Why did the BBC show people skinning and eating squirrels in studio?

Newsnight took a step into slightly more left-field territory last night.

By Cianan Brennan Friday 28 Aug 2015, 11:34 PM

Aug 28th 2015, 11:34 PM 9,873 Views 21 Comments

http://jrnl.ie/2299563

NEWSNIGHT IS ONE of the BBC’s many staples – a current affairs programme par excellence and home for many years to the incomparable Jeremy Paxman.

Why then did it decide to show people cooking and eating a squirrel last night?

It was all to prove a point about man’s odd culinary relationship with certain animals it seems.

Writer and environmentalist George Monbiot, who provoked outrage earlier this week when he revealed he cooked a squirrel he found dead on a road, repeated the feat on Newsnight together with nonplussed presenter James O’Brien.

And this is the result:

Source: BBC Newsnight/YouTube

Why an axe was a necessary implement we cannot say. Apparently however, according to a queasy looking O’Brien at any rate, the rodent tastes something like rabbit.

monb1

monb2

monb3

Monbiot believes that all farmed meat is basically unethical hence the diversion into roadkill.

It's not often that BBC security are approached by a producer and told "when a man carrying an axe turns up, let him in."@BBCNewsnight
— GeorgeMonbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) August 27, 2015

Source: GeorgeMonbiot/Twitter

My barbaric coup de theatre on Newsnight last night: https://t.co/Jx4Ph9fOWN
And here's the rationale: http://t.co/igauG7rt9M
— GeorgeMonbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) August 28, 2015

Source: GeorgeMonbiot/Twitter

And as you might expect the macabre spectacle has provoked a deal of reaction on Twitter, from the:

Amused

Hard man @mrjamesob looked as though he was about to faint/gag while @GeorgeMonbiot butchered a squirrel on @BBCNewsnight, Python-hilarious
— Simon Schama (@simon_schama) August 27, 2015

Source: Simon Schama/Twitter

… to the…

Incredulous

let me get this straight. George Monbiot butchered a squirrel with an axe, then cooked it live on Newsnight? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?
— Phil Dyson (@PhilDyson) August 28, 2015

Source: Phil Dyson/Twitter

When I got in last night, George Monbiot was cooking a squirrel on TV. No, I must have dreamt that, what was in that drink?
— Pete Dixon (@dixon_pete) August 28, 2015

Source: Pete Dixon/Twitter

… to the…

Bemused

I watched the Monbiot squirrel thing. One thing I didn't get: why was he using a wood axe?
— Hopi Sen (@hopisen) August 28, 2015

Source: Hopi Sen/Twitter

… and of course, those who

Agree 100%

As a vegetarian I'm totally on board with George Monbiot's article about roadkill, the knee jerk disgust over it is pretty hypocritical
— Miguel Sanchez (@UniverseInABall) August 28, 2015

Source: Michael/Twitter

Dull television it ain’t.

Read: Glastonbury’s left-behind wellies are being donated to the migrants in Calais

Read: Man ‘trapped in piece of furniture’ in Co Cork

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Why did the BBC show people skinning and eating squirrels in studio?

Newsnight took a step into slightly more left-field territory last night.

Read: Glastonbury’s left-behind wellies are being donated to the migrants in Calais