Serious cringing ensued
The Law Society of England and Wales’ president Joe Egan has apologised after he made a remark about a TV presenter that some have interpreted as sexist.
Mishal Husain (pictured top left), who regularly appears on BBC shows such as the Today programme and BBC News, was drafted in by Chancery Lane bigwigs to help compère its “Excellence Awards”. Husain studied law both at Cambridge and later in Italy.
With the awards having been handed out, the glitzy affair at the five-star London Hilton in Mayfair then took a turn when Egan (pictured top right) delivered his closing speech.
According to weekly legal blog RollOnFriday, the Bolton-based solicitor allegedly said “words to the effect of”:
“Thank you all for coming. If none of you had come, it wouldn’t have been any good. It would have just been me and Mishal on our own. Which, actually…”
Unnamed sources are reported by the blog to have claimed that he then “raised his eyebrows suggestively”.
Apparently the ill-judged comment was met with “heads in hands” and “mass cringing”. Egan — who was only elevated to the top spot earlier this summer — has apologised for the remark. In a statement issued to Legal Cheek and other publications he said:
“I am sorry if any off the cuff remarks caused offence to Mishal, this was never my intention.”