Wednesday morning reading

Here's some Wednesday morning reading from the newspapers, beginning with Simon Heffer in the Daily Telegraph:

I strongly believe that by any objective standards the persecution of Michael Vaughan by the BBC and BT, who were both due to carry his broadcast analysis this winter before he was cancelled, has become an outrage. Monty Panesar, in his excellent column for the Telegraph last Saturday, noted the violation of the ancient precept of innocence until proven guilty. I draw the attention of Vaughan’s persecutors to the observations of Panesar, as a man of colour, about his friend’s and former captain’s track record of working with and developing the careers of players from ethnic-minority backgrounds. 

One wonders what Vaughan, having been found guilty without trial by both the BBC and BT, having his livelihood put at risk an d having been consigned to that abysmal rank of society peopled by ‘racists’, must now do to restore his reputation. He has no recollection of having referred to his Asian team-mates as "you lot". And why should he? Either he didn’t say it, or if he did it was a tasteless joke that meant so little to him that he can’t remember it.

The Telegraph also has the headline Déjà view: BBC One’s Christmas Day lineup is exactly the same as last year today, as the 'flagship channel will screen same shows - including EastEnders, Call the Midwife and Mrs Brown's Boys - in exact same order as in 2020'. And talking about déjà vu, here's the Daily Mail today: It's deja view... again! BBC1's Christmas Day schedule is exactly the same as last year's.