[Gayle]

I too have fond memories of owning a golliwog toy and of collecting the badges from the jam. I don't think I ever once thought of a person as a golliwog, to me they were simply toys that had jet black faces and curly hair - I didn't, and to some degree still don't, connect it with a racial stereotype.

Things have changed though and as someone in the media, Carol Thatcher should know that. She should have developed a sort of inbuilt censoring device which tells you not to say these things in a group of people that you do not know or trust very well. Whether it was back stage or whether it was out of context is almost irrelevant, it was just stupid of her to say it.

However, I do think that the panic that it has caused is out of proportion given the context she used it in.