“Produced in Salford”? Not any more.

The most galling thing about Radio 4 is its insistence on saying “Produced in Salford” after every programme made there. They never say “Produced in London” after those made at Broadcasting House. “Produced in Salford” rubs taxpayers’ noses in the fact that the BBC spent £1 billion of public money, shifting TV and radio production to their soulless new MediaCity in Salford. It hasn’t been a great success because a lot of people can’t or don’t want to travel to Salford. And when they do, it’s proved ruinously expensive. So Woman’s Hour is the first programme to be moved back to London. It won’t be the last. In the capital, people work 30% harder than the national average. In Salford, let’s just say there’s “a different pace of life”. As I watched MediaCity empty, like a Northern factory at 5.29, this was the song I heard in my head.