[Matt]

THOUSANDS COMPLAIN TO BBC FOR DROPPING CAROL THATCHER IN RACE ROW

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The BBC has received more than 2,200 complaints over its decision to drop Carol Thatcher after she referred to a professional tennis player as a "golliwog".

The corporation said today it had so far logged 2,245 complaints against the decision to sack Thatcher, while it has received 60 calls and emails supporting its decision.

Thatcher, the daughter of former prime minister Lady Thatcher, was dropped as a roving reporter on BBC1's The One Show on Tuesday night after refusing to make a full public apology over the remark made in the show's backstage green room.

Her spokeswoman said it was an off-the-cuff remark made "in jest".

BBC1 controller Jay Hunt today strongly defended the corporation's decision, saying it had caused offence to several members of production staff.

Hunt said Thatcher had described the black tennis player as "golliwog" in front of 12 people, including The One Show presenter Adrian Chiles, guest Jo Brand and a senior charity worker from Comic Relief.

Chiles, Brand and other staff had been offended, said Hunt, and the next day an executive producer spoke to Thatcher about the remark, prompting an email apology from her in which she said the comment had been a joke.

"What she decides to say at home in private is one thing, but we have given Carol ample opportunity to give a fulsome apology and she has chosen not to do so. She maintains that her comment was made in jest," Hunt said in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning.

"This is not her working in a private space and she was not in the pub with her friends. She was sitting in a BBC green room on BBC premises surrounded by a diverse production team on The One Show speaking to a BBC booked guest, a BBC booked celebrity and in the presence of a senior production worker from Comic Relief. In those circumstances she was effectively operating in a workplace."

Hunt added that Thatcher has not been banned or sacked by the BBC and is still working for the corporation.

"But The One show prides itself on the diversity of its production team and its range of coverage across the country, and I think everybody would be able to see that that is not an appropriate place for her to work now."

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Source: Guardian

(Edit: Oops, sorry for putting this in its own thread. I must have pressed 'Topic' rather than 'Reply'...)