Frankie Boyle

Statement on Behalf of Disability charity:


Our charity, Disability Trust has been campaigning for many years to provide a better future for the disabled people who need it and to make local environments for disabled people as pleasant as possible.


I am not sure if you are aware, but the power of TV is very strong and is a big influence on the many viewers that watch it. One of the main goals of our charity is to get people to treat the disabled community with more respect and raise awareness. Such an offensive joke shouldn't have been thrown at Harvey. 


We believe your joke was a bit extreme and hurtful to not only Harvey and his family but to many others who suffer from his condition. We also think it was very wrong of Channel 4 to allow such a thing to be said on the comedy show and think Frankie Boyle deserves to be censored by Ofcom. Although some action has been taken against the joke, we are still disappointed in Channel 4 for allowing such a thing to be broadcast on TV and all around London. It makes such a successful company look unprofessional because it makes it seem as if the level of respect for disabled people Channel 4 has is low.  


In future we hope that Channel 4 can prevent offensive jokes aimed specifically towards any group or race of people and perhaps promote equality a bit more to change the attitudes of some who may have been affected by the joke both positive and negatively.


We think it would be a good idea for Channel 4 to produce an awareness program that will both boost the confidence of people who are disabled or looking after a disabled person and teach other people the importance of looking out for people who are disabled or looking after someone who is. We can imagine doing something like this will win the respect of many people and possibly boost your channel's rating.