John Gibson: Meeting up with Mike, it’s all Hart

A seemingly indestructible board member of the Edinburgh International Jazz Festival, virtuoso banjo plucker, raconteur, former RAF National Serviceman and bit of am authority on antiques (his mother was one of Edinburgh’s respected dealers in the antiques trade).

Mike, who like me has acquired a curmudgeonly streak over the years, was en route to a board meeting of EIJF. The organisation, short of members who actually play an instrument, surely relies on his expertise.

Dressing down

Sergeant demoted to private. Right, John, if you want to look like a scruff, like the rest of the hoi polloi, that‘s your choice. John Sergeant turned up tieless on the One Show on Monday.

What a let-down after his consummate, utterly professional appearance in his deservedly repeated celebration of The Spitfire on Saturday, story of the legendary fighter that largely won the Battle of Britain.

Why the former political correspondent for the BBC sacrificed his sartorial class and his dignity is inexplicable. Could be he’s short of a bob or two.