Veteran BBC presenter quits over ‘diversity drive’

The presenter of Radio 4 show ‘Quote… Unquote’ said he resigned after feeling forced to book diverse but unsuitable guests

Nigel Rees, a BBC presenter for 46 years, has revealed that he resigned because he was unhappy with the corporation’s constant demand for “diversity.” He claims he was often made to invite certain guests as a box-ticking exercise.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Nigel Rees, the former presenter of Radio 4 show ‘Quote… Unquote’, who resigned last month, said that he felt his show was being interfered with by people above him who wanted to push their diversity agenda. 

“We had prescriptions to have diverse groups and disabled guests. I didn’t agree with it at all but I went along with it because I had to. It came from upstairs, and it seemed to be a general priority,” he stated.

Rees claimed that the BBC’s objectives often led to difficult situations in which the guest knew that they had been invited in the name of diversity. 


READ MORE: Minister gets trapped in BBC lift, misses interview slot

“I am not willing to go on having my choices interfered with in order to tick boxes in the name of diversity and representation,” Rees told the Sunday Times, adding: “It is difficult having it enforced for the sake of it. It is also patronizing, not least to the people who don’t want to be on because they feel they are ticking a box.”

Rees said that he felt his autonomy decline in recent years, having once had the ability to invite whom he wished onto the show. The BBC increasingly interfered in guest choices on the grounds that they could be offensive to the audience.

In a further example of this encroachment on his autonomy, Rees said he was asked not to mention certain lines from Noel Coward’s 1932 comic song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’. The BBC feared it would promote “colonial attitudes.”

The 77-year-old pitched ‘Quote… Unquote’ to the BBC 46 years ago and has since presented 57 series, hosting more than 500 guests. Dame Judi Dench, Sir David Attenborough, Anthony Horowitz, and Glenda Jackson have all taken part.

BoJo accused of ‘ignoring science’ on Covid

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has claimed the prime minister is failing to protect England

Wales’ first minister has doubled down on comments in which he accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “ignoring the science” on Covid-19 by refusing to introduce new measures to prevent the spread of Omicron.

Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, First Minister Mark Drakeford reiterated claims that England was a “global outlier” and was not protecting its people from the current wave of Covid-19. 

Drakeford said he is constantly asked why Wales is not doing the same thing as England. “My answer was to point out that in this debate it is not Wales that is the outlier,” he stated, adding that Scotland, Northern Ireland, and other nations around the world are doing the same thing.

He said it was not for him to answer on behalf of the UK government, which has jurisdiction over England. “I think they have not done what the science would have told them they should do,” he added, doubling down on Friday’s remarks in which he said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was “ignoring the science.” 


READ MORE: WATCH: Anti-vaccine passport protesters pelt MP with seaweed 

Wales is currently subject to Alert Level 2 restrictions, with masks mandated indoors and restaurant bookings limited to six people. Indoor events with more than 30 people and outdoor events for more than 50 people are prohibited. 

“When we have different messages across our border that does make it more difficult for us,” Drakeford added. 

Despite the lack of restrictions in England, the most populous nation of the UK has the lowest Covid-19 infection rates; the current figure stands at 1,924 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, Wales’s infection rate is 2,380 cases per 100,000 people. 

Welsh rules have also angered many in the sporting world, with Drakeford insisting that the stadium of English football team Chester is in Wales, and therefore must play their games behind closed doors. Wales’ rugby stars have also called to play their upcoming Six Nations games in England to avoid playing in an empty stadium.

WATCH: Arrests at massive anti-lockdown protest

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Belgian capital of Brussels to protest the government’s Covid-19 restrictions

A massive crowd flooded the streets of the Belgian capital, with demonstrators calling for “freedom” and demanding that authorities abolish the Covid-19 health pass required to enter various venues.

The large-scale protest, which was joined by thousands of people, was organized by an umbrella group, “Samen Voor Vrijheid” (‘Together for Freedom’). The crowd, chanting “Liberty!” and “Freedom!” and holding placards denouncing what they called the government’s “vaccine dictatorship,” marched through the city center from the Gare du Nord railway station to the Parc du Cinquantenaire to the east.

The demonstration attracted several public figures and politicians, including even some European Parliament members. “We are asking for our rights, freedom and our liberty back,” a Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes, from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, told Politico.

“What is happening right now all across Europe, it’s an indescribable abuse that we haven’t seen, at least in the West, since the Second World War,” he added. According to the police, the march was attended by some 5,000 participants.

The organizers named a much higher figure, stating that around 25,000 joined the rally. The organizers also denounced “freedom-restricting measures,” which they said were not a “structural solution.” Such measures were “no longer justifiable,” they argued, and called “anyone who senses that something is not right” to join the cause.

Thousands take to the streets in Brussels, Belgium today to march in protest against vaccine passports and COVID tyranny.pic.twitter.com/FjL3HEfPKQ

— Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 9, 2022

The demonstration was largely peaceful unlike a similar event in November 2021, which ended in major scuffles with police. However, some protesters were still throwing pyrotechnics and burning Christmas trees placed in front of several buildings for decoration, as videos published on social media suggest.

Police responded with tear gas. More than 30 people were detained, including 11 who were arrested even before the event started, over possession of pyrotechnics and flammable materials, police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keere told local media. After the demonstration, a small group of protesters sought to confront the police, but law enforcement quickly got the situation under control.

30 arrested as thousands protest COVID-19 restrictions in Brussels

Around 5,000 protesters, according to the police, took to the streets of Belgium’s capital on Sunday to protest anti-Covid regulations and the vaccination pass.#belgium #brussels #covid_19 #covid_19 #antivex pic.twitter.com/AS0691pbFY

— 5 News Australia (@5NewsAustralia) January 10, 2022

The protest came even though Belgian officials avoided imposing tougher measures last week. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned that “the coming weeks will be difficult” and said that infection numbers are likely to rise.


READ MORE: Dozens detained amid protests over anti-Covid restrictions in Brussels (VIDEOS)

On Sunday, Belgium’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke also called for a parliamentary debate on tougher rules and even mulled over introducing mandatory vaccination. “A year ago, I was saying: compulsory vaccination is not a good idea,” he said, adding that “now, knowing that we really need to vaccinate 100 percent of the population … we still need some sort of generalized take-up.”