No filter

Danny Baker has apologised for the above tweet, which he later deleted. Was it intended in a racist way? Only Baker will know. My guess is that his sheer arrogance, his unfailing belief that he is always right about everything, won thorough; his unwavering certainty that he knew better than anyone else meant he lost his shit, fucked up, got it all wrong, posted something utterly, disgustingly repellent, without thinking it through.

Meghan Markle has been the victim of some horrible, sly racism. Readers of certain newspapers have long concerned themselves that Harry’s choice of bride had ‘contaminated’ the all-white royal lineage. Danny Baker, the smart ass’s smart ass felt he was untouchable and so could say anything he liked. And then he overstepped the mark.

It is a fact that we are all Africans. It is also a fact that we have not simply descended from apes; we are apes. But that’s in the scientific and evolutionary sense. The use of apes, through the use of monkey chanting, has been one of the most odious types of racism. Footballers in particular have been the innocent victims of this.

Baker should have known better. He is the self-appointed uber Millwall fan, many of whose supporters have a not exactly – ahem – whiter than white reputation. In a hopelessly divided country, with a new and terrifying growth in English nationalism, led by both covert (Farage) and overt (Yaxley Lennon) racists, being dull is not an excuse.

I’m pretty sure Danny Baker isn’t a racist. However, I do know that his levels of self-regard, self-belief and absolutely certainty may have convinced him that he could do or say anything. No filter.

On his day, Baker can be as funny and smart as anyone else in the land. He is a great writer and a fine radio performer. Never forget, though, in Danny’s world it’s all about Danny.

He’s made a big, big mistake tweeting what he did, given that it must have required the services of Mr Google to find it. Hopefully, a mistake is all it was. Now we move on, hopefully older, wiser and more humble. Hopefully.