Have I Got News for You the BBC two years later. In April 2003, three-time guest panellist Stephen Fry announced that he was boycotting the show following the sacking of Angus Deayton. Fry described Deayton's disposal as "greasy, miserable, British and pathetic". On 23 November 2007, Ann Widdecombe appeared as a guest host for the second time, with Jimmy Carr as Hislop's teammate. Due to Carr's risqué material, Widdecombe vowed she would never appear on "Have I Got News for You" again. She said, "His idea of wit is a barrage of filth and the sort of humour most men grow out of in their teens.
Have I Got News for You the sharpest crack I made all evening — and the one that received the most audience laughter — was cut for transmission." The edition of 26 April 2013 prompted over 100 complaints to the BBC and Ofcom for its perceived anti-Scottish stance during a section discussing Scottish independence. Ian Hislop had suggested Mars bars would become the currency of a post-independence Scotland, while guest host Ray Winstone added, "To be fair the Scottish economy has its strengths – its chief exports being oil, whisky, tartan and tramps." In April 2018, both Hislop and Merton claimed in an interview for the