For the best part of two turbulent decades, the 1970s and 80s, my friend and rival Michael Green was scarcely off
British television screens as industrial correspondent of Independent Television News. It was a period that encompassed two climactic miners’ strikes, the winter of discontent, and the advent of Thatcherism. Industrial news was so intertwined with politics that industrial reporters were on the air as much as political correspondents.
Michael, who has died aged 76 of a rare lung disease, managed it all with an even-handed fair-mindedness that contrasted with the political baggage encumbering some of his contemporaries. His willingness to listen and his palpable honesty brought him the respect and necessary confidences of industry leaders who were often suspicious and reluctant to level with the media.