PARP parp. Make way for the new Noddy. Enid Blyton wrote 24 Noddy books between 1949 and 1963, many featuring Golly Town and golliwogs. But the new book by her grand- daughter has removed them. Quite right too.

To someone like me, white and middle class, the gollies of our childhood were just loveable toys and it was baffling, at first, when the argument that they were racist emerged.

But I soon came to understand the concerns.

Some may still see it as nothing but a cuddly toy but, to others, a golliwog represents a grotesque caricature that lampoons and reflects negative beliefs about black people. Gollies may be dressed in minstrel clothes with jolly beams on their faces but there was nothing to smile about, in the distant past, if you were a slave.

Or, today, if you are black and a dollop-for-a-brain racist calls you a ******* golly. Or worse.

Blyton wrote her books at a time when the world was different and I don’t think for a moment that there was any unpleasant intent. Noddy may have been a prig but they were basically nice tales promoting good values.

But decent values today, as the response to the BNP’s bigotry showed, includes banishing racism in any form.

It's not about political correctness. It’s about not being offensive.

So let’s delight that children today can enjoy a fresh tale about funny little Noddy, concentrate on what Big Ears, Bumpy Dog and Tessie Bear are getting up to and stop being blindly sentimental about what others find abusive.

All those who agree nod your heads..