Have I Got News For You

Richard Ayoade guest hosts - his 10th time. The guest panellists are Phil Wang and political commentator Marina Purkiss.

Marina Purkiss's first appearance on HIGNFY comes in the week that the anti-Brexit political commentator made the news herself, with her guest appearance on Jacob Rees-Mogg's own GB News show going viral, as she clashed with the Tory MP and took him to task on a variety of issues.

Although this week's episode of HIGNFY was recorded last night, before the news broke this morning that Richard Sharp was resigning as chairman of the BBC, the programme is set to note Sharp's resignation with a joke 'In Memory Of...' graphic as the credits roll.

There were lots of other stories for the panels to pick apart in a packed news week this week, with the government's testing of an emergency public alarm system, Diane Abbott having the Labour whip removed after a criticised letter in The Observer, Dominic Raab's resignation from government... and the removal of a rusty pole in Exmouth which has caused much consternation with the locals!

The panels attention turned first to the government's test run of an emergency alarm system sent to the public's phones to warn when there is an emergency or disaster nearby.

"It's the alarm! It was a security alert," said Ian Hislop. "It was, yeah, 3pm on Sunday for some people... not for everyone though, some people got it on Monday at 2.30am!" replied political commentator Marina Purkiss.

"Why?" asked Hislop.

"Well, the government... it was their plan," replied Purkiss.

"Are you suggesting they're not competent?!" laughed Hislop.

"Apparently only 40% of people received the alarm at the correct time. Apparently there is a reason for it and the Express have said it's Meghan Markle's fault," joked Purkiss.

"I was very disappointed not to hear the alarm, but then I don't have a mobile phone... and I'm wondering what this alarm is for? It's got to be nuclear war, hasn't it? So I won't know... until I see this bright light on the horizon and a sudden rise in temperature," quipped Paul Merton.

"Yes, whereas otherwise you could have done something about it," joked Ayoade, continuing, "Who was critical of the alarm system?"

"I think Jacob Rees Mogg, because he wanted it done by semaphore from hills. Apparently he said that it was an example of 'nanny state', which is always funny because he's the only person who actually has a nanny," joked Hislop.

"This is the controversial emergency alarm that went off at 3pm last Sunday afternoon. The timing of the alarm, warning us of impending national disaster, has been criticised. Some say it went off a minute too early, at 2:59, while others claim it should have gone off even earlier... last September, when Liz Truss became Prime Minister," joked Ayoade.

Later in the episode, the panels looked at the news that Diane Abbott had been suspended as a Labour MP and had the whip removed, after writing a letter in The Observer newspaper where she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism "all their lives".

"Who could have done with an alarm this week warning of imminent disaster?" asked Ayoade.

"Diane Abbott?" replied Hislop.

"Yes, she sent a letter to The Observer in which she wrote that racism and prejudice were different things and implied that there was a hierarchy of racism," said Ayoade, before going on to joke, "...which would be lovely to thrash out tonight! We're here to discover who is the most racist person here!"

"She did suggest that certain types of racism should be considered racism and others should be just merely prejudice, including Irish people, Travellers and Jews. And this is a bit of a problem for the Labour Party... putting the word 'Jews' in again. Yes it was late at night and she was sending a formal letter to The Observer, so you know, hey! We've all done it.... No, we haven't" said Hislop.

"She did apologise for her letter. The explanation was that she had sent an 'initial draft', and she had obviously had a couple of initial draughts," joked Ayoade.

"Like so many first drafts of any letter you write, there's a hell of a lot of racism in there. That's what second drafts are for!" replied Merton.

Host Richard Ayoade also found time during the episode to note Dominic Raab's resignation from government and as deputy prime minister this week, after an inquiry into allegations that he had bullied civil servants.

"Raab was found by a government inquiry to have bullied and harassed certain civil servants. The report said he was 'abrasive not abusive'... like a detergent.

"Last week, Dominic Raab quit after two complaints of bullying were upheld. Many of the bullying allegations refer to Raab's time at the Ministry of Justice... which is also the name he gives to his fists."