The producer of the programme claims it is in the public interest

The producer of the programme claims it is in the public interest. The Lord Chancellor calls it “a disgusting warping of values” and the BBC’s former head of editorial policy finds the sum “extraordinarily large”. There is some justification for interviewing Fearon about why he changed his version of events the night Fred Barras, his young accomplice, was shot by Mr Martin. And if money is the only way to get him to talk, then the standard BBC fee for an interview like this is £200. This monumental sum needs to be the subject of an internal inquiry. I work for the BBC every week and know exactly what fees are paid to contributors Surely someone should be sacked over this
More from Janet Street-Porter.

On the whole I have enjoyed undeservedly good health, though lately there have been a few troubles One of them was that I developed Dupuytren’s Contracture. This is what it is called when a finger bends into the palm and cannot be straightened. It is quite a distinguished condition, having afflicted Graham Greene, Margaret Thatcher (who, it may be remembered, had an operation for it) and, I am told, the former rugby commentator Bill McLaren I have it in the little finger of my right hand Luckily, I am left-handed. It is not life-threatening and is more a nuisance than anything else.

To this end, I consulted my GP, who made an appointment with a specialist at a London teaching hospital This took some months. The surgeon said he (or maybe someone else) would perform the operation at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead. More months elapsed, until I received a summons to attend the Royal Free, for an examination rather than an operation. In November 2003 I saw a surgeon different from the one I had seen originally.At this point we come to my other trouble. For two years I had suffered from what I called blisters and the doctors called ulcers. They were on the feet and seemed to come about through warm baths.

I had them dressed either at the GP’s group practice or at the podiatry department of the Whittington Hospital, Archway, where the woman podiatrist was greatly impressed by my acquaintance with Mr Andrew Marr.In September 2003 I was on holiday in France; a dressing came off; I did not replace it; and the blister, or ulcer, became infected I felt rotten. Returned to London, I decided to deal solely with the Whittington simply to secure a consistency of approach. There followed several months of antibiotic capsules or tablets. In November, when I saw the hand-surgeon at the Royal Free, the infection had still not cleared up.