Bremner show cleared over Madeleine joke

Published on Monday 28 January 2008 21:18

RORY Bremner's TV show has been cleared by regulators over a joke about Madeleine McCann.

Dozens of Channel 4 viewers complained about the "inappropriate and offensive" sketch featured last October on Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

In a discussion about the lengths to which Gordon Brown would go to secure victory in the event of a snap election, satirists John Bird and John Fortune mused: "I wouldn't be surprised if the night before the election he went on television and said, 'Look what I found…' and held up Madeleine McCann."

Ofcom, the media watchdog, acknowledged the "sensitivities" in the McCann case and said: "Any reference to the disappearance, other than during the course of news and current-affairs reports, may result in the potential for offence."

But Ofcom said there no suggestion Madeleine or her family were the target of the humour, adding: "The main point of the sketch was to ridicule politicians and the sometimes cynical approach they are perceived to have when it comes to re-election.

"The idea that politicians might be insensitive enough to attempt to exploit the tragedy surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann to their advantage was consistent with the general purpose of the sketch."