Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

Have I Got News for You is a sad, unfunny spectacle

Paul Merton and Ian Hislop (Credit: BBC)

Like most people, I haven’t tuned in to Have I Got News For You for years. But when I heard of a staggering omission in last Friday night’s edition, I just had to see it – or, rather, not see it – with my own eyes. The biggest news story of the week – the momentous ruling by the Supreme Court on the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010 – was not covered at all, even obliquely. You’d think that the absurdity of the highest court in the land being called to adjudicate on one of the most basic facts of observable reality – that there are two sexes, and that the words man and woman mean, er, man and woman – would be a rich source of mirth, the kind of glorious nonsense that’s a satirist’s meat and drink. But no. Not a word. Zilch.

There was also no mention of the new weekly record for small boat arrivals, which you’d think was pretty significant

‘We begin with the bigger stories of the week,’ said guest host Katherine Parkinson, as is traditional.

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