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| Mishal Husain in Hull |
Today sent Mishal Husain to Hull (today) to mark the start (tomorrow) of Hull's year as UK City of Culture (next year).
(Did her train run behind the backs of houses, cross a street of blinding windscreens? Did she smell the fish-dock? Probably not the latter these days.)
She evidently brought her own concerns along for the ride, particularly Brexit.
Her interview with Finbarr Dowling of Siemens (just after 7.30) was particularly obsessive - and fruitless. Instead of summarising it myself, here are some reactions from Twitter which sum it up very well:
- Mishal Husain couldn't get Siemens to condemn Brexit despite best efforts. Nothing positive. BBC imbalance yet again.
- Can @BBCr4today please blacklist Finbarr Dowling? He didn't complain about Brexit enough. Very unfair on the interviewer.
- Mishal failed miserably to get a negative #Brexit response from Siemens CEO.
- @MishalHusainBBC tried everything to persuade @SiemensUKNews to condemn #brexit - but failed.
Though Hull was heavily pro-Leave (68%) in the referendum the balance of guests this morning was typically pro-Remain (by a margin of at least 3:1).
And Matthew Price did one of his 'vox pop' reports from the poorest estate in Hull (in one of the poorest cities in the UK) and still only managed to talk to people unhappy with the Leave vote.
(Thankfully, the other reports from other BBC reporters, Sima Kotecha and Sanchia Berg, also in Hull, weren't as Leave-voter free).
Matthew, having give us one anti-Brexit voice, then said that others here "aren't as articulate" (charming!) and duly spoke to some such people (though they expressed no views on Brexit).
Good old Today sports presenter Gary Richardson didn't so down too well on Twitter either for repeatedly describing the cafe he was broadcasting from as being "like Last of the Summer Wine", saying it was the sort of place where he could imagine Nora Batty shouting out about whether someone wants a cup of tea. The Twitter crowd found that "patronising". (I was more concerned about Gary's ignorance about Last of the Summer Wine as, as you'll doubtless already know, it was actually Ivy who was the one who usually shouted about tea.
Gary Richardson's like one of those very loud people at party who tell the woman whose husband has just died of cancer to "Cheer up love it might never happen." He probably calls Mishal, Michelle and asks her what is was like wearing a Burka in Saudi for all those years..."Did you get a bit hot under the collar about it?"
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