I see the BBC is trying to get use of normal words banned then. Ought not be their agenda. "In the UK the term is, at best, seen as old fashioned and "something your gran might say"." Utter balderdash. In the UK the term is, at best, seen as the present day normal polite way to refer to those who have naturally darker skin that most Europeans, for example. It was deliberately used because folk accepted other terms might be derogatory, and as such is something anyone and everyone might say".
Then it goes on to discuss America but fails to note that an unoffensive word utilized for an embarassing/wrong purpose doesn't make the word offensive. If one can speak of coloured crayons or coloured patterns one can equally speak of coloured people, knowing there is equally no offence: and anyone who then takes offence should ask themselves why they opt to, and why, as a result, they are trying to belittle decent folk and make them uncomfortable and wary of saying anything.