Filipina sex not funny



As I read it, the skit is actually mocking Northerners. There is prejudice against Northerners in Britain the way there is prejudice against Southerners in the USA.

"One of Britiain's top comedians has got himself involved in a diplomatic incident in Manila today after Filipino officials failed to see the funny side of a sketch that mocked domestic workers living in Britain.

The Philippines' Foreign Secretary summoned the British Ambassador to explain why the BBC had broadcast a comedy skit involving Harry Enfield, in which a Filipina housemaid was cajoled into having sex with a British suburbanite.

Raul Gonzalez, the country's justice minister, also spoke out pledging to sign a petition that demanded an apology from the national broadcaster. "I don't like our fellow Filipinos to be insulted," he said.

The petition has been set up by a group called the Philippine Foundation, which is calling for the re-education of the BBC after the episode of Harry and Paul was broadcast last month. It says: "This particular sketch is completely disgraceful, distasteful and a great example of gutter humour."

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British government attacking successful private schools

Five independent schools are to be investigated by the Charity Commission to see if they meet the Government's tough new charity requirement to offer a "public benefit" by helping poor as well as rich people. Those that fail could be required to replace their trustee boards and ordered to make changes such as allotting more cash for bursaries and sharing facilities with state school pupils.

The five include Manchester Grammar School (fees o9,000 a year), which is one of the top ten performing private boys' schools in the country at GCSE and which volunteered to be among the first fee-paying charities to undergo a public benefit test.

Charitable status brings independent schools tax breaks worth around o100 million a year and adds considerably to their fundraising credibility. New charity laws require organisations that charge fees to "earn" these benefits by offering some kind of benefit in kind to the wider community.

The other school charities being investigated are Manor House School Trust, operating in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire; Pangbourne College in Berkshire; St Anselm's School Trust in Derbyshire; and Highfield Priory School in Lancashire. The results of the review will published in the spring.

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