Radio host who said ‘I hate polls’ confronted live on air by caller thinking he meant Polish people

Irate listener phones in to ‘explain a few things’ to Talkradio presenter Mike Graham after mix-up

A radio presenter who declared he “hates polls” was confronted live on air by a Polish caller who thought he had been referring to “Poles”.

The irate listener, known only as “Michael from New Malden” phoned in to “explain a few things” to Talkradio host Mike Graham during his show on Tuesday.

Commenting on opinion polling of the public’s voting intentions, Mr Graham remarked that he “hates polls” and “doesn’t trust polls”.

Michael, under the impression the presenter was instead talking about Polish people, called in to express his anger at the statement.

“You said that you don’t like Polish people and you don’t trust them,” he told Mr Graham.

“You must’ve misheard me, I like Polish people a lot,” the host replied: “I wasn’t talking about Polish people, I was talking about polls, like when you do a poll to find out what people think.

Unconvinced by the explanation, Michael pressed the host, telling him: “No, but later on you said you don’t trust them.”

“No, I don’t trust polls and I don’t like polls, but that’s not Polish people,” the presenter responded.

“Oh, that’s what I thought, that’s what I picked up.” The caller laughed: “In this case I never learned English.

“I was thinking ‘what the hell? What’s going on here? I must ring up and explain a few things’.”

Mr Graham had been broadcasting his show, The Independent Republic of Mike Graham, live from outside parliament at the time the call took place.