'I nearly didn't vote for Sadiq Khan because he drops his Gs,' caller confesses
1 August 2021, 16:09
'I nearly didn't vote for Sadiq Khan for dropping his Gs'
Amid the diction and elocution debate risen by a twitter spat between Alex Scott and Lord Digby Jones, this caller sided with the former cabinet minister.
Olivia phoned in from Harrow to have her say on the debate dividing the nation. Lord Digby Jones came under fire this weekend after criticising broadcaster and former England footballer Alex Scott for dropping her Gs when hosting Olympics coverage on the BBC.
Read More: Digby Jones tells LBC: I object to Alex Scott playing 'class card' in twitter row
"This topic gets me incensed," the caller told Maajid Nawaz, who, as a man from Essex and student of language, sided with Ms Scott in the row.
"I have really noticed this on TV a lot recently with for example Priti Patel and Sadiq Khan, and I have to turn it off. I just can't listen to it."
Maajid couldn't believe how upset the caller was, accepting that the Mayor of London does frequently drop his Gs in speech.
Lord Digby Jones defends his criticism of Alex Jones
"I almost didn't vote for him because of it. If you're not going to do the English language properly, why do anything properly?"
Read More: Alex Scott responds to Digby Jones after he said he 'can't stand' her accent
The caller elaborated that it isn't only an issue with public figures: "My mum and dad do it all the time but when she's on the phone of course, she puts on her posh phone voice."
"It's just laziness," she insisted.
Maajid Nawaz hosts accent debate between Scot and northern callers
Maajid pushed the caller: "Why is it necessarily wrong as opposed to a different way of pronouncing the same language?" He asked, noting that "with Arabic it happens as well."
"I can only speak on this, sort of, London, southern accent," Olivia clarified. Maajid tackled her and asked whether she ever says the word "yeah."
She admitted to doing so, but argued that she wouldn't if she was "making some sort of televised speech to the public" she wouldn't. "I'd say yes."
"The people in authority and positions of power and influence have a duty to speak the language properly," the caller concluded.
