Jeremy Vine has been slapped with 383 Ofcom complaints from raging viewers after a guest said “minorities have to be squashed” on the Channel 5 show.
Ofcom, the media regulator, received over 300 complaints from viewers following its broadcast on Friday (1 October) when it hosted a controversial debate about protestors in the M25 – who were part of the Insulate Britain protests.
During the debate on on Friday (1 October), radio presenter Mike Parry shocked viewers when he slammed minorities, declaring that the UK was “too tolerant” towards them.
Mike Parry appeared as a panelist on the show alongside journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, but the segment took a tense turn when Mike ranted about minorities.
(Image: Channel 5)
Mike had said: “The problem in this country in all areas is that minorities always get the upper hand because we’re so tolerant.”
Discussing the eco-protestors on the M25, Jeremy said: “If they’re going to get superglue and glue themselves to the road, you’ve got to think about ripping them off.”
Mike agreed, insisting: “You do! Of course you do!”
Jeremy continued: “You do, haven’t you? You’ve got to say, if this is the situation where you say, ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to tear you off.
(Image: Channel 5)
Yasmin disagreed as she replied: “Listen, I’m old enough to remember the Greenham Common Women and we did fantastic stuff that everybody got incredibly cross about.
Mike shot back: “Yes, but they didn’t inconvenience millions of other people,”
Yasmin argued: “I think, if we are a free society – and I’m very glad to be living in a free society – then we have to put up with some of this.
“When the farmers took to the roads, none of the traditional right wing papers objected in the way they’re objecting now-“
(Image: Channel 5)
However, Mike burst out with: “Not to the detriment of millions of other people.”
“The problem in this country in all areas is that minorities always get the upper hand because we’re so tolerant.”
He then slammed his hand on the table as he fumed: “And minorities have to be squashed like that!”
Yasmin was visibly taken aback as she said: “Oh my god.”
(Image: PA)
Mike’s comments sparked a furious outburst from viewers on Twitter, with one tweeting: “This is unbelievable- Mike Parry: ‘The problem in this country, in all areas, is that the minorities always get the upper hand cos we’re so tolerant & minorities have to be squashed, like that!”
A second had penned: “WTF! ‘Minorities have to be squashed, like that!”
However, Mike himself took to Twitter to clarify that he was simply referring to the M25 protestors.
He tweeted: “Can I explain please the context of my comment on the @JeremyVineOn5 show this morning: “Minorities have to be squashed” It sounds brutal in isolation but it was directly aimed at the M25 protestors and OTHER minority groups who’ve had a disproportionate effect on life ..”
(Image: PA)
He added: “I do not regard anybody who is not my religion, creed or colour as a person in a minority group. I’m not even aware that I live in a mixed race society. I just live in our society. To link my “minorities” comment to ethnicity is just silly .. I don’t think like that ..”
Jeremy chimed in too and insisted that a clip of the debate had taken his minority comments out of context.
He wrote: “This would have been totally unacceptable had Mike been referring to members of ethnic minorities.
“In fact this snippet does not make clear @mikeparry8 was actually talking about the eco-protesters who brought the M25 to a halt. He said they represented very few people in the UK.”
Daily Star has contacted Channel 5 for comment.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
