Cameron turns air blue as he tells nation his thoughts on tweeting

Published on Wednesday 29 July 2009 22:06

VOWELS can trip up even the most seasoned politician. If David Cameron had opted for an "i", he would have adopted an insult suitable for the Beano.

Unfortunately, he went for an "a" and so yesterday turned the radio airwaves Tory blue.

In a first for a leader of the Conservative Party, Mr Cameron was forced to make a grovelling apology after using the word "twat" during a conversation about the social networking site Twitter.

While a previous party leader, John Major, once described members of his cabinet as "bastards", even he would have cautioned against using such a pejorative term, especially at a time when the party was attracting so many young female members.

Mr Cameron used the offensive word while explaining why he did not use the Twitter website. He then compounded the situation by saying that the public was "pissed off" with politicians because of the expenses scandal. He quickly apologised.

Mr Cameron made both slips while being interviewed by Absolute Radio's Christian O'Connell about quirky details of his life in what was billed as a "different kind of interview".

The conversation certainly lived up to the puff when Mr Cameron said: "I'm not on Twitter. Politicians do have to think about what they say. The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it, is I think that too many twits might make a twat."

There were discussions last night about whether the Tory leader had deliberately "slipped up" to draw attention to an interview that would otherwise have passed unreported.

It is not the first time that the word has landed its user in difficulty. It sparked controversy last August after children's author Jacqueline Wilson used it in one of her books. Parents were outraged and the publisher, Random House, was forced to reprint the book, My Sister Jodie with the offending word replaced, after Asda removed it from its shelves.

A spokeswoman for Random House said Wilson had been unaware of the alternative meaning of the word and had believed it simply to be a very mild oath.

Robert Beveridge, a lecturer in media policy at Edinburgh Napier University, said people taking part in broadcast interviews had to be careful with their use of language. He said: "You have to have some regard for the target audience and the time. I'm surprised because he generally is careful with words."

Linda Dryden, reader in English literature at Napier, said: "When I was growing up in Canada this word meant a pregnant guppy. Words have different usages in different groups of society. Bloody, for example, is a word my parents wouldn't have used, but everyone says these days without causing any offence and the F word is much more common nowadays.

"On the other hand, swear words like zounds have completely fallen out of use. That is one of the great things about language – that it changes."

OFFENSIVE?

WHAT language is acceptable on television and radio has often proved controversial.

Mary Whitehouse became famous in the 1960s as a campaigner trying to "clean up" TV.

Swearing was a particularly bugbear for Mrs Whitehouse.

She said: "Bad language coarsens the whole quality of our life.

"It normalises harsh, often indecent language, which despoils our communication."

She said of the language used in sitcom Till Death Us Do Part: "I doubt if many people would use 121 bloodies in half an hour."

But by today's standards, it is a word considered almost innocuous by many.

Despite her campaign, swearing has become increasingly commonplace on the screen.

Another TV comedy, Father Ted caused a storm in the 1990s by its use of the word "feck". It was regarded as a mild oath in the programme's native Ireland, but seemed too close to a similar word when broadcast in the UK.

Despite swearing having becoming more acceptable, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's language caused a storm. His propensity for swearing led to one of his TV programmes being called The F Word. Many critics say his attitude glorifies the use of such language.

Last year, ITV head Michael Grade called for broadcasters to cut down on "indiscriminate" swearing in the wake of a row over offensive calls made on air by BBC presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.