Kilroy (television series)
Encyclopedia
Kilroy is a BBC1 daytime chat show hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk is an English former politician, former independent Member of the European Parliament, and former television presenter, best known for his daytime talk show Kilroy. He has been a university lecturer and Labour Party Member of Parliament...

 that began in 8 September 1986 and finished on 29 January 2004 after 18 years.
The series was originally called Day to Day for the first two series, but was renamed to Kilroy in September 1988.

Controversy and cancellation

The show was taken off air in 2004 after he was convicted of racist remarks which the presenter attributed towards Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 people in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 pertaining the "Arabs have never contributed to civilisation". He has also stated other views that have gotten him into trouble, and are stated as being racial and bigoted, including but not limited to non-whites. He's riduculed Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

, the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

, the Iraqis, Black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

, Pakistani
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

s, the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 and Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 in general. His views have had him reported to the police by the Commission for Racial Equality
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...

.

As a result of this the BBC decided to cancel the show stating his views were a threat to the impartiality of the BBC, Kilroy claimed afterwards on the BBC's Question Time
Question Time
Question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers , which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances...

he was under a six month investigations when this happened. He's stated his show was cancelled based on the grounds he was anti-religious not racist. However panelist Shappi Khorsandi reiterated his racist views were more about the Arabs as he clearly defined in his article, and not about their religion in his 2009 appearance. Kilroy had previously claimed to have "apologised" in 2004 when a "partial" apology was made. It was rejected primarily because Kilroy himself twisted his words, as a result Iqbal Sacrani (secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...

) said Kilroy did not denounce his racist views but skimmed over the apology and changed a few words in reconciliation.
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