Question Time for David Dimbleby: How many legs does a scorpion have?

BBC presenter gets tattoo wrong

(BBC)

“Don’t get a tattoo, you’ll regret it” is the warning conservative parents give their children.

Don’t get a tattoo, you’ll regret it” is the warning conservative parents give their children.

But despite David Dimbleby waiting until he was 75, the presenter may already be filled with post-tattoo regret, after making a crucial mistake in the design.

Following close inspection, experts agree there appears to be one problem: the tattoo has a mere six legs and pincers instead of the eight it should possess as a member of the related arachnids.

The Natural History Museum are among those that remain adamant that scorpions have eight legs, not six - “unless you were to chop two of them off”.

(BBC)

However there is some hope of a defence. A spokesman for the museum said that some insects – such as the Devil's Coach Horse – can look a bit like scorpions; but with just six legs.

Dimbleby decided to get the permanent body marking after exploring tattoo artistry as part of his latest programme Britain and the Sea.

The commentator, who has been presenting the BBC’s general election coverage since 1979, was offered the inking while investigating how tattoos were introduced to the UK as a result of Captain Cook’s South Seas adventures.

Although the presenter himself was not available for comment, the east London tattoo parlour which drew the scorpion told the BBC News website Mr Dimbleby had provided his own design.