Where They Give Bad Names to Beautiful Things

Cerrie Burnell is a continuity presenter on the bedtime slot on CBeebies, the BBC's dedicated channel for under six year-olds. She is an established theatre and TV actress and has been on CBeebies since Christmas. She is also missing her right lower arm.

Now, if I say that I didn't even notice until my wife mentioned it, I'm not saying that because I'm so PC 'I don't even see disability', but because I genuinely hadn't noticed. I tend to be changing nappies while the bedtime slot is on and don't actually look at the screen that much. In actual fact, Burnell makes no attempt to hide the half limb and any children watching would be able to see it perfectly clearly.

This has recently prompted some parents to make official complaints to the BBC and more to bombard the CBeebies forum with the most unbelievably ignorant horse shit. One father claimed he would ban his daughter from watching because he thought it would give her nightmare. Others have said it's forced them to have discussions with their children about disabilities. Some have even gone so far as to say that Burnell was only hired because of 'PC gone mad'. A message on the CBeebies forum for adults reads, 'What is scary is the BBC's determination to show 'minorities' on CBeebies at every available opportunity.'

Would it do any good if I lost my rag and called these people the fucking wankers they so clearly are? Probably not. But you are. You're tiny-minded, petty, self-obsessed fucking wankers. But let's just accept that as the transparently obvious fact that it is and move on.

Let's go back to the father who has banned his daughter from watching. Let's look carefully at what he said; 'ban... daughter... thought... give... nightmares'. Thought..? He 'thought' it would give his daughter nightmares? So, she's not actually had a nightmare but, in principle - theoretically - it's possible that she might (potentially) have nightmares..? If it were the latest torture porn installment in the Saw or Hostel horror movie franchise, then yes, you're right to stop your daughter watching because of what it might do. But a continuity presenter on CBeebies? Are you serious? Did it not occur to you to perhaps speak to your daughter and ascertain whether it had even given her cause to have any particularly strong feelings either way about this woman's arm?

What about those who feel they've been pushed into discussing disability by the BBC. Surely that's not unreasonable? Surely parents have the right to decide when their children get exposed to such ideas? Well, yes, in so much as they have the right to operate the off button. And that is the sum total of their rights, because what we're talking about is a demand that someone else's employment rights be curtailed. And let's conduct a thought experiment. Let's examine how reasonable this demand is if we replace the word 'disabled' with 'black' or 'Asian'... Done that? Good. It's a non-argument, isn't it?

Finally, there is the issue of 'PC gone mad', the tedious and lazy argument used by people who wish to express their prejudices without being challenged. A couple of years ago, I was listening to a show called Heresy on Radio 4. The idea of the show is to attack received wisdom. This is what the comedian Stewart Lee had to say. It remains one of the most cogent defences of so-called PC I've heard.

'It really worries me that 84% of this audience agrees with that statement, because the kind of people that say 'political correctness gone mad' are usually using that phrase as a kind of cover action to attack minorities or people that they disagree with. I'm of an age that I can see what a difference political correctness has made. When I was four years old, my grandfather drove me around Birmingham, where the Tories had just fought an election campaign saying, 'If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour,' and he drove me around saying, 'This is where all the niggers and the coons and the jungle bunnies live." And I remember being at school in the early 80s and my teacher, when he read the register, instead of saying the name of the one asian boy in the class, he would say, 'Is the black spot in?' right? And all these things have gradually been eroded by political correctness, which seems to me to be about an institutionalised politeness at its worst. And if there is some fallout from this, which means that someone in an office might get in trouble one day for saying something that someone was a bit unsure about because they couldn't decide whether it was sexist or homophobic or racist, it's a small price to pay for the massive benefits and improvements in the quality of life for millions of people that political correctness has made. It's a complete lie that allows the right, which basically controls media now, and international politics, to make people on the left who are concerned about the way people are represented look like killjoys. And I'm sick, I'm really sick- 84% of you in this room that have agreed with this phrase, you're like those people who turn around and go, 'you know who the most oppressed minorities in Britain are? White, middle-class men.' You're a bunch of idiots.'

From Heresy, BBC Radio 4, 16th May 2007

While that doesn't explictly address 'PC gone mad' in the context of disability, the reasons why it applies there too should be clear.

If Olivia ever comments on the fact that Cerrie Burnell is missing part of her arm, we will just explain it to her. She won't have nightmares because she won't be exposed to the idea that there is anything to be afraid of in the first place. I welcome anything which exposes my children to the idea that people come in different colours and shapes and abilities because if we're really lucky, she'll grow up to judge people for who they are, not what they look like.

Olivia hasn't mentioned Cerrie Burnell's arm, but she's only just over two; maybe she's clocked it, maybe she hasn't. She certainly doesn't seem to find it worthy of mention as yet.

At risk of sounding like one of those patronising, 'If you've been affected by any of the issues in this programme, you might like to call 0800 123 4567,' messages, if you've been affected by any of the issues in this post, you can drop the BBC a line here.