Ian Hislop opens BBC's Have I Got News For You with joke about taxi incident

Ian Hislop opened the BBC’s Have I Got News For You broadcast saying “I always say at this point I’m glad to be here, but this week I really mean it” following an incident which saw the rear window of a taxi he was travelling in smashed.

It was initially believed the London black taxi had been hit by a bullet, but the Metropolitan Police have since confirmed there is “no evidence of a firearms discharge at this time”.

Police said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the incident that took place in Soho on Tuesday morning.

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Private Eye editor Hislop said on the BBC comedy quiz show on Friday: “There was one high point when a policeman investigating me said ‘this may be a silly question, but is there anyone who might have a grudge against you?’.”

His fellow team captain Paul Merton joked: “I have an alibi.”

Hislop previously issued a statement thanking “everyone for their concern” over the incident.

“He can confirm that there was an incident in a taxi yesterday in which a rear window shattered, and the police are investigating,” the statement said.

“They were initially looking into the possibility of a shot having been fired but have now indicated that there may be another more innocent explanation for what happened.”

The investigation followed a call from the driver, who had reported he was “stationary in traffic in Dean Street when a shot was fired towards his vehicle, striking the window and damaging it”.

No injuries were reported, with police launching an investigation, and seizing the vehicle.

Hislop, 64, has served as a team captain on the BBC comedy current affairs quiz show since its first episode in 1990, and has been the editor of Private Eye magazine since 1986.