The Level of Hostility

Rod Liddle, of both David Lindsay for Parliament and The 2020 Vision, writes:

Should northerners, with their interminable pies and poverty, be allowed on to the BBC political discussion programme, Question Time? The corporation is being accused of “bias” because last week’s show came from Middlesbrough, a town with high unemployment and a large proportion of public sector jobs due for the axe.

The Transport Minister, Philip Hammond, was reportedly “shocked” at the level of hostility towards the government’s programme of cuts. This is either a staggering lack of political awareness or a geographical misapprehension – Philip may have thought that Middlesbrough was somewhere on the South Downs and full of BMWs and Labradors, with a nice pub in the centre where you can get a lovely roast on a Sunday.

Perhaps, to be on the safe side and stay on good terms with the government, the BBC should ban northerners from appearing on any programmes, just in case they start to moan. An exception could be made for certain situation comedies and Match of the Day.