My own special relationship with America began at an early age. My father, a fellow journalist, named me after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

My father was a journalist for 50 years in Leeds and Fleet Street. I thought about a career in business to show I could do something different, but the reaction among prospective employers was, shall we say, underwhelming.

We British play an important role in Europe, even if we have a traditional and historical ambivalence towards the continent.

I walk into the office at Southwark Bridge every morning, and I have no idea whats going to happen.

We have Trumpist (ph) tendencies in Europe. Look up Marine Le Pen in France. Look at the Five Star Movement headed by a clown by profession, Beppe Grillo, in Italy.

While the web is very much the first draft of history, a rough-cut, it still has to be good journalism, well-sourced, reliable. Clearly, the printed form is going to have more effort put into it, going to be more reflective and relevant.

Thanks to social media such as Facebook and Twitter, a far wider range of people take part in gathering, filtering and distributing news.