A sexual joke about the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands conflict has been approved by the BBC’s standards team.

Viewers complained to the national broadcaster after a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, a BBC Three reality competition, made a joke while dressed as Margaret Thatcher about “going down” like the Belgrano.

The General Belgrano, an Argentine cruiser, was torpedoed by a Royal Navy submarine with Thatcher’s approval in May 1982, killing 323 Argentine sailors.

The BBC’s executive complaints unit began an investigation after two viewers protested that the joke was inappropriate. The unit rejected the complaint.

The ruling will renew scrutiny of the complaints unit, which last year found against the BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty for comments she