Almost two hours into his show today, James O’Brien deigned to apologise for the outrageous claims made on yesterday’s show. “At this time yesterday on the show, I read out a message from a listener called Chris who said that his wife had been brought up in the Jewish faith and had attended what he described as a ‘Shabbat school’. “He went on to make further claims about what he said she had been taught in that school. As with all the texts and messages that I read out on the programme, I did so in good faith, but the message has understandably upset a lot of people, and I regret taking those unsubstantiated claims at face value, and I’m genuinely sorry for that. “It is very important that I get that out there, and thank you for your attention.” While we welcome Mr O’Brien’s apology through gritted teeth, perhaps he might take a break from moralising to the nation and reflect on why a listener like that understood that his was exactly the right show to promote his bile, and why Mr O’Brien himself was only too ready to treat the claims as entirely plausible and convenient to his narrative. What does that say about his own prejudices and views on certain topics to which British Jews are particularly sensitive?
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