Is it worth complaining to Graham Badman about Graham Badman?

Nope.

Not sure it's worth complaining to the BBC about the BBC. But still, I take on board what this post says, and I might be getting old too, so I'm up for it:

The BBC has already received numerous complaints about Margaret Ryan's inaccurate and partial commentary on the death of Khyra Ishaq.

Margaret Ryan and her editor might not believe it to be either inaccurate or partial, if they do not understand that this piece is based on deeply ingrained but ultimately flawed assumptions about the nature of child protection, parenting and home education - not to mention our well-established concept of presumption of innocence.

I am certain that you would agree that journalists should equip themselves with accurate facts and a thorough understanding of the often complex areas of public policy on which they report - particularly when they are presenting these current policy issues to the public at a time when they are subject to legislative overhaul. Incidentally, this overhaul is so monumental that it that will fundamentally alter the relationship between parents and their children for good.

Perhaps you, or Margaret Ryan herself, would answer the following questions.

1. Considering that Khyra's family, community, teachers, social workers and the police were unable to prevent her death, will the BBC describe how monitoring of Khyra's education might have protected her?
2. Can the BBC explain how the legal powers already available to the local authorities were adequately used and exhausted in the process of attempting to protect Khyra?
3. Given that Khyra had not been legally deregistered from her school, can the BBC give a comprehensive explanation as to why you describe her to have been "home educated" when she was most certainly not?
4. Given the BBC's continued coverage of the deaths of Khyra and baby P, will it run a piece exploring whether the parenting of all children under the age 5 should be monitored "just in case" they are being abused?
5. Given the huge numbers of CRB checked teachers, youth workers, social workers, nursery workers, charity officials etc. who use their positions of trust and authority to abuse the children they access, who does the BBC propose to be trustworthy enough to routinely monitor children (and their parents) "just in case" of abuse?

I look forward to hearing your answers, but in the meantime, please take this letter as a formal complaint and an expression of my dissatisfaction with the poor quality of BBC journalism (as demonstrated by inaccuracy and partiality) in this instance.

Yours sincerely,

&c

Tech's got a round up of other people's complaints and commentary and I am engaged elsewhere at the moment, so go see her for further links.

One final thing, whilst certain individuals are opportunistic about using such horrible occurences for their own political ends, there are many, many others (perhaps BBC journalists too?) who are so blinded by their deeply internalised assumptions that they don't think to seek the answers to questions such as mine above. They accept too much on "good" authority and believe that they are saying or doing the right thing for these poor children. Perhaps we can engage with them?