I’ve had a lot of friends listen to this, and in some cases told them he’s saying ‘grub’ and they’ve burst into laughter because it really doesn’t sound like ‘grub’ at all. Did he get away with it? Bishop is a terribly biased speaker (I too watch far, far too much Question Time) so I don’t think there was much danger of her being too harsh. The microphones pick up directly what the immediate person speaking says and not so much of the ambient noise (they can virtually shut off the sound to individual members) so it isn’t that surprising that other people couldn’t hear what he said when it is clear to us listening at home.
Now, I’m not saying he absolutely, certainly used that word that upsets my wife terribly, but it does sound an awful lot like it and at the moment, and considering the little creep that he is, I’m prepared to make a judgement that he did, indeed, say the word. And if he didn’t then, no doubt he was thinking something worse, sorry I have no sympathy for Pyne in any circumstances.
