Examiner local government reporter BARRY GIBSON faces a grilling on a Question Time-style panel before an audience of 60 young people

“YOU look like a condemned man.”

Those were the encouraging words from Angela Ellam as I arrived at the University of Huddersfield for yesterday’s question and answer session with 60 young people.

The former councillor turned consultant had organised an all-star panel to interest the teenagers in politics: Kirklees Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan; Conservative opposition leader Clr Robert Light; Huddersfield Town legend Andy Booth and, er, me.

Along with Kirklees Youth Council members Olivia Sanders and Chris Gordge, we fielded questions for an hour yesterday afternoon as part of an open day for 16 to 18-year-olds from Huddersfield schools organised by Kirklees and the university’s politics department.

Any other week, it would be the politicians taking the flak – but this has been a torrid fortnight for the media and before long we were on to the Andy Coulson saga.

“Maybe one of the good things to come out of this is that journalists and papers who don’t hack phones might end up getting a bit more respect,” I suggested.

Hope springs eternal I suppose.

Meanwhile, Robert was reminiscing about meeting Rebekah Brooks almost a decade ago.

“It was quite clear there was a political agenda and that she was very close to the Government and was going to protect that at all costs,” he said.

It was interesting to hear a Conservative say he was “sad” at how much power Rupert Murdoch had exercised over the last three decades.

Mehboob – perhaps unsurprisingly – agreed, telling the young people that the relationship between the press and politicians had become “unhealthy for our democracy”.

But what of Boothy?

Fair play to him for taking part in the panel as he was probably as far out of his comfort zone as I would be if I had to lead the line for Town.