Young: 'BBC wrong over Thatcher axe'

Will Young has claimed that the BBC was wrong to drop Carol Thatcher from The One Show.

The singer said that the corporation "panicked" after Thatcher referred to a black tennis player as a "golliwog" in the backstage green room.

"I don't think it's the right decision. I feel sorry for the BBC because there's a culture of timidity and they really don't know which way to turn," he said on Question Time.

"Carol Thatcher used the word in a private conversation, they panicked. And they say, 'this is going to get out, have to do something about it quickly, make it public,' and I worry because everything is becoming a bit vanilla."

BBC One controller Jay Hunt yesterday defended the decision, claiming that Thatcher's comments were "deemed by a very substantial proportion of the public to be hugely offensive".