- The Observer, Sunday July 29 2001
Beverley Hughes, the Home Office minister with responsibility for child protection issues, said the programme was 'appalling' and 'unhelpful'.
Sources close to Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, also made it clear that the Government found Channel 4's defence of the programme 'risible'.
'I don't think programmes like this are useful at all,' Hughes said. 'It just looks like it is trivialising what is a very serious issue.' She said she hoped the negative publicity the programme had garnered would make Channel 4 pause for thought before trying similar projects in the future.
The co-ordinated attack on Brass Eye, presented by the satirist Chris Morris, reveals the depth of feeling the programme has generated. Yesterday it was revealed that more than 2,000 people had complained to Channel 4 about the show, which was first shown on Thursday night and repeated early yesterday morning.
Michael Jackson, chief executive of Channel Four, last night hit back at his critics. Writing in The Observer, Jackson dismissed criticism from tabloid newspapers saying the programme had 'sought to challenge the inconsistencies in the way the media approaches and sensationalises paedophile crime'.
Jackson admitted the programme was 'not easy television' but insisted it has 'a real sense of social purpose'.
But he was fighting against a rising tide of attack. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said it was deeply offensive.
The row deepened yesterday when the Daily Mail condemned the programme in a front-page article headlined: 'The sickest TV show ever'. A two-page spread accused Morris of 'laughing at child sex abuse'.
Channel 4 also received complaints from celebrities who were tricked into appearing on the show, including singer Phil Collins, ITN journalist Nick Owen, comedian Richard Blackwood and TV presenter Kate Thornton.
More on Brass Eye/Chris Morris
Read Michael Jackson's response
Brass Eye special: Kathryn Flett's review
Profile: Chris Morris
