We're on the Road to Nowhere

My old 'template' for how Mark Mardell's The World This Weekend covers Brexit...

...where a strong anti-Brexit angle would open the programme then, after the news, a string of anti-Brexit experts would appear making a damning case against Brexit and, finally, a pro-Brexit interviewee would appear to answer all the charges (often with Mark interrupting). 

...is still in regular use. 

Today's edition was nothing new under the sun in this respect, except that Matthew Price was in the chair instead of Mark Mardell.

The strong anti-Brexit angle which opened the programme was that the UK's road haulage industry would be very badly hit by a no deal Brexit. The string of anti-Brexit experts (with Matthew explicitly describing his first guest as "an expert") did indeed make a damning case against Brexit, and the final pro-Brexit interviewee - here Andrew Bridgen MP - duly appeared to answer all the charges and got interrupted. 

From the end of the news bulletin, the build-up to the interview with Mr Bridgen lasted nine minutes, the interview with Mr Bridgen four minutes. (I've heard worse, balance-wise). But the interruptions had me laughing, as Matthew first interrupted the Tory backbencher three seconds into his first answer, interrupted him again four seconds into his second answer and interrupted him five seconds into his third answer. 

Maybe he deserved it. The BBC's transport correspondent, listening, says the MP got his facts wrong:

The pro-EU #FBPE community was again pleasantly surprised:

• Great (for once) item on R4 World this Weekend, interview with Kevin Hopper, haulier re Brexit. Tory MP  in response had no clue. #PeoplesVote
• I thought @BBCMatthewPrice did a fine job here. But sad that it stands out as unusual re-the beeb and Brexit interrogation.
• Good #wato
• Remarkable performance wasn’t it? The presenter tried (much better from the BBC) but was so exasperated he could barely conceal his despair.

They are having a good day, Radio 4-wise.

P.S. I'm sure the BBC's Tom Burridge wouldn't demur from the following explainer, which I've just seen on Twitter:

Why can’t people understand motorways?! 

Left lane - lorries/anxious people
Middle lane - middle lane hoggers
Right lane - people going at 90+ 

It’s not difficult. 

Rant for the Day

It's the perennial question facing bloggers about BBC bias: Do our own biases bias us against the BBC's reporting, or is the BBC biased? Well, please judge for yourselves here...

When I started listening to Broadcasting House on Radio 4 this morning, I was expecting the Muslim Brotherhood side of the Egyptian argument to be given the lead, given that it's been given the lead over recent days on almost every BBC programme I've seen or heard, and almost the opening thing I heard on the programme was the voice of an MB supporter screaming that Morsi was elected and 'where are human rights?' and 'where is democracy?' 

My eyes raised to heaven [as I'm no fan of the Muslim Brotherhood]...and raised again when Hugh Sykes turned up to bemoan the plight of the "politically pragmatic" Brotherhood.

"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought.

He didn't though, and pursued his familiar BBC narrative, stopping along the way (as Hugh is prone to do) to whinge about the wicked West and its wicked ways: "An Islamist who believed that the West believed in democracy, whatever the result. First Hamas in 2006. Now Egypt in 2013. Democracy dismissed. Twice. Dumped." [Cue the screaming MB supporter from the programme's introduction].

"Bugger off, Hugh!", I thought again.

Paddy O'Connell was consequently struck by "the passion from the street" [ie. from the Muslim Brotherhood], as reported by Hugh Sykes. 

An interesting report on the plight of pubs was followed by an interview with a Tory politician on the same subject. Paddy talked politics - "Mrs Thatcher", "bucking the markets", the Big Society hasn't been mentioned "for a thousand years", "breaking up big brewers", etc.

"Bugger off, Paddy!", I thought. 

Something about Hemel Hempstead (Britain's ugliest place) followed from Radio 4's 'Ed Reardon'. It completely by-passed my humour gland - though Paddy had a good chortle at it. (Genuinely? Or merely out of professional courtesy?)

Then it was off to Gibraltar. A BBC reporter was on patriotic duty on board a Royal Navy ship...no, scrub that...the BBC's Tom Burridge was on board a Spanish fishing boat, sailing into Gibraltar's waters.

"Bugger off, Tom!", I thought.

Still, at least he also reported from the queues outside Gibraltar, where British people were not happy at being kept waiting for hours on end, thanks to the Spanish blockade.

After all that swearing I will now go and wash my mouth out with soap and water.