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Economic Development

BBC broadcast branded 'ill-informed' for Birmingham manufacturing comments

Remarks by Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys on Today show cause backlash after he said manufacturing was moving in wrong direction

Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys has come under fire for comments he made about manufacturing on the Today show

Academics and business leaders have branded a broadcast "unfair and ill-informed" after claims manufacturing was "moving in the wrong direction".

Historian Professor Chinn has expressed "outrage" at comments by Radio 4 star presenter John Humphrys (listen below) in a broadcast for the flagship Today programme which centred on problems in Digbeth.

This comes against the backdrop of a where the BBC invests a fraction of its compared with expenditure anywhere else.

Prof Chinn has challenged Humphrys to return for a personal tour of the city's manufacturing success stories.

In the programme, broadcast to millions this week, Mr Humphrys discussed Birmingham with engineer Michael Salter, who claimed redevelopment had destroyed the area's history.

"There was a time in the 60s when Birmingham was rebuilt and it was fantastic...you go to other cities and you see the heritage of the buildings and everything, they've left next to nothing here," said Mr Salter.

Humphrys ended the broadcast by saying: "Digbeth is in need of something.

"It was manufacturing that made this city great and if a place like Digbeth cannot reinvent itself like the city centre, then it couldn't half do with a bit of that.