John Snow calls local councillors "monkeys"

In Tony Benn's "Interviewing the Interviewers" this evening, I was surprised to hear John Snow say that local councillors are monkeys to the central government organ grinder. Don't get me wrong, it's true that local government is weak, and in many cases policy is driven from the centre.

However, I think it's wrong to assume that local councillors are some kind of meaningless part of the process. In many cases they serve an important function for their local communities and do real things impacting on real lives in that world outside of Westminster.

I found Benn's programme interesting, I thought John Snow came across as a Westminster Village arrogant smartarse, especially when he said he considered himself of small intellect effectively making him more in line with his viewers.