UK:British cabinet minister David Milliband has urged the British public to evict Jade Goody from the Celebrity Big Brother house tonight, after Channel 4 refused to pull the series despite an international row over alleged racism directed at actress Shilpa Shetty.
The Bollywood star changed her mind yesterday about the behaviour of Goody and two other housemates, enabling Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan to say "unequivocally, she does not believe the treatment she has received is racially motivated . . . she thinks it is socially and culturally motivated".
But that did not nothing to quell the controversy, or the renewed interest of the TV audience. As Carphone Warehouse suspended its sponsorship of the programme and police confirmed they had launched an investigation, more questions were asked in the House of Commons, and cabinet ministers lined up to condemn what culture secretary Tessa Jowell described as "racism being presented as entertainment".
Wednesday's row between Shetty and Goody erupted when the pair clashed over Oxo cubes. Goody told the actress: "Go back to the slums."
Another participant, Danielle Lloyd, a topless model, also weighed in but out of earshot from the actress, saying: "I think she should f*** off home."
Dave Prestis, the leader of Britain's largest trade union, Unison, accused Channel 4 of promoting a "circus of racism" and giving publicity to "louts".
An indication of what is likely to await Goody when she leaves the house came yesterday when the Perfume Shop withdrew sales of her perfume from its 150 UK stores as her mother and agent waded into the row, insisting she was not racist. "Jade has never been racist, she is mixed race herself and suffered racist abuse as a youngster," insisted mother Jackiey Budden, who sparked the original row by refusing to properly pronounce Shetty's Christian name, repeatedly referring to her as "the Indian" and at one point asking her: "Do you live in a house or a shack?"
The first person voted off the show, she said yesterday: "The only person I heard make a racist remark while in Celebrity Big Brother was Jermaine Jackson, who called me white trash."
Goody's spokeswoman also insisted: "It is clear to all that Jade and Shilpa are rubbing each other up the wrong way, but what is going on is nothing more than a clash of personalities between two strong characters who have placed themselves in the unnatural and stressful environment of the Big Brother house."
However, that cut no ice with environment secretary David Milliband, as broadcasting watchdog Ofcom confirmed more than 33,000 complaints had been received and warned it was Channel 4's responsibility to respond to "very serious viewer concerns".
With Goody and Shetty predicted to go head to head in tonight's eviction vote among viewers, Mr Milliband said that if people wanted "to send the right message about where Britain is at" in terms of racism, "it's got to be Jade out, Shilpa in".
That view was backed by Conservative MP Boris Johnson. In a speech to a conference organised by think tank Demos, Mr Johnson made the elementary point that someone was making money from the Big Brother spectacle, adding that it took "a kind of genius to take these two archetypes - Jade Goody and the Bollywood queen - and put them in close proximity before the gaze of the entire planet".
But while the success of the Big Brother format also demonstrated the strength of creative innovation in the British media industry, he said supporting Shilpa would demonstrate British tolerance, "in case anyone in India or China or any other part of Asia has formed the impression this week that the British people are in any way unwelcoming to bright Asians".
Defending the decision to keep Big Brother on air - a decision rewarded in viewing figures, with Wednesday night's audience rising five million - Mr Duncan said it had forced the British public to confront important issues.
Stressing that the viewers had the opportunity to "cut through claim and counter claim and pass judgment on the events of the past week", Mr Duncan told a media conference in Oxford: "The level of complaint and comment shows the programme has touched a real nerve. The debate has been heated, the viewing has at times been uncomfortable but, in my view, it is unquestionably a good thing that the programme has raised these issues and provoked such a debate."
At Westminster, meanwhile, Commons leader Jack Straw was demanding that Ofcom confront the allegations of racism, saying it would be "risible" for the watchdog to delay an investigation until the show was finished.
Carphone Warehouse said its concern had rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals in the Big Brother house. They had made clear to Channel 4 that were this to continue they would have to consider the position, and that they had seen nothing in Wednesday night's show to give them any comfort.