Brand and Ross? Sack'em

The most ironic thing is that the BBC is always so desperate to appear middle-of-the-road and watered down, terrified of offending anyone, but they allow bullies to broadcast under their name and pay them millions of pounds each year.

For a normal worker, being caught phoning up a pensioner, leaving an offensive answerphone message and joking about him committing suicide would guarantee prosecution as well as instant dismissal. But if you're a couple of overpaid, tax-payer funded celebrities with inflated egos you can get away with it with a slap on the wrist.

As the whole world knows, Russell Brand and his friend Jonathan Ross spent a charming half an hour last weekend making prank phone calls, one of which was to the great actor Andrew Sachs, 78, and proceeded to leave a disgusting tirate of sexual references and vulgarity about his grandaughter on his answerphone, including how Brand had slept with her.

The prank, was hilariously funny, but only for the two of them. Anyone else who heard the programme or read the transcript must have had images of them patting each other on the back, congratulating themselves on their brilliant little joke, obviously convinced that they were the funniest doubleact since the invention of comedy. The icing on this revoting cake was a comment by Brand, imagining what Sachs might do when he finds out about the fact that Russell had sex with his grandaughter, a mock news report where he jokes, "The main news again: Manuel, Andrew Sachs, hung himself today".

Apart from being as funny as tuberculosis, Russell Brand makes a living from prancing about our TV screens, talking like a 19th century dandy and using 'long words' that most people don't understand to try and make them laugh. A reformed drug addict, he once appeared on a spin-off Big Brother show dressed as Osama Bin Laden days after the 9/11 attacks, and only recently made another prank call, this time to the police.
Even when Brand was forced by the BBC to apologise to Mr. Sachs, he managed to sink even deeper by saying that he ''thought it was funny'' and to add further insult to injury, added ''sometimes you shouldn't swear on someones answerphone. That's why I'd like to apologise''.

Obviously this 'gifted' broadcaster has problems grasping the fact that his borderline Tourettes mouth wasn't really the crux of the matter, and that apologising in the form of a mocking song isn't going to do you any favours. As for 47-year-old Ross, himself a father, one would like to see how he'd react if sex-addict Brand made lewd comments to one of his daughters. I doubt he would act as he did on the show, which was akin to a playground bully, egging Russell on.

This type of so-called comedy can only go one way if it wants to stay afloat. Russell Brand is only one step away from phoning up a person with MS and asking them if they want to go for a run, or asking a blind person if they want to go bird watching at the weekend. No doubt that Brand would justify these things as 'an expression of his art'. Steps need to be taken to sack these overpaid, arrogant little boys and prevent them from broadcasting ever again. It is despicable that license payers money is spent funding these people. The most ironic thing is that the BBC make so much of an effort to appear middle-of-the-road and watered down, terrified of offending anyone, but they allow bullies to broadcast under their name and pay them millions of pounds each year.

Sacking these two pathetic individuals would be firm message to the public and to other presenters that the BBC does not tolerate this kind of behaviour. Sadly though, we all know that the chances are that some producer will get the boot and those two will continue their little boys group.