France News

Media watchdog Ofcom have received more than 13,000 complaints, leading politicians are now involved, the police are investigating hate-mail threats against contestants and the problem has reached India where the movie industry has reacted strongly.

British Chancellor Gordon Brown has become involved in the row during a visit to India and he said the issue had been raised repeatedly during his trip, and he added that Great Britain should be "seen as a country of fairness and tolerance".

Shilpa Shetty has been called a "dog", one of her housemates said "she makes my skin crawl."

Also Shilpa Shetty’s accent has been mocked and she has been actually brought to tears by a group of Celebrity Big Brother fellow-contestants ganging up on her.

All of this has sparked a debate about whether British viewers have been watching racism or bullying or both, and "Racism is racism," Sunita Patel wrote to the Mirror newspaper.

The matter was also raised during Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament and Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that he could not comment on Celebrity Big Brother because he had not seen it.