Tory uses the 'n' and 's' words on live TV

The Carol Thatcher 'golliwog' incident has exercised the blogosphere via Iain Dale, and Derek Draper and Mark Day at Labour List.

Michael Eboda was spot-on on Today when he said if it was about the white Andy Murray, it was 'patently ridiculous' to sack Thatcher. But the BBC denies it was about Murray. The implication is that it was about a black player and I think this makes all the difference.

A similar point, about the context in which these words are used, was made forthrightly by the Tory MP Philip Davies on BBC News earlier. He used the words 'nigger' and 'spastic' to illustrate his point.

Davies said that Scope used to be called the Spastic Society but the word had since become a term of abuse and therefore unacceptable. I don't think 'nigger' has ever been acceptable, though, despite its recent appropriation by some black people.

I found myself simultaneously agreeing with, and recoiling from, Davies. Given we seem to have to go through all these terms on a tortuous word-by-word basis shows the vast shades of grey surrounding the issue of language use.

To borrow the words of a great man, the BBC has 'screwed up' again, firstly by letting some - but not all - of this story out, and secondly, by being so obviously inconsistent vis-a-vis the loathsome Chris Moyles. Both points Iain Dale made on Today, I might add.