Mr Robinson is promoting his book, Election Diary, about the year-long build up to May’s general election, which included the referendum. The broadcaster was embroiled in a high-profile spat with Alex Salmond when he accused the SNP leader of failing to answer a question about the prospect of RBS leaving Scotland after a Yes vote – prompting thousands of Yes campaigners to gather in protest. “I didn’t think my offence was sufficient to justify 4,000 people marching on the BBC’s headquarters,” he told a sell-out audience last night. “Young men and women who are new to journalism had – like they do in Putin’s Russia – to fight their way through crowds of protesters, frightened as to how they do their jobs.”