Go play in the traffic, Shafiq

THE gags are as old as the hills. What do you call an Irish Crufts winner? Pat Madogg. The Scottish insulation expert? Phil McCavity. The Pakistani waiter? Mehat Mecoat.

In fact, in the late Eighties there was an Indian restaurant in Longfield, Kent, called the Mehat Mecoat. I know, I’ve eaten there.

These are simple puns based around people’s names.

But what happens today?

Sir David Jason, one of the greats of the television business and with an untarnished reputation after four decades in the public eye, goes on Absolute Radio to win money for a charity.

He was asked to leave a question for the next guest. He said: “What do you call a Pakistani cloakroom attendant? Mehat Mecoat.” There was silence from the rather dim presenter Christian O’Connell, in which I presume he was trying to show distance from the joke. Why?
Bullies

It was an ancient and not very funny gag but presumably O’Connell, who seems to have gone downhill along with his audience since joining Absolute (formerly Virgin when it was a decent station) from Xfm, thought there was something “racist” about this. There wasn’t.

Anyway, by the time the Muslim lobby had joined in Jason was forced into the preposterous position of apologising. I wish that somebody, anybody, would take on these bullies and tell them to get stuffed, or get a sense of humour, or both.

Mohammed Shafiq of something called the Ramadhan Foundation — presumably if his whole family were piled into the kitchen it would be called a Shafiq jam (no, I’m not apologising) — has the cheek to say the following: “As a well-loved actor, Jason needs to be careful about what he says. He should have known better.”

Actually, he doesn’t need to be careful. He shouldn’t take any notice of this rent-a-gob and I wonder whether I could urge media organisations, especially those dim and skint to**pots in radio, not to call him again for his views.

They are not worth anything.