I wonder if Sunday Telegraph columnist Jenny McCartney has put her finger on the truth in arguing that Carol Thatcher fell foul of "unbending but mysterious... television rules".
She writes: "These dictate that foolish remarks made by incidental figures in broadcasting will be severely punished, while deliberate provocations by big names will be mildly chastised."
To make her case she cites the examples of Jimmy Carr (rude to Romanys), Jeremy Clarkson (rude to the disabled, and Scots), Jonathan Ross (rude to Andrew Sachs) and Chris Moyles (rude to Poles). Compared to them, Thatcher was too far down "the broadcasting food chain" to get away with it.
