HOBNOBGATE

There’s a good analysis here of ‘Hobnobgate’ – the ridiculous BBC hypocrisy over Andrew Neil’s lighthearted (and even affectionate) remark on the BBC1 programme This Week that panellist MP Diane Abbott was like a “chocolate hobnob”, while her companion Michael Portillo was more like a “custard cream”. As Christopher Hart eloquently points out, the PC police at the BBC go into flatspin panic the minute 10 Guardian readers complain about alleged racism, while they do virtually nothing at all when an oaf like Jonathan Ross mounts a nasty, vicious, spiteful attack on the gentle Andrew Sachs. And what steps are our revered senior managers at the BBC taking to rid us of genuinely offensive parts of their output, such as using the f-word at every opportunity, or getting Andrew Marr to present an analysis of British history (as he did last night)? His programme was so full of crass class-hatred judgments that the best comparison is with 1066 And All That (although not nearly as funny).