Progressive Regression

Peppa Pig is to gain a seatbelt, Tom & Jerry has already been shorn of any reference to smoking, so Michael Deacon's revelations of revisionist language tampering are, I suppose, almost expected.

I interviewed John Sullivan, the creator of Only Fools, and he told me about the way he has to edit old episodes to cleanse them of politically incorrect dialogue. He cited an episode from the Eighties in which Del told a child to "pop down to the Paki shop". That line is no longer broadcast in repeats.

Deacon rightly points out other literary tomes which could come under the righteous censor's knife if PC chooses to move in that direction, much as Comrade Beeb has seemingly ceased showing It Ain't Half Hot Mum (a notable omission amongst other shows of the same era which are repeated ad infinitum). And if Love Thy Neighbour or Mixed Blessings are ever screened, I've never seen them despite the fact that the racists were always, but always, shown up as idiotic and laughable.

We are living in an odd lefty world, whereby all reflection of life in bygone times must, for the sake of our sensibilities, be cleansed to reflect current 'progressive' ideology.

It matters not that the process may detract from our understanding of historical mindsets, or that enjoyment of life itself might be lessened that little bit more. The trendy dogmatic will must prevail, so Del Boy has to be gagged.

Conversely, our schools rightly continue to impart the writings of an author who liberally sprinkles his works with the words fart, arse, piss, shit, bollocks and fuck, while polenta munching guardianistas, and reactionary Mail readers to be fair, wax lyrical at their dinner parties about young Octavia's grasp of The Canterbury Tales.

The word Paki, used in historical context, fills them with horror, but it's fine when Chaucer's Miller's Tale tells of "a thing al rough and long yherd", sometimes shortening that description to "queynte" ...

... or cunt, as we now call it.