Labour of lab for dog fans

LABRADORS are Britain’s most huggable dogs… according to women.

But while most females plumped for the smooth coats of labs in a survey to mark National Love Your Pet Day yesterday – men went for the comparative fluffiness of cockapoos.

Bichon frise, boxers and Staffordshire bull terriers were all among the runners-up in the survey carried out by dog food makers Butternut Box.

Why do TV companies such as the BBC and ITV get diversity so wrong?

I’ve worked at both corporations, and I’ve always felt that they fail to grasp that I am British with a South Asian heritage.

And while I may have a different cultural stance on certain topics – due to an upbringing that reflected my parents’ Islamic teachings and Pakistani cultural practices – beneath the colour of my skin, I’m like any other woman in the UK.

I’ve always maintained that there is excellent diverse talent out there, but you won’t find it in middle-class acting schools being searched by white middle-class talent scouts. But the movie Rocks, which has won the British Independent Film Award, took a different approach. Director Sarah Gavron and casting director Lucy Pardee auditioned some 1,300 students, most of whom had no acting experience, and chose talented diversity to fill the roles. Streaming giants Netflix and Amazon are also using their “inclusivity lenses”, sweeping up audiences of those who can’t relate to terrestrial TV by casting people who look like them in prominent roles and not just as sidekicks to tick diversity boxes. Well done to the girls in Rocks – you really do rock!