Afternoon:
10°c
Clarkson sorry over ‘one-eyed’ insult to Brown
Benedict Moore-Bridger6 Feb 2009
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson issued a partial apology this afternoon for calling Gordon Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot”.
After plunging the BBC into another huge row following Carol Thatcher's “golliwog” comment, Clarkson said he was sorry for remarking on the Prime Minister's appearance.
But the TV presenter pointedly did not apologise for calling him an idiot — nor for using “Scottish” as a term of abuse.
Charities for the blind described the insult as “totally unacceptable” while Scottish MPs said it was “unforgivable”.Lord Foulkes, a former Labour Scottish minister, called on the BBC to take Clarkson, off air.
“If the BBC banned Jonathan Ross for what he said and they have taken Carol Thatcher off air for something she said in private, then something should be done about Clarkson,” he said.
Clarkson, 48, could not have chosen a more public platform for his insult – a press conference in Sydney.
“(In the UK) we've got this one-eyed Scottish idiot,” he said. “He keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us.”
Mr Brown lost his sight in one eye after a rugby accident as a teenager and has spoken movingly about how being almost completely blinded changed his life. Even today the Prime Minister has difficulty reading fine print.
Pretending to be embarrassed, Clarkson put his hand over his mouth after calling Mr Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot” and said: “Oh I've said that now...” His Top Gear co-presenter Richard Hammond chipped in: “You've said that out loud as well.”
But Clarkson was undeterred and repeated: “The one-eyed Scottish man, he's telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world.”
The BBC rushed out a statement giving Clarkson's apology. It read: “In the heat of the moment I made a remark about the Prime Minister's personal appearance for which, upon reflection, I apologise.” Edinburgh MP Nigel Griffiths, a friend of Mr Brown, said: “He should give a more fulsome apology, especially for commenting on somebody's disability.”
The dilemma now confronting the BBC is whether to treat one of their most popular presenters with the same zero tolerance shown towards Ms Thatcher, who was sacked from The One Show for her racially insensitive remark.
While her defenders said she spoke only in a private BBC hospitality room, Clarkson made his remarks at an event to publicise Top Gear Live, a stage version of the hit BBC TV show.
Lesley-Anne Alexander, the Royal National Institute of Blind People's chief executive, said: “Mr Clarkson's description of Prime Minister Brown is offensive. Any suggestion that equates disability with incompetence is totally unacceptable.”
Clarkson is not afraid of controversy. He has claimed to have driven at 186mph on a public road and warned cyclists that if they crossed his path by jumping a red light: “I will run you over — for fun.”
