An astonishing show of ignorance (From Borehamwood Times)

An astonishing show of ignorance

10:00am Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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A group of us from the Borehamwood & Elstree Times and colleagues from our sister papers went to see Who Wants to be a Millionaire? being filmed at Elstree Studios last night.

The evening produced a couple of rare events. In the opening ‘Fastest Finger First’ contest, not a single person got the right answer, which I suspect won’t make the final cut. (The task was to put events in Oliver Twist’s life in chronological order).

Then about 20 minutes later, 81 per cent of the audience helped a bewilderingly cheerful woman lose £19,000 — apparently this was the highest ever wrong percentage in ‘Ask the Audience’.

This was despite the floor manager urging everyone at the start of the show not vote unless absolutely sure of the answer. So 81 per cent of those who voted thought that the only time alcohol was allowed in the House of Commons was during the state opening of Parliament.

Did they not recall Kenneth Clarke sipping his whisky while cutting duty on alcohol in a Budget speech back in the Nineties, I wanted to shout?

But these lapses of knowledge, for me, were not the most infuriating part of the night. They were surpassed by a couple of moments of real, maddening ignorance shown by the warm-up guy, whose job was to entertain the audience in the boring bits.

Until about half way through, he was doing pretty well in keeping us happy after we had queued for half an hour in the freezing cold.

After all, he has been doing this since the show first aired in 1998 no doubt aiming the same mild insults at the production staff and making the same farting noises when people sat down etc.

But then he called some of his colleagues pikeys. And later on gyppos.

All in front of about 200 people who duly laughed.

These words make my blood boil. They are, after all, racist.

Gypsies are defined by law as a racial group.

I can’t wait for the day that pikey is as unacceptable as another P word that, thankfully, is rarely used these days.

And I’m well aware that my stance on this will annoy some of our readers, who have seen fit to use this word on comments on this website in the past.

If you agree with me, please comment below to show me I’m not a lone voice in deploring this ignorance.

If you don’t, please explain why.

PS: My colleagues who were also there last night have suggested some other offensive incidents that merit inclusion in this wall of shame.

Firstly, Chris Tarrant’s repeated ‘hi ho!’ remarks to a short man who was responsible for brushing bits off his suit, which he shouted gleefully while patting him on his head.

Secondly, Tarrant’s remark to a make-up artist who added extra powder to his face half way through, that she had ‘come along way since she he saw her on a pole last Tuesday night’.

Thirdly, a glut of sexist and homophobic remarks throughout the night from the warm-up guy, which are sadly still a mainstay of the many similar stand-up comics who are stuck in the Eighties.

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