Day BBC’s golden girl became a spokesman for Corbyn
What a miserable week it has been for the BBC’s Golden – or should that be former Golden – Girl Mishal husain. First there was the shambolic leaders’ debate in Cambridge which, as moderator, she singularly failed to moderate.
at times this bear pit was little more than a bad-tempered slanging match that appalled viewers, and is now the subject of a complaint by the tories for the audience’s clear Left-wing bias.
She made little attempt to rein in the Corbynista mob in full cry and appeared out of her depth. then yesterday another car-crash interview in the style that Diane abbott has made popular in recent weeks. But this time it was the interviewer – Ms husain – rather than the interviewee in trouble.
Despite misgivings in the Beeb over husain’s lightweight performance in the debate, she was handed the prize interview at 8.10am with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Radio 4’s today programme.
Little has been seen or heard of Boris during the campaign so his opinions were keenly awaited – not least, as a former London Mayor, his views on the London Bridge attack.
Unfortunately, listeners didn’t get much chance to hear them. adopting an aggressive, even menacing tone, husain constantly cut across the increasingly exasperated Foreign Secretary with little evidence of the impartiality the BBC claims it is so proud of in its journalists. It seemed all too clear where her sympathies lay.
In an extraordinary exchange, Mr Johnson laid into Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for his consistent refusal to back counter-terrorist measures over three decades. But husain insisted on breaking in to ‘set the record straight’, parroting exactly what Corbyn said in the aftermath of London Bridge and ignoring his previous position.
this has prompted criticism that she was acting as ‘Corbyn’s spokesperson.’
the low point came when Johnson scorned the idea Diane abbott, as home secretary in a Labour government, would have the skills to deal with a major terrorist attack.
It was too much for husain, 44, who jumped in with a good impression of a teacher disciplining an unruly child, saying: ‘No, no, please stop talking.’ Johnson, clearly taken aback, said: ‘But you have invited me on your show to talk.’
husain ploughed on, trying to move him on from talking about abbott by chiding: ‘You are the Foreign Secretary, you have a big job in government.’
Within minutes of the interview ending, a call was made to the office of James harding, the BBC’s Director of News, by a senior figure at tory hQ.
‘after the leaders’ debate we were disappointed with the tone and conduct of the interview,’ a source told the Mail.
asked if husain was a regular problem the source said: ‘We are not going to personalise it but you heard the interview and tV debate.’
More charitable colleagues blame the Johnson debacle on husain’s lack of confidence following the Cambridge debate.
to be fair, up to now she’s had a glittering record. When she was appointed presenter on today in 2013, it was seen as confirmation that a talented broadcaster was being fasttracked to stardom.
and it helped that she ticked all the right boxes for the politically correct corporation: a 40-something working mother and the first Muslim female today presenter.
She established herself on today while continuing to read the 10pm news on BBC1 at weekends. In 2014, she won plaudits for her reports from Pakistan after 100 children were murdered by the taliban. a year later she was named Broadcaster of the Year.
the decision to entrust the leaders’ debate to husain confirmed her ascendancy, leaving behind her experienced co-presenters Justin Webb and Sarah Montague.
HUSaIN was born in Northampton and moved aged two with her parents to the United arab Emirates. at 12, she returned to England to attend boarding school before reading law at Cambridge.
husain, who lives in hampstead in north London – a favourite with luvvies – with her husband, lawyer Meekal hashmi and their three sons, made an instant impression when she joined the white male-dominated BBC in 1998. Clever, charming, and ruthlessly ambitious, she built a following as the main evening anchor of BBC World News.
Meticulous and hard-working, she’s nevertheless left some colleagues unimpressed by recent events. ‘the tV debate was a disaster,’ a senior BBC figure said yesterday. ‘She never got to grip with the panellists let alone that baying mob audience.’
Of the today interview, another said: ‘She spoke almost as much as Johnson and was trying to get herself noticed to make-up for the shambles in Cambridge.’
he pointed out that in 2009, when Gordon Brown was prime minister, eyebrows were raised when it emerged husain had been paid to host events for the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
But it is her unquestioning political correctness that most exasperates some of her today colleagues. ‘She’s very beautiful and very bright,’ said one, ‘but she’s achingly liberal and right on and doesn’t have a clue what most people in Britain think.’