Events | 2009.10.27
Hugh Muir's diary
Hope they make some new friends at the BBC, because they are sure making some enemies
It\'s a rough old game, this equalities business, where even the good days are only 24 hours long. No surprise, then, that the high of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission\'s legal victory against the BNP should have been quickly followed by the low of seeing the BBC preparing the red carpet for Nick Griffin. And if the two public bodies don\'t quite see eye to eye today, expect things to get worse as mutterings increase within the super watchdog about the way the BBC has handled its invitation to Griffin to address the nation on Question Time. Some of the muttering wonders whether the BBC might feel better equipped to deal with these things were it to be placed under a specific legal duty to preserve "good relations", as are many public authorities. The idea has already been opposed by the BBC but if others see it as a helpful way to keep rabble-rousers off screen, such a requirement could always be popped into the equalities bill. No muss, no fuss. If the BBC is in a bind, many stand ready to help.
No doubt that Thursday\'s stand-off will be a ratings smash, so it\'s vital that the Beeb takes full advantage. What other programmes might it show before and after? The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – that heart-rending boy\'s eye view of the horrors of Auschwitz – in the run-up perhaps? And afterwards? Well, Roman Polanski is topical. His film, The Pianist, is about the experience of Polish Jews under occupation. Schedulers would doubtless value other suggestions.
There\'s talk on the web of a viewers\' boycott but then polite society does have ways of showing its displeasure. Just yesterday we learned that the Trafigura Art Prize will, as of now, be called The Young Masters Art Prize. A subtle change prompted by the fact that arty types, having read about the oil firm\'s decision to send toxic waste to the Ivory Coast, want nothing more to do with the company. No sponsor, no cash prizes. But much cleaner hands.
Any suggestion the Taxpayers\' Alliance is in cahoots with the Tories is "laughable," its supporters say; so won\'t its people stick out a bit on Friday at the 6th Young Britons\' Foundation Activist Training Conference, an event "for conservative activists who want to win"? Stranded alongside Eric Pickles MP, Daniel Hannan, Guido Fawkes, Iain Dale will be shadow ministers from the Home Office, the Treasury and the MoD. John Prescott, on his blog, sympathises. "Every shade of the political spectrum," he notes. "As long as that shade is dark blue."
No surprise if Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir is feeling a tad introspective after seeing the Press Complaints Commission\'s website overwhelmed by 22,000 responses to her insinuations about the late singer Stephen Gately. But there is nothing approaching self-doubt on the paper\'s sports pages. Columnist Jeff Powell was, we learn, described by the boxing commentator Al Bernstein as "a very revered writer". And who told us that? Jeff Powell.
And pity the boy who released the red beach ball, distracting Liverpool\'s goalkeeper and resulting in a winning goal for Sunderland. His face pixelated on Match of the Day and again, for his own protection in the Sun\'s goal supplement yesterday; but there for all to see in the main paper. Add to that the Sun\'s plea, "Do You Know Beach Ball Lad?" a question posted on the web and then hastily taken down, (alas, repeated in the Mirror) and you\'ll see why this may be an uncomfortable time for the unfortunate fan. Be kind, it was an accident.
Finally back with a new album and re-opening the debate about whether they write songs like they used to, is our favourite diva Mariah Carey. "If we were two Lego blocks, even the entire Harvard graduating class of two-thousand-and-ten couldn\'t put us back together again," she trills on her latest album. Sometimes folk complain that they can\'t hear what Mariah (pictured) is saying. Sometimes, that\'s for the best.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/20/hugh-muir-mariah-carey
