THE INDEPENDENT: What was the BBC doing, sending a reporter who can't speak German?
Dr Guido Westerwelle, head of the Free Democrats party in Germany, has just found himself in the effective position of kingmaker after the German elections, second in power only to Angela Merkel. He was in confident mood at his first press conference, and when the BBC reporter called out a question in English, he had no doubt on what to do. "If you would be so kind as to ask in German, since this is a press conference in Germany," he said in German. "Excuse me, I understand that you are from England, but just as you speak English in England, so one speaks German in Germany."
Some people, even in Germany, have criticised Westerwelle for his insistence, and suggested that in fact he couldn't answer in English. Actually, though his English is certainly not as horribly wonderful as many German politicians', and he does seem to make some trivial mistakes, it is perfectly serviceable. More curiously, what did the BBC think it was doing, sending a reporter to a press conference in Germany on the German elections, knowing that he couldn't or wouldn't speak any German? >>> Philip Hensher | Thursday, October 01, 2009
