I don't disagree - the point of the interview from Neil's perspective would have been to make Boris look as small as possible by focussing on his personal life. Perhaps if Neil were prepared to be more even handed and perhaps discuss the Tory manifesto then Boris might have been more inclined to participate - let's face he has done numerous interviews in the past. If the BBC want leading politicians to engage then they have to give them a fair crack of the whip. Doubt very much Corbyn will ever be interviewed by Neil again.

There is a lot of talk about the Tories boycotting the Today program - how long since Corbyn has been on the Today program - why - because Humphries gave him a hard time - so he simply said no more. Same on C4 news after the Indian gave him a hard time.

Turning the BBC into a private organisation would be a disaster - yes its not perfect but it is still one of the finest broadcasters on the planet - and cheap.

Neil would have made Boris uncomfortable, just as he did with ALL of the other leaders, it's what he does.
As for the Tories not liking the BBC, this is just a ruse to try and prevent too much being broadcast against them, to ensure that they are actually benefitting from their exposure on the channel, very similar to how Trump is trying to "work" the media in the US.

There will of course be certain times when they are harshly treated, just as other parties are.
I'm sure that you remember the hammering that Ed Miliband received and whilst you will no doubt argue that he brought it upon himself, the treatment from most media outlets was grossly harsh and no doubt contributed to his downfall.

The BBC do have to be seen as "balanced" and rightly so.
However, the Tories do seem to want to ensure that the scales are tipped in their favour.
I dont blame them for that but, it doesn't make it right, does it.

Nobody did more of this than Blair and Campbell - David Kelly/Iraq war anyone!!

Blair never hid away or ducked interviews. He is confident enough in himself and his arguments to face scrutiny, even over things like the Iraq War, where people want to put him in war crimes tribunals and the like.

Is red diesel being attacked today? some of the local farmers seem to think so.

The point raised was Blair/Campbell manipulation of the press and the BBC - there are plenty of examples of New Labour approach to message manipulation

I agree that this was when the era of 'spin' started in earnest and it was a change for the worse.

There had always been some form of press management: Bernard Ingham pushing tabloids to present stories in the form of "Maggie Acts" in the 1980s, but the difference was Thatcher wasn't basing her decisions on the headlines. Even Blair wasn't, he was just trying to swing public opinion his way, through media management. But he went against public opinion on tuition fees and Iraq.

The David Kelly / WMD stuff was a significant shift in terms of degrading public opinion in government and that is on Blair.

The Cameron era was when it really started going downhill in terms of a) making decisions based on the press story (a classic hallmark of an Osborne budget), b) moving from spin being the job of political appointments/Spads to expecting civil servants to be "on message" with "defensive lines" and demanding that impact assessments got signed off by Ministers (with anything the Minister didn't like, susceptible to being taken out).

Johnson has taken this to the nth degree, with actively misleading the public and taking an ambivalent attitude to scrutiny. Even May felt the obligation to try and explain herself to Parliament and the public. Johnson has the approach of entitlement, I'm the PM, I can do what I want lol.

I agree with some of what you've said but May is in the guinness book of records for avoiding the most questions, in fact I can honestly say that I have never heard her answer a question unless you count the running through the fields.... BS Boris has simply followed in the footsteps of Cameron & May, they are totally unaccountable.