Very well played, Newsnight.
Brexit is currently dominating the news agenda across the pond in the United Kingdom; if you were any doubt about that, all you need to do is check out some of the, eh, interesting front pages on Friday morning.
Calling for a symbolic gesture to mark Britain’s impending exit from the European Union, Conservative MP Andrew Rossindell called on the BBC to play the national anthem, ‘God Save the Queen,’ at the end of each day.
I am calling for BBC1 to play our national anthem at the end of each day! https://t.co/cjOMb45Ba7
— Andrew Rosindell MP 🇬🇧🏴 (@AndrewRosindell) November 3, 2016
It’s not Rossindell’s first attempt to reintroduce a tradition that was scrapped by the BBC in 1997, with Rossindell proposing that it should be played on BBC One before the switch over to BBC News 24 every day.
The BBC turned down Rossindell’s request on the basis that it already plays the national anthem at appropriate times (such as the Queen’s Christmas broadcast) and because “it (BBC One) doesn’t close down in the evening”.
As if to really rub it in, however, Newsnight did play ‘God Save the Queen’ on Thursday night, although the lyrics in this version have an entirely different meaning than the song Rossindell was looking for.
By popular demand, here's our playout from last night… pic.twitter.com/0woMdwAlmi
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 4, 2016
Very well played.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
