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Members of staff at BBC London wear tea towel headdresses and sing to a backdrop of news footage

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Members of the BBC London news team today face a grilling from senior bosses after they filmed a spoof video making light of the conflict in the Middle East.

The film, a skit on Peter Kay's (Is This The Way To) Amarillo? was made to mark the departure of assistant editor Simon Torkington who is going to the news channel Al-Jazeera International in Qatar with his wife, former ITV news anchor Shiulie Ghosh.

The joke video was shown at a private leaving party for Torkington - nicknamed "Storky" - last week. But a copy has been leaked to the Standard by a BBC insider angry that licence fee payers' cash was used to make a "tasteless" skit that could cause offence to Muslims.

BBC London journalists, including transport correspondent Andrew Winstanley and reporter Sarah Harris, are seen singing a spoof version of the hit song in tea towel head dresses and fake Arabstyle beards, to a video backdrop featuring real-life news footage of missile launchers, tanks and soldiers in gas masks.

BBC London special correspondent Kurt Barling - who has reported extensively on the issues facing Britain's Muslim community - appears bare-chested and dancing in a Muslim prayer hat. The re-jigged lyrics feature jokes about Osama bin Laden, the traditional Islamic jilbab dress and the Palestinian Intifada.

Fronting the video in the Peter Kay role is Ian Wade, a member of BBC London management staff who hit the headlines last summer when he was caught up in the devastating Piccadilly line bombing.

Others said to feature in the video, which sees the group dancing in a stairwell at the BBC's Marylebone headquarters, in a lift and leaping out of a BBC London van outside the offices, include news anchor Matt Barbet, arts correspondent Brenda Emmanus and reporter Karthi Gnanasegaram, along with half a dozen others who join the dancing at the end.

Although the video was never intended to be broadcast outside the BBC, sources say it calls into question the judgment of those involved at a time of heightened sensitivity among Muslim communities. One insider said: "At a time of great community sensitivities, is it right for the BBC's reporting team in London to be seen dressing up as stereotypical Arabs or Muslims, singing and dancing?

"Is it right to see the Race in the Media Awards winner Kurt Barling appear without a shirt wearing a Muslim prayer cap and dancing? Would it go down well with his contacts? Does it show the BBC to be sensitive at a difficult time? The fact is that the staff who made and appeared in the video knew what they had done was open to criticism. They were openly joking about what would happen to the programme and the BBC's reputation if the video got out."

Another insider said: "It might have been a bit of fun but at the end of the day you have to say, guys, why the hell didn't you think a bit more carefully about what you were doing?" A spokeswoman for the BBC confirmed that those involved would be quizzed by bosses today - and admitted the film was "ill-judged".

In a statement, the corporation said: "The BBC was unaware of the nature of the content of this private and informal video as it was being made. A spoof of the well-known and much-parodied music video for Amarillo, this unofficial film is within the tradition of a teasing farewell to a departing colleague.

"It was made by his friends in their spare time and hastily put together. It was always intended solely for private viewing. Nevertheless, we think it was illjudged, and we will be speaking with those involved and learning the lessons that need to be learned."

 

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