decide and, most notably, since 1994, University Challenge, bringing him the distinction of "longest-serving current quizmaster on British TV."^[21] He presented on BBC America and BBC World a weekly compilation of highlights from the domestic edition of Newsnight from February 2008 until shortly after the 2008 U.S. election, when the American programme was cancelled. The programme is still aired on BBC World.^[15][22][23]

In April 2006 The Sun claimed that Paxman earned £800,000 for his Newsnight job and £240,000 for presenting University Challenge, bringing his TV earnings to a yearly total of £1,040,000. This was one of a series of BBC salary leaks in the tabloid press that prompted an internal BBC investigation.^[24]

Beginning on 15 February 2009, his four part documentary The Victorians aired on BBC One. The series explores Victorian art and culture.^[25] From 27 February 2012, the BBC is broadcasting Paxman's series Empire, examining the history and legacy of the British Empire. This programme had its fifth and final episode broadcast on March 26 2012 on BBC One.

Books[link]

Paxman's first book, A Higher Form of Killing (1982), written with then BBC colleague and friend Robert Harris, arose out of an edition of the Panorama programme they had made together on biological and chemical warfare. In a revised 2002 version they asserted that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons. In 1985 Paxman published Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey, an eyewitness account of people, places and politics. Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain? (1991) was the result of numerous detailed interviews with the powerful or highly influential, what used to be called The Establishment. Paxman's The English: A Portrait of a People (1999) was not the first of his books to be greeted with wide critical acclaim. The Political Animal: An Anatomy (2003), again based on extensive interviews, examines the motivations and methods of those who constitute the author's professional prey: Westminster politicians. The otherwise-republican Paxman's On Royalty, which entailed the cooperation of Britain's royal family, became by the time it was published in 2006, to his own surprise and somewhat to the surprise of others, a defence of the country's constitutional monarchy. His recent books have been big sellers. His book, The Victorians: Britain through the Paintings of the Age, published in 2009, was accompanied by a BBC documentary series. In his introduction, Paxman acknowledged that the Irish writer Neil Hegarty had played a significant role in editing the book and bringing it to completion. Paxman was praised by academics and figures in the publishing industry for acknowledging Hegarty's substantial contribution. Paxman stated that since all television is a "collaborative exercise", it was "rather silly for this book - which accompanies a television series - to appear with only one name on the cover."^[26] Paxman's most recent book is a study of the British Empire, Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British.^[27][28]

Radio[link]

Paxman presented the flagship BBC Radio 4 show Start the Week from 1998 to 2002.

Paxman and the BBC[link]

While John Birt was Director General of the BBC, the British press from time to time reported Paxman's criticism of his boss. The former, suspected at first to be an outsider brought in by a hostile government to supervise the BBC's break-up and ultimate sell-off, in turn publicly questioned the confrontational approach, as he saw it, of certain TV and radio interviewers. This was seen at the time as coded criticism of Paxman himself and of his BBC colleague John Humphrys.^[29][30]

On 24 August 2007 Paxman delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.^[31] In it he was critical of much of contemporary TV in Britain. He expressed concern that as a consequence of recent production scandals the medium was rapidly losing public trust. Speaking of prime minister Tony Blair's criticism of the mass media at the time he left office, Paxman asserted that often press and broadcasting may be "oppositional" in relation to the government of the day this could only benefit democracy. Those Reithian goals, to "inform, educate and entertain," still remained valid. Paxman took the opportunity to dismiss as "inaccurate" the attribution to himself, which was, in fact, Louis Heren^[32], of the oft-quoted "Why is this lying bastard lying to me?" as the supposed dominant thought in his mind when interviewing senior politicians. He called on the television industry to rediscover a sense of purpose.

Awards and honours[link]

In 1996 Paxman received BAFTA's Richard Dimbleby Award for "outstanding presenter in the factual arena." Two years later he won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his somewhat notorious Newsnight interview (see above) with Michael Howard, as well as the Broadcasting Press Guild's award for best "non-acting" performer. He got another Richard Dimbleby Award in 2000 and was nominated for the award in 2001 and 2002. He won the Royal Television Society TV journalism presenter of the year award in 2002 and 2007.

Paxman was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds in the summer of 1999 and in December that year received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford.^[33] In 2006 he received an honorary doctorate from the Open University. Among those at the ceremony were three members of the Open University's 1999 University Challenge team. Paxman is a Fellow by special election of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of his alma mater, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge.

Personal life[link]

Paxman in 2007

Paxman lives with his partner Elizabeth Ann Clough in Stonor, southeast Oxfordshire. They have three children: Jessica, and twins Victoria and Jack. He supports Leeds United and his favourite players are Billy Paynter and Robbie Rogers, he also enjoys fly fishing in his leisure time.^[34] He is vice-chairman of the Wild Trout Trust conservation charity. He is also a patron of the charity Sustrans.

When, in his twenties, Paxman unsuccessfully applied for the vacant editorship of the venerable Labour-supporting weekly The New Statesman, he said he considered himself a socialist.^[35][36] He had previously stood as a Communist candidate in school elections.^[36] More recently, he has been described as "the archetypal floating voter", and Jon Snow once said that Paxman's greatest strength was being "not very political".^[36] Paxman himself has stated:

I do understand we have to have a government, and I do firmly believe in democracy. So it's not true to say I'm not a political person. I am a political person. But I'm not a party political person. I don't believe there is a monopoly of wisdom in any one party. I suppose as one gets older - I would have described it at the age of 21 as the process of selling out, but another way of looking at it is to say, actually, the world is not a very simple place, and that as you get older simple-minded solutions seem less attractive.^[36]

He has periodically suffered from depression.^[37] It has recently been wrongly asserted that he attended Charterhouse School.^[38] Paxman has denied these claims.^[39]

Criticism[link]

Paxman has been publicly criticised over his and his partner's home help arrangements.^[40] Having advertised on a Romanian website, they hired two people at below minimum wage without a written contract. While this is not illegal in the UK if employees live in, Paxman, known for grilling interviewees on workers' rights issues, was criticised when his employees went public, claiming to have been paid "the bare minimum".^[41]

Paxman's controversial remarks about the Scots have provoked anger at parliamentary level. Twenty Scottish Members of Parliament signed a House of Commons motion in March 2005 condemning him for comparing supposed Scottish dominance at Westminster to British rule in India: a "Scottish Raj" was running the UK, said Paxman. The row came right after a Cabinet minister had complained that the Newsnight host had been offensive about his Glasgow accent. Paxman's response served further to fan the flames.^[42] In an introduction to a new edition of Chambers Dictionary in August 2008 Paxman labelled the work of Scotland's national poet Robert Burns as "sentimental doggerel."^[43] Paxman himself is quarter-Scottish through his maternal grandmother, a fact which he stated has led to many of his comments being misunderstood as he regards the Scots "with affection".^[5]

Paxman has been widely condemned as disrespectful when commented in an absurd way the possible exit of Greece from the Eurozone ('like bad kebab vomiting") on the 31st of May 2012 edition of Newsnight. He received many angry messages from the audience on twitter and other media accusing him for racist and inappropriate stereotypical analogies ^{[44] [45]}. Paxman has come under fire from critics of US foreign policy, including fellow journalist John Pilger, for his involvement with the British-American Project about which, according to The Guardian, "even its supporters joke that it's funded by the CIA."^[46]

Paxman in popular culture[link]

Paxman became a focus of media attention in his own right in October 2000 when the stolen Enigma machine, which had been taken from Bletchley Park Museum, was inexplicably sent to him in the post. He had it returned to its rightful location.^[47]

Charlie Brooker once opined in his Screen Burn columns that one of his new policies for the BBC were he put in charge would be to "let Paxman actually hit people", describing this as "self-explanatory".^[48] Similarly, Graeme Garden suggested on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in 1994 that one way to increase Newsnight's ratings would be to "arm Jeremy Paxman".^[49]

Paxman and his presenting style were also frequently parodied by comedian Chris Morris in the satirical TV series The Day Today and Brass Eye. Harry Enfield also parodied Paxman in his short-lived Sky series, Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show.

Bibliography[link]

• Harris, Robert; Jeremy Paxman (1982). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang. ISBN 0-8090-5471-X.  New edition published as Harris, Robert; Jeremy Paxman (2002). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Gas and Germ Warfare. London: Arrow. ISBN 0-09-944159-4. .
• Paxman, Jeremy (1985). Through the Volcanoes: A Central American Journey. London: Paladin. ISBN 0-586-08572-6. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (1991). Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain?. London; New York, N.Y.: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-015600-3. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (1999). The English: A Portrait of a People. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-026723-9. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2003). The Political Animal: An Anatomy. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-028847-3. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2006). On Royalty. London; New York, N.Y.: Viking. ISBN 0-670-91662-5. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2009). The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84607-744-9. 
• Paxman, Jeremy (2011). Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-91957-4. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeremy Paxman

• Biography of Jeremy Paxman, member of the BBC's Press Office, at the official website of the BBC.
• Profile of Jeremy Paxman at Speaker's Associates
• BBC 'Newsnight' biography of Jeremy Paxman
• Official website of BBC's Newsnight programme
• Paxman questioned by fellow-journalists at London's Frontline Club, February 2008
• Paxman interviewed at length on the US Charlie Rose Show, June 2007