Why I refuse to address guests on my show as sir

SIR, AS UNDERSTOOD IN BRITISH ENGLISH, IS DEFERENTIAL. IT WOULD PLACE THE INTERVIEWEE ON A PEDESTAL, ABOVE THE INTERVIEWER. YET THE ASSUMPTION OF A POLITICAL INTERVIEW IS THAT THE INTERVIEWER AND INTERVIEWEE ARE EQUAL

- Karan Thapar

I received a letter the other day raising an intriguing question and I've decided to reply in public through this column. "I notice you have different ways of addressing the people you interview," it began. "Some you call Mr X or Mrs Y, others you refer to as minister and then, sometimes you use their first names. But I don't think I've ever heard you address them as sir. Why? And how do you decide what to call them?"

The question took me back two decades to an interview with David Waddington, who later became Britain's home secretary. In 1983 he was Mrs Thatcher's minister of state for immigration. It was going to be my first big high-profile political interview. Samir Shah, now chairman of the BBC, was the producer of Eyewitness, the television programme I was working on, and my boss.

"Remember Karan," Samir advised as we walked to the studio. "You either call him Mr Waddington or minister but not sir."