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‘STUPID & RECKLESS’
Acid attack victims call for ‘vile’ Jo Brand to be ARRESTED and demand BBC apologises for ‘disgusting’ gag
ACID attack victims have branded Jo Brand and the BBC "disgusting" and called for her ARREST after the comedian joked about throwing battery acid on politicians.
Brand sparked outrage on BBC Radio 4's Heresy programme after saying a string of milkshake attacks on politicians such as Nigel Farage should have been carried out with acid instead.
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The 61-year-old comedian told Radio 4 show Heresy that yobs who attacked Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage with milkshakes were “pathetic”, adding: “Why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?”
Brand said she had nothing to say to those offended by her comments outside her £1.9m home in leafy Dulwich, South East London today.
The BBC has also refused to apologise for broadcasting the outrageous remarks, saying the comedy programme 'is not meant to be taken seriously'.
But victims of sickening acid attacks have told The Sun Online victims across the UK will be 'appalled' by the comments and the Beeb's defence of Brand.
Joe Davies - who was left with horrific injuries after having drain cleaner hurled at him - has said the 'vile' gag is not a laughing matter.
He told The Sun Online: "It's disgusting. I can't comprehend how someone could say that and anyone could stand by it saying it's funny.
"The BBC should apologise. It's 100 per cent vile and 100 per cent not funny.
I'd like to meet her face-to-face and describe to her what I went through, and the battles I still face every day
Acid attack victim Joe Davies
"The police should investigate if it's calling for this to happen to someone else, it shouldn't just be brushed under the carpet."
Since speaking to Sun Online police have confirmed they WILL investigate Brand's comments.
Joe had drain cleaner containing sulphuric acid thrown at him by Roger Comer, 45, after an argument in Slough in 2017.
The 25-year-old was left with second and third degree burns and described feeling like his body was "on fire".
He has since faced a two-year battle to get his life back on track and has just completed his first year at Buckinghamshire New University.
Joe said he would like to meet Brand to "educate her" about his experiences and other acid attack victims.
He said: "I don't know what must be going on in someone's head to make a joke like that about another person. It's inhumane.
"I'd like to meet her face-to-face and describe to her what I went through, and the battles I still face every day.
"It sounds to me like she needs a bit of educating, if she's ignorant enough to think acid attacks are something to be taken lightly."
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'RECKLESS AND DEEPLY STUPID'
Andreas Christopheros, 33, suffered horrific burns in a mistaken identity attack on his doorstep in Truro, Cornwall, in 2014 after thug David Phillips drove 300 miles to confront a man he wrongly thought lived at the address and had sexually assault a member of his family.
Dad-of-two Andreas labelled Brand and the Beeb 'reckless and deeply stupid' over the comments.
He said: "I'm all for comedy and free speech, I've laughed at acid attack jokes before, but this is different.
"The chances of an MP being acid attacked are unfortunately not that far-fetched right now, but she's used that platform to suggest it's OK to inflict that on people you don't agree with.
"It's a reckless and deeply stupid thing to put out there on a radio show and both she and the BBC should apologise."
Sophie Hall, 23, who was attacked by nightclub acid thug Arthur Collins called for Brand to be arrested.
She : "The police need to arrest her so others will think twice and realise it isn't a joking matter, far from it. Something so serious needs to be treated seriously."
As our listeners know, panellists often say things which are deliberately provocative but are not intended to be taken seriously
BBC spokeswoman
Brand, 61, told the programme on Tuesday: “Certain unpleasant characters are being thrown to the fore and they’re very, very easy to hate.
“And I’m kind of thinking, why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?”
As the audience laughed she added: “That’s just me. I’m not going to do it, it’s purely a fantasy. But I think milkshakes are pathetic, I honestly do.”
Brand today said she had nothing to say to Farage or people offended by her comments.
She added: "I think if they (critics) want an answer there have been plenty of explanations by the BBC and Victoria Coren."
When asked if she would continue working with the BBC, she told The Sun today: "I'm not employed by the BBC, so how can they sack me?"
Clutching a coffee cup with 'Damned' written on the front she laughed as she was driven away from the property.
Fellow comedian Frank Skinner defended Brand, saying: "I think it is difficult to say anything in public life at all. When kids play Hangman, is that a devil may care attitude to capital punishment?
"I don't think Jo, for one second, would want anyone to commit an act of violence - even against Nigel Farage."
Brand, who used to work as a mental health nurse, has previously voiced her opposition to Brexit and backs a second referendum.
Speaking on Question Time in December, she said: "I would support a second referendum.
"I’m not 100 percent sure I can justify it. I just want it."
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PRIME MINISTER HITS OUT AS BBC REFUSES TO APOLOGISE
Prime Minister Theresa May has said BBC should explain why it broadcast the comments.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has been repeatedly clear that politicians should be able to go about their work and campaign without harassment, intimidation or abuse.
"I note that Brendan Cox has said that violence and intimidation should not be normalised and we should consistently stand against it. The Prime Minister shares this view.
"It is for the BBC to explain why it considers this to have been appropriate content for broadcast."
Despite broadcasting watchdog Ofcom confirming it had received 19 complaints since the show aired on Tuesday, the BBC refused to condemn the remarks.
A spokeswoman said: "Heresy is a long-running comedy programme where, as the title implies and as our listeners know, panellists often say things which are deliberately provocative but are not intended to be taken seriously."
Politicians should be able to go about their work and campaign without harassment, intimidation or abuse
Spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May
Brexit Party leader Farage today claimed he would have faced police action if he'd said the same about a left-wing politician.
He said: "I am sick to death of overpaid, left wing, so-called comedians on the BBC who think their view is morally superior.
"Can you imagine the reaction if I had said the same thing as Jo Brand?
"I think we know fairly clearly who Jo Brand was aiming that comment at.
"A lot of people, like Jo Brand, think the referendum is a terrible mistake.
"They have a view that is morally superior to everybody else's and therefore it seems, that anything can be used in defence of their arguments.
Jo Brand controversies
In 2009, the BBC Trust cleared her of two gags made on QI - including one where she claimed "Lady Thatcher" sounded like a hair removal device and another joking about incontinence.
Brand was accused of ageism and sexism later in the show when she asked: "Is there a facility for men to wet themselves when they cough? Does that ever happen to blokes? .. Do men wet themselves when they cough, when they get old? S*** themselves?"
Brand also annoyed Streatham locals in 2012 when she described the South London town as a "s**thole" and urged people not to go there.
Her comment on the BBC1 show Have I Got News For You angered officials, who said she had done “serious damage” to the town’s reputation.
In 2013, Brand and the BBC were slammed after she suggested Prince Harry takes cocaine while presenting Have I Got News For You.
During a discussion about the names of Prince George's new godparents, she said: "George's godparents include Hugh van Cutsem... I presume that's a nickname as in Hugh van cuts 'em and Harry then snorts 'em."
Brand defended the joke - claiming it was read from an autocue - and refused to apologise.
Nigel Farage says he's 'sick to death of overpaid, left-wing, so-called comedians on BBC' in scathing attack after Jo Brand 'acid attack' gag
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"Frankly I think this sort of behaviour is completely and utterly disgusting.
"Can you imagine if I was to tell a story like that, about somebody on the other side of me, an Anna Soubry or someone like that?
"I reckon the police would knock on my door within ten minutes. I think it's appalling."
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