There might be a serious point lurking behind the Scottish Secretary, Jim Murphy's comments about John Sergeant

The BBC report

"A cabinet minister has called for the judges of Strictly Come Dancing to be sacked following John Sergeant's decision to quit the BBC One show.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said the the ex-journalist's dance performances had been "entertainment and good fun".

Mr Sergeant, a former political reporter, resigned following scathing remarks from the judges.

Mr Murphy told the BBC's Question Time: "I think we need to get rid of the judges rather than John."

Mr Sergeant had repeatedly been given the lowest mark of all the Strictly Come Dancing contestants by the programme's judges, who were often scathing of his performances.

But the 64-year-old had been kept in the show by the public vote.

Mr Sergeant quit the show on Wednesday, saying there was a chance he might win the series, which would be a "a joke too far".

But Mr Murphy said: "I'm the only person who freely admits to being a worse dancer than John Sergeant.

"The fact is the judges don't know what this programme is all about.

"I watch the programme with my family."

Mr Murphy said it was "family entertainment and good fun and John is emblematic of that, rather than taking himself so seriously".

"I think we need to get rid of the judges rather than John."

Mr Sergeant, who has been on Strictly Coming Dancing for nine weeks, has promised to perform a farewell dance on Saturday's show."

Now why might Jim Murphy think that just because someone is an appalling embarrassment in the job they are performing, that that is no reason for them to lose that job? Might it be because he is subconsciously thinking of Gordon Brown's terrible performance as Prime Minister? Although in the PM's case the public are not keeping him in the role as they have not been given the chance to vote on the matter at all.


Nice of the BBC to keep this "news" story ticking along giving one of their entertainment shows some free publicity, giving one of their overpaid "stars" some free publicity and of course helping to divert attention away from the collapsing economy.