The Spineless, Guilty Dick

Almost as a footnote to his routinely tedious column in today’s Daily Mail, talentless churnalist Richard Littlejohn has included what on the face of it is an apology – a rare thing indeed for him and his paper – but which, on closer inspection, turns out to be nothing of the sort. It refers to a piece he disgorged last December, making fun of Jody McIntyre, a disabled man who had taken part in the student protests.

Dick tells his readers “When I made fun of wheelchair protester Jody McIntyre over his role in last December’s student riots in London, I was commenting on his behaviour, not suggesting he was faking his disability ... if Jody McIntyre or anyone else has interpreted my comments in that way, I’m sorry”.

Mocking the Disabled, Guv? Issa larf, innit?!?

Really? OK Dicky boy, let’s start with that column last December. First off, Littlejohn sets the scene and lets his readers know that McIntyre does not deserve their sympathy: “Wheelchair-bound Jody McIntyre has complained that he was beaten and manhandled by Police during last week’s student protests. But if he’s looking for sympathy, he’s come to the wrong place ... he should have kept a safe distance”.

So far, so predictable in the Littlejohn guilt transfer stakes. But it’s what comes next that caused offence: “Jody McIntyre is like Andy from Little Britain” Dick tells the Daily Mail faithful. Quite apart from the nastiness of the comparison is the clear inference that the subject is not really disabled. And this can be established by less than five minutes’ Googling.

There you have it: a video clip of less than a minute shows exactly what Littlejohn was suggesting. He was telling his readers that Jody McIntyre was faking it, that he was not disabled. But the iron code of Dacreworld forbids him from displaying sufficient backbone to come clean and admit it.

Moreover, the apology he has now offered is less than direct. Richard Littlejohn is not really sorry, but is faking his sorrow. Unlike Fat Dick, though, this blog will not be making Little Britain comparisons in order to get a cheap laugh.