Joke is on Dyke if he stirs up trouble over race

IN 1369, King Edward III enacted a statute to ban football because such pastimes gave rise to hooliganism, distracted young men from practising archery (which was compulsory in medieval England) and “hath no profit”. The yeomen of England would have felt even more bemused and aggrieved, however, if the court jester had piped up: “And it is hideously white!” He might have been put in the stocks, and pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables – what an alluring thought!

Mr Greg Dyke is chairman of the Football Association. He is also a controversialist. He claims that the “grass roots” of English football are “hideously white”. When he was director general of the BBC, Mr Dyke claimed that the corporation was “hideously white.” Hmm. Mr Dyke is white. Is he “hideous”? Or is it just the rest of us? He is, of course, indulging in political correctness.

The English are a great race of people, renowned for being decent, tolerant and fair-minded. But it is a pity that so many insensitive and insolent fools rise to prominent positions of power, isn’t it, Mr Dyke?