An opponent of Scottish independence and a former co-presenter of Rogue Restaurants for BBC One, Bradford born Anita Rani’s appointment this week as a presenter of the Friday and Saturday editions of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour is a breath of fresh air.  

Known for being a place of forthright views – with the programme’s stalwart Dame Jenni Murray having pointedly declared of the Archers potentially quitting The Archers in November 2014: “I will kill the editor if he lets David and Ruth and Jill go to Northumberland. Brookfield simply cannot go. It’s just not possible; there will be a national scandal if that happens,” for example – Rani marked her arrival by telling home-schooling parents: “If you’ve had enough, pour yourself a G&T, you have my permission” whilst tuning in to her morning show.

Plainly a woman after our own hearts with a “if you can’t have one at eleven, have eleven at one” attitude, Anita Rani has previously stated: “I’ve hated being putted into boxes my whole life.” Now, in declaring her love of gin, she’s most definitely boxing clever and is well on her way to getting the approval of the famously gin-soaked Lillian Bellamy of The Archers, but also the entire nation.

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The Hour Glass, 279 – 283 Brompton Road, London, SW3 2DY. Follow on Twitter @thehourglassSK.
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In making ‘Gender X’ pest Jack Monroe admit she got it wrong over milkshaking, Michael Portillo proved himself a truly talented debater Jack Monroe is the kind of person who’d have justly got bullied at school. Annoying and condescending, this far-left ‘Gender X’ harpy bizarrely berated Jamie Oliver for coming up with affordable ways to […]

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Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Anita Rani – Gin loving radio presenter – Anita Rani arrives as a BBC Radio 4 ‘Woman’s Hour’ morning show presenter and announces: “If you’ve had enough, pour yourself a G&T, you have my permission.”
Previously in her BBC One show ‘War on Plastic: The Fight Goes On’ last August with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Anita Rani sensibly declared: “It’s been a tough time for everyone, but now that we are getting into the rhythm of the new world we can remember the importance of sustainability. If once again we come together, we can make change happen. We need big businesses and government to make bold and important decisions to get single use plastic out of the system.”
Heroine of the Hour 2021 – Anita Rani – Gin loving radio presenter – Anita Rani arrives as a BBC Radio 4 ‘Woman’s Hour’ morning show presenter and announces: “If you’ve had enough, pour yourself a G&T, you have my permission.”
Lillian Bellamy – played by the delightful Sunny Ormonde in ‘The Archers’ and a lady with her own Facebook fan club – is possibly Radio 4’s best known gin swiller and now Anita Rani has quite rightly got in on the act in urging her listeners to take up the view: “Time is only for the middle classes” when it comes to gin drinking.
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