MP calls for Jezza Clarkson's head

Ipswich Labour MP Chris Mole has written a "strongly-worded" letter to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson demanding that Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson be sacked for suggesting that lorry drivers routinely kill strumpets. Clarkson, 48, was "taking part in a lorry-driving task" during last Sunday's pre-watershed show …

[dodge]

Not reason enough

Can't they just dismiss Clarkson for being an odious oik with a tired line of argumentative pablum that is by now entirely predictable? And for having stupid hair?

[Anonymous Coward]

Strongly worded letter....

I am writing a strongly worded letter to said MP to tell him to get a fucking life and stop being a useless c*nt like every other of the nearly 700 MP's in this country. Notice the US manages to get by with considerably fewer congressmen for a much larger population.

As for complaining to the BBC, it is my understanding that MP's claim the license fee on their expenses which means he doesnt pay for it to begin with.

If you dont like Top Gear, dont watch it.

[Andrew]

C'mon

Clarkson abuses nearly everyone. If causing offence to someone were a sacking offence at the BBC, they wouldn't have many staff left, especially in light entertainment.

[Simon Williams]

bunch of whinging children

Get over yourselves, it's a joke nobody really thinks lorry drivers are all serial killers. There's probably one or 2 who've only killed once.

Clarkson is a twat. Everyone knows it, it's who he is and it's how he makes the money he does. If you don't like it. Don't watch it.

[Peter]

The man needs help

It is proper that we acknowledge the grief for the murder of 5 people, whatever their profession at the time, but let's not get sanctimonious about this.

First, Clarkson is known for his bad jokes -that that is part of his popularity should tell politically correct idiots something- so if you can't handle it you shouldn't watch (there are at least 11 remedial buttons on any remote control, labelled 0..9 and on/off).

Second, from a REAL psychological perspective (not a pseudo "I need votes and press coverage", artificial grief perspective) humour is a better weapon against grief then moping around in a depressed state.

All I see here is a bunch of Jeremy haters and those who need votes to try and run with a bandwagon which is in a worst state than whatever car ever featured on Top Gear.

Was I first? No? Damn.

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris Mole should bear in mind Sir James Goldsmith's remark

"If you see a bandwagon, it's too late - you've already missed it."

[Neil Greatorex]

Chris Mole is "strongly for" the ID card

How could anyone here take him seriously after that?

Here's some of his Voting record (from PublicWhip)

Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban.

Voted strongly for introducing ID cards.

Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.

Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.

Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.

Voted strongly for the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.

Voted very strongly for replacing Trident.

Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.

Voted very strongly for equal gay rights.

2006/7 expenses claimed: £143,003

[radian]

yawn

Chris Mole - A sad little politician desperately trying to raise his profile.

[Anonymous Coward]

FFS!

> "For Mr Clarkson to make light of murder in any circumstance must be a dismissible offence."

If that applies, then surely every other modestly offensive comment made by any government or private employee, or even MPs, must also be a sackable offence. I find the MP's comment deeply offensive, and wish to see him dismissed .... immediately. Silly, isn't it?

The MP's reaction is just one more symptom of a country and government gone mad.

[Sceptical Bastard]

Humourless parliamentarian git

I "voted" in the BBC's dismiss-a-comedian poll. But only because I loathe Johnathon Woss so much. Unfortunately, the wrong one resigned.

But I'm fucked if I'm going to join the 'sack Jezza' campaign. Not that Clarkson is likeable - he's an irritating petrol junky and there's something about his big face and bubblehead barnet that makes me want to hit him.

Nonetheless, the 'murder a prostitute' quip was amusing. And who wants to side with a po-faced self-righteous New Lamer apparatchik, especially one with a name out of 'Wind In The Willows'. We pay MPs to work their balls off on our behalf, not watch Top Gear.

BTW, wasn't Peter Sutcliffe (aka the Yorkshire ripper) a lorry driver too? Lorry drivers, eh? Loveable rogues but you wouldn't let your daughter marry one.

[Anonymous Coward]

Politics as usual...

Unknown MP: "Cool, here's an opportunity for me to get my name into the paper and pretend that I care... 5-days after the initial broadcast... gosh, I'm on the ball..."

[Dean Ayers]

WTF

So, I find the proms a waste of money, I find all the crapy day time decorating shows offence, ive never one in my life been intrested in radio 3.

But do I demand they be taken off air and the presenters sacked?

No, I understand that the BBC is diverse and appeals to many different peoples.

So why is it these moronic MPs and the pc brigade as a whole cant respect that also?

Why cant they realise that with such a wide audience theres allways somthing people wont like.

I mainly use the BBC for 3 things, Top Gear - Chris Moyles show - and the russel brand show (or did) And they want to take two of those 3 programs away,

So Is it okay if I dont pay my TV licence? Oh wait... what a joke.....

[bigfoot780]

The celebrity witch hunt continues

So the UK is sick of hearing about the credit crunch. So let's go after celebrities. That makes sense doesn't it? I agree with the Ross Brand decision but Clarkson is Clarkson and he's not sensitive or PC get used to it.

Paris. Cos she didn't get fake elected.

[Anonymous Coward]

sackable offense?

Making fun of lorry drivers is a sackable offense while negligently losing gigabytes of personal and private data on a regular basis isn't?

Paris, 'cause she's the only one who should be given the sack.

[Anonymous Coward]

So what?

If they fire him, would he really care that much. The BBC won't fire him cause they know they need him more than he needs them.

Besides, stop being so effing uptight about every little thing that might be seen by SOME as SOMEWHAT offensive, damn it.

[Chris G]

Irritating, boorish, insensitive,

That describes most MPs and sometimes Jeremy Clarkson too but to dismiss him for NOT referring to the Ipswich murders that were commited by a FORKtruck driver is bollocks.

Mr Mole go and do something useful for society and stop indulging in the favourite pastime of your party... Censorship. Clarkson's sense of humour as incorrect as it maybe at times, accurately reflects the sense of humour of much of the population at large, why do you think he is so popular ?

I suppose Jeremy Clarkson is something of an anachronism in that he still believes in freedom of speech even though successive ministers and politicians have steadily eroded it away to the politically correct remnant that it is today.

[Anonymous Coward]

NuLabour jumping on NuBandwagon

He think there's a mob to be joined so he's jumping on the bandwagon.

He's an idiot.

He's an unelectable life sucking joyless idiot like so many in NuLabour.

[I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects]

Necktopic

Seems a good idea, in these straightened times, to get rid of a few high earners.

I hope it won't stop there. When the presentation is worth more than the content you know it's time to shop elsewhere.

At least they were not graduates of the Blue Peter School of Science.

[Anonymous Coward]

I call for all those complaining to be sacker

for having chuff-all sense of humour. Especially MPs.

[Richard Barnes]

Exaggeration for comic effect

It's a joke. Everyone knows it's a joke. The CEO of Eddie Stobart was on the radio saying that they all knew it was a joke. All except one twat of an MP desperate for publicity.

This is just one more story to add to the many on the Reg that deepens the contempt we feel for those who govern us.

[Matt Bryant]

Wrong traget.

Surely our MPs have better things to waste their time on? Mind you, what Jezza should have said was "Change ze gear, change ze gear, anyzing in my mirror, change ze lanes and run over ze small family hatchback, change ze gear, run away to foreign home country and try to avoid ze extradition at all ze costs, change ze gear", as that would more accurately reflect the real murder frequently committed by foreign truck drivers on UK roads. Forget all this drive-on-the-right malarkey introduced by that pint-pot dictator Napoleon, just tell Johnny Foreigner he has to switch to driving on the left like all right-minded people do (you Yanks please take note). Maybe the Right Honourable Member for Ipswich would like to take that one up seeing as he seems to have plenty of time on his hands.

[Wayne]

Humour? Stuff that, there's puritans voters out there

This country just gets worse and worse. Not only do we have Mandy foisted on us unelected and very much undesired but no-one even has a bloody sense of humour any more. If there was actually an English speaking country that wasn't as prudish/puritan (or worse) I'd vote with my feet. Sadly the English speaking world is universally rubbish - bah humbug!

oh and did I mention I really, really detest Mandy and resent his revival intensely?

[4a$$Monkey]

Ministry of Humour

Perhaps the government should establish a ministry for humour so they can vet what we should find funny. I mean what is the world coming to when you can't make dead prostitute jokes?

[Big_Boomer]

Parrot Parasites

Oh look, the local MP has gotten all offended now that he has realised that he can squeeze some political capital out of the situation. Get a life you parasite.

If anyone has a right to be offended at Clarksons comments it's Truck drivers, not your constituents (unless they drive Trucks for a living). Most if not all of those probably laughed it off as they are human beings and understand humour, albeit gallows humour, when they hear it.

[Mike Street]

Offensive

This is the real offence of Woss and... the other one. In many people's opinion, mine included, they completely overstepped the mark, but now every MP in need of publicity will complain about anything at all n the BBC, just because he or she might get the oxygen of publicity.

If Mr Mole wants to generate some real support, how about opposing some of his party's freedom-reducing ideas, especially those of successive Home Secretaries. Of course, THAT might get him whipped (and not in a good way).

So that will never happen.

[Martin Cropper]

Anyone in Ipswich?

Please could someone in his constituency point out to this fool that Wright was a fork lift truck driver, and that it wasn't a veiled reference to him. (I would do, but he won't respond if you don't live in his constituency)

http://www.chrismolemp.org.uk/contact_me

Please could someone make these do-gooding types, who obviously don't even watch the program, STOP!

[dervheid]

You'd have thought...

that he maybe had more important things to worry about, like how the current global financial 'crisis' was going to affect his constituents.

Still, nothing more important than a bandwagon, eh?

Must have missed the last one.

Dickhead.

[TeeCee]

Ho hum.

Another article from the department of the sun coming up then.

A Labour MP = Dickhead.

Who knew?

The only thing of note here is that with other such recently, I think that we probably have enough empirical evidence to support the postulate:

All Labour MPs = Dickheads.

[David]

Wossie syndrome?

Sounds like the Jonathan Ross syndrome - under the illusion he can do what he likes. Probably get away with it - just like Ross.

[Alex Cooper]

And what is the betting that....

.....out of those 500, 499 didn't even see the show. Some people really do need to get a grip and a sense of humour.

[Ian Hindmarsh]

Irony anyone?

What do I do if I am some insignificant never been heard of Labour MP? Express fake outrage and take a tilt at an easy target, Clarkson has made a career by being a gob on a stick and is often very funny, actually I thought the episode in question was one of the better ones for a while.

[The Druid]

What about all those MPs?

I'd like quite a few MPs sacked, especially when you consider the cock-ups they make. Does it happen? No. When is the media going to stop listening to the morons who run, um, mess up our country?

[Peter Labrow]

Get a life - and a sense of humour

Some people should focus their time on things which are more important - especially MPs who are paid to do so. Humour can be offensive to some, and even the good old slip on a banana skin is a laugh at someone else's expense. Clarkson did not mean ill to anyone by this. For goodness' sake, pretty soon we're not going to be able to laugh about anything without some retentive twonk bleating on about it, demanding blood. Get back on with your real job, and lighten up.

[David Kelly]

Ridiculous

Time to write that MP a strongly worded letter telling him / her that if they can afford to waste time on such a non-issue they should be fired from their office.

[Anonymous Coward]

A strongly worded letter

Dear unconcerned reader, I think it is outrageous that public servants should be made to suffer so regularly from little or no sense of humour syndrome or sense of humour failure. To so rarely make light of anything is in my view a totally disgraceful way to behave and I feel it is a certainly a sacking offence. Yes, I think Labour MP Chris Mole has a lot to answer for. How someone of this character could be allowed to hold this official position overseeing so many important tasks is totally beyond my comprehension.

If Chris Mole is not dismissed for his part in this tragic display of misunderstanding then he should be at the very least required to enter a program of rehabilitation. In my view the only hope for the afflicted likes of Labour MP Chris Mole is for some kind of Clockwork Orange style sense of humour training and a sharp wake-up call (in the face). In an ideal world failure to spot a joke should be made illegal with punishment of either an on the spot fine or a court appearance with community service or a short prison term for regular offenders. Our community will suffer if we continue to turn a blind eye to these offenders.

Yours sincerely, with much disheartenment and anger...

Nob End

[Anonymous Coward]

JC in offense shocker

Seriously, anyone who watches JC speak and doesn't expect to be offended is a fool. If you don't like what he says, turn it off.

[Anonymous Coward]

Will the madness never end?

I'm off to Downing Street to sort this out

[peter]

Anti-complaint

Where do I go to register an anti-complaint on the BBC website? I wast to offset one of the complaints from those who don't have a sense of humour.

[Anonymous Coward]

Get a grip on reality Chris Mole

FFS this is rediculous. MPs wading in on TV comedy. What I think more appalling is that this labour MP is going for headline grabbing soundbites about the inconsequential when his party has and continues to screw up the entire country whilst blaming "world factors". Really who cares about what Jezza says when manufacturing has gone completely down the toilet and labour's wonderful insurance telesales economy has been off-shored?!

This MP should make a public appology for wasting the taxpayers time & start doing his job for his constituents by opposing some of the dumb ideas his own party are touting. He is just jumping on the Ross/Brand bandwagon way after the fact for some cheap publicity. I for one find Jezza funny along with 5,000,000 other people who watched it... I bet more than half the complaints came from people who didn't even watch the show, including this MP.

</rant>

[Tim Croydon]

AAaaaaaaaaarrrgggghhhhh

Just stop it. Everyone.

If you're determined to put your effort into being 'against' something, please channel it be signing up for charity work and leading by example, rather than railing against the (increasingly few) channels of entertainment we have left that, at the end of the day, really don't make that much difference to anyone.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ipswitch?

Now, could there be a self serving reason that the MP from Ipswitch is calling for Jezzer's head?

I am reminded of when the MP for the constituency where Leah Betts lived (David Aimis?) was cought out by the "new drug Cake"/Chris Morris thing.

[Mr Larrington]

Up until Wednesday...

...I thought he was talking about Peter Sutcliffe. So perhaps it's not quite as much of an urban legend as Auntie is making out.

[Anonymous Coward]

After all

We do need more media censorship. Stupid TV personalities, thinking they can say whatever they like!

[Luke]

BURN HIM!!

I have a Monty Pythonish mental image of the 500 complainers wearing mud encrusted peasant outfits, flaming torch in one hand, copy of the Daily Heil in the other.

Who will be next for the medieval witch hunt? Brand is gone, Ross is on his way, Clarksons' departure is in progress. I think Alan Titchmarsh stepped on a beetle the other day - BURN HIM!!

[Richard Williams]

Only 500 complaints?

Poor effort. All the old ladies and morally outraged unemployed must still be exhausted from their recent Manuelgate exertions.

"Can't....feign...righteous indignation....any more"

[Richard]

Now where did I leave that green pen?

Yet again, we have a disproportionate number of complaints, from blowhards who probably didn't even watch the show, aren't lorry drivers, aren't prostitutes, aren't even related to the victims etc.

If the BBC buckles then I'll be mightily pissed off.

Lets not forget, that Steve Wright was NOT a lorry driver anyway. He drove a forklift.

[Tony Hoyle]

The Daily Mail strikes again

Fresh from their success last week, the DM is going after Top Gear (and I'm told Mock The Week - for a gag broadcast originally *two years ago* but that doesn't stop them).

You can bet all 500 of the complaints were after the DM article, and are from people who never even watched the programme. Funny how they never complain when he makes disparaging remarks about germans...

[James Hughes]

Tell the MP to b****r off

The fact that it was JC who made the comment is completely irrelevant - if it was offensive it doesn't matter who said it.

On the other hand, it wasn't even offensive, and for GODS SAKE, Steve Wright was a FORKLIFT DRIVER not a LORRY DRIVER, so the comment wasn't even about him!!! I listened to this MP numpty on the radio last night and he had the audacity to say he spoke for the families for the murdered women in Ipswich, (The ones Clarkson wasn't talking about) when he hadn't even spoken to them about it! Talk about getting on the bandwagon. The R4 presenter could have given him a much harder time - I wish he had.

[Dave Fox]

Can we can all do this?

I wonder how many of the 500 complaints came from people who actually watched the show? My guess would be practically none since the *many* millions who watch Top Gear would know what the humour is like in the show and take it in the spirit it was intended.

I suggest that if Jeremy Clarkson appealed to viewers of his show to write to Chris Moles "employers" and demand that he be sacked, there would many more than 500 people calling for his head. The difference of course, is that JC (wow - just realized that!) would probably mean it in jest, and doesn't require the sort of cheap publicity that this MP is seeking.

Give it a rest "MP Chris Moles" and get in touch with the people you are supposed to represent. I'd hazard a guess that if the BBC were to act on your "demands" to sack JC, you'd find yourself far more unpopular with the electorate than JC is, though given the current government that may actually be quite hard to achieve.

British - and proud of the fact that we can laugh at almost anything!

Regards,

Dave

[Sarah Bee]

easy now

All this stuff isn't going to kill off comedy any more than 9/11 killed off movie explosions. I don't know if you remember but at the time people were flapping about how it was the end of Hollywood.

I know that's a very glib comparison, but... oh, I'm fired now, aren't I. Bugger.

[Anonymous Coward]

What to do...

The most useful thing to do with those complaints is to round up the addresses and invite Mr Clarkson to drive his lorry through them all. Honestly ... how big is our population ... how large is the international audience of Top Gear and ... how many complaints? Good grief. Mine's the one with the truck keys in the pocket.

[Anonymous Coward]

King Cnut.

Ipswich Labour MP Chris Mole is a grandstanding knob jockey. He admitted during an interview with Radio 4's PM that he hadn't spoken to the families of the dead hookers and was just being offended on their behalf. That's what a caring, sharing kinda guy he is.

[Anonymous Coward]

He's a f*cking MP

Which means he has done a whole load of dismissable things in his time, like been an incompetent f*ckwit who has contributed to the country going town the pan. Let's leave Jeremy Clarkson alone and if the huddled masses don't like his style then they can switch over and watch strictly come dancing.

[Richard Harris]

Of course he's complained

He probably felt he had to complain, there are votes at stake!

We're going to need a timetable for all these bandwagons that are coming along. FFS, these morons should stop getting offended on behalf of other people, and get a f***ing sense of humour!

Paris? She's been known to blow things, out of proportion.

[bogwoppit]

Strumpetgate!

I love you guys.

Why no Paris angle? It seems so easy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Rusty Shackleford says'

Memo to MP Mole - "Lighten up Francis" .

It has the merit of not being cruelly specific to one vulnerable person (as in 'Manuel Gate). Thats the difference for me. Humour without too much cruelty.

[Jonathan Schofield]

Let's ban all humour

This is in a different league to the Ross / Brand affair, and Mr Mole is on a publicity kick looking for a bandwagon to leap on.

May we should just ban all humour and comedy and allow our MPs to amuse us instead

[Liam]

ffs

this is a joke - there were only 2 complaints after the show so which twats have just read about it and been offended. it was 2 years ago ffs!

get a life you saddos!

[George]

Jumping on the bandwagon!

Why are politicians always so painfully slow at jumping on the bandwagon? I know they are out of touch but this was all at the beginning of the week, it just reeks of desperate to be known for something other than taking our taxes and wasting them all.

Have you also noticed how none of our politicans are that worried (or even appear to be guinenely concerned) about the market slowdown? No because they have nice fat guaranteed wage!

[Craig Vaughton]

Pot - Kettle

What the government does to tax payers constitutes mugging, or maybe demanding money with menaces, but we can't prosecute them for it!

[Mike Hunt]

WFT

Its nice to see, despite the countries current financial status, that this Labour MP chappie has nothing better to do than write "strongly worded letters" to the BBC - thats real value for money. How about he better serves his electorate by sorting out real local issues rather than jumping on the "Bash the BBC" bandwagon. Mind you, MP's never stray across the line do they !! - lets just check the headlines shall we.....

With the government struggling to cope with more important things, such as their ability to stay in power, I think this man's attention is best served somewhere else...mind you, its enough to get Labour a headline (one that doesnt include Gordon Brown losing control of the country anyway.)

[Dave Ross]

Who can I write to...

when I wish to complain about people who have nothing better do do with their lives than waste people's time with stupid complaints please?

[Chewy]

0.007% complained

How about this percentage of people just change the channel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh please!

I wonder how many of those 500 people have actually seen the programme? Anyone who watches TopGear on a regular basis understands the tone of the show and would have taken it with a pinch of salt.

This ain't the first time JC has been in trouble and it won't be the last. If they haven't sacked Mr Ross, then they won't sack JC.

[Colin MacLean]

Surprise!

MP in bid to make a name for himself shocker.

Where's that gravy train icon?

[MarkJ]

Forklift Truck

Given that Wright was working as a fork-lift truck driver at the time of his arrest, though he does hold an HGV license (apparently) surely the media are actually libelling truck drivers by perpetuating the implication that truckers murder prostitutes, by linking Clarkson's remarks with the Ipswich murders, when unlike Sutcliffe, his holding a HGV license had nothing to do with the deaths.

[Mark]

OK, I get the offense

If it were "Lorry drivers are being impugned". But this floored me:

"To do so with complete disregard for the families of the murdered women should make this a matter on which I would expect you to take immediate action."

If he'd said "and damn good job too" I would then make the connection between "Lorry drivers kill prozzies" and "You're insulting the families".

As it is, no. No I can't.

Is this Chris Mole trying to bag a hot female constituent? Or just trying to bag the feminist vote by "standing up for women"?

[Anonymous Coward]

FORK LIFT

Having lived in the surrounding area to where Steve Wright lived, I can state yet again that he was a fork lift driver, NOT a 'lorry' driver!

Not sure what annoys me more, the lack of knowledge on the MP's part, or every website that continues to refer to him as a lorry driver.

[Martin Lyne]

Oh noes!

A joke!

Sack everyone that ever made a Jack the Ripper or Harold Shipman joke too, will you? In fact, better lock up all comedians, just in case right?

Or we could just take a breath and stop our knees jerking.

[Mike Crawshaw]

Reg Reader Calls for Wacky Smith's Head

Reg Reader Mike Crawshaw has written a "strongly-worded comment on The Reg demanding that Home Secretary "Wacky" Jaqui Smith be sacked for being a lying, incompetent beeeatch.

Smith, old, has been taking part in numerous tv and newspaper interviews over the last few years when she says "people want identity cards, they want CCTV everywhere, they want to be on my database"

Recently, old politician Smith should have been jailed, hung, drawn and quartered, before allowing the populace to stamp on the bits for routinely lying and treating the UK population like morons. Crawshaw said in his comment: "the actions in this country during Smith's tenure as Home Secretary were, and are, horrific and the community has spent a lot of time pulling together to respond constructively to such dreadful events. For Smith to make light of the destruction of democratic rights in any circumstance must be an 'up against the wall' offence."

"To do so with complete disgregard for the population of the country should make this a matter on which I would expect immediate action."

[Justin Case]

I am more offended than you

I'm sick and tired of the "offence auction" that takes place in cases like these. This is completely different from the Brand/Ross debacle in that the gruesome twosome actually phoned Senor Sachs. Jezzer was just carrying on in his imitable Clarksonesque manner.

[John Goodwin]

How utterly reliable

There's always one who fails to appreciate the humorous nature of the fuzzy-haired, pot-bellied man's banter.

MP in question is now probably after anyone who tells jokes about the 11th of September. What a dull man.

JG

[Benny]

What the c*ck?!

Have these MPs not get anything better to do?!

And as for these ...whats the word .... tw@ts that go about watching programs that they dont like for the simple fact of complaining about it, they should not be allowed to have a tv, or a computer, or anything that they could possibly find offensive.

bah!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm I the only person

who has noticed a correlation between the government being in trouble and them attacking the BBC?

the Iraq war, the weapons inspector, cash for honors and the economy spring to mind.

[Anonymous Coward]

No Jezza no license

Sack him and i for one, will no longer be paying for a tv license....

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as....

.. any polititian who makes a minor mistake is held accountable and loses their job aswell.

No polititians left? Oh dear, glass houses and all that!

[Chris]

I'm deeply offended ...

... by anyone who watches Top Gear and is then offended by the content.

Especially MP's who jump on the band waggon nearly a week later.

[Lee]

I must be getting old.....

but didn't spitting image (1980's) do a gag with lorry drivers killing C5 owners and having stickers for the number of kills????

It appears that the woolly blanket brigade are out in force....again

[Smallbrainfield]

It's funny because it's true.

I think the BBC should sack Adrian Chiles because he's a 'bit Birmingham'.

[wobblycogs]

Go Jezza

While not the finniest thing Mr Clarkson has ever said you have got to admit it brings at least a small smile. I'm sure he has enough money to retire if he wanted and I think if I was in his shoes and didn't get 100% support from the Beeb that is exactly what I would do. While it would deprive us of a quality presenter it might help teach institutions like the Beeb to grow some spine and realize they are going to offend some people some of the time.

[Ewen Bruce]

I'm appalled and outraged

Here we go again, all aboard the outrage bandwagon......

Maybe the 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' MP should stop generating headlines for himself and get on with the job he was elected to do instead of being offended on behalf of others?

[Rob Beard]

MP

Why hasn't this MP got better things to do?

I dunno, they get paid so much and so sod all. Bloody government.

I'm sure Jeremy Clarkson will apologise on the next episode of Top Gear. How many of these 500 people who complained actually watch the show anyway?

I bet 90% of these 500 people complain about anything as they've got sod all else to do with their lives.

Reminds me of The Simpsons episode "Bart The General" where Abe Simpsons writes in to complain about a load of different words such as Bra, Horny and Family Jewels.

Rob

[Ben Robinson]

Oh NO!

Oh my god not 500 complains on a show that has a global audience of 350million! Why don't people just leave everything alone with the BBC. its already been shown with the Russell Brand saga that we're a nation that just jumps on the bandwagon! just get a life!

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris Mole?

Is there really someone called that? Is he any relation to Adrian? And does he not have an important job to do and therefore something better to worry about than sabre rattling about JC?

I think I might write a "strongly-worded letter" to Mr Mole's boss, probably someone called Mr Badger or Mr Toad, calling for Mr Mole's sacking on the basis that wasting his valuable time on stupid letter-writing while the taxpayer forks out for his pay 'must be' a sackable offence. Except that would be hypocrisy as it is exactly what I am doing now...

[Steven]

Only...

Steve Wright was a fork lift driver.... not a lorry driver.

I believe Jezza was more likely referring to Peter Sutcliffe, still glad to see the MP in question didn't let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

[AC]

anyone notice ...

how 500 is a lot less the 30,000 complaints that Bland and Toss got for radio2?

auntie would be mad to sack clarkson as that would be the end of top gear, it's not been about reviewing cars for years now and the fat oaf is the heart and soul of it.

I'd rather see that twatting MP is sacked for not representing his constituents.

[Christopher Rogers]

I blame the media....

...for all of this loss of sense of humour. Yes its a bit dark and yes its a bit close to home for some people in our population of 65 million, but really. Sod off. I laughed, my mates laughed and i'm sure plenty of others beyond that laughed (probably including staffers in el Reg). Can that MP not focus on something important like the people he represents having less money in their pockets per chance? Any anyways, he's in politics. He's bound to be up to some nasty Xratedness himself...

[Lickass McClippers]

Shut up Mole

And climb back under whichever rock it is you emerged from...

[fell]

love it

when stupid people bite

it shows there still plenty of people with a suitable IQ for the forces etc

its why i live frankie boyle so much

clarkson for PM i say

.

[Jay]

Hmmm

Perhaps MP's should be getting the economy back on track rather than whining about telly. I for one registered Praise to the BBC so taking that into account technically its only 499.

Bit like the Crystal Maze i guess...

Paris cause she's like a prostitute i guess....

[Tom Ranson]

Exactly

BBC: "The vast majority of Top Gear viewers have clear expectations of Jeremy Clarkson's long-established and frequently provocative on-screen persona." - don't like it, don't watch it!

[Ian S]

What is going wrong with the world!

First Russell Brand has to quit for saying (and according to reports correctly), that he'd got down and dirty with some young "lady"

Now Clarkson is getting it in the neck for pointing out a very valid statistic (Suffolk, Yorkshire ripper amongst many others were all lorry drivers)

Based on the fact that this guy moaning is a politician, and they never tell the truth, this would explain why no one is asking for him to quit. :o)

[Paul]

This is getting beyond a joke... (sorry)

No-one complains about "Priest and the alter boy" type jokes.

If any action is taken over this I will start complaining about every single joke on the BBC that is in that vain, making it quight clear why. If enough people start doing this we can make the feelings of the majority heard.

[Jamie]

Bleeding Heart Nut-Jobs

First of all, lorry drivers unions have come out backing Jeremy on this.

Second no MP or anyone working in any gov't position should state something like, this is a sackable offence after the crap they pull.

Third, bet all the complaints have been made by middle and working class women who have nothing better to do, with thier children grown and not wanting them around anymore.

[Slik Fandango]

Major sense of humour failure!

As someone said in a post about Jezza's joke in another article - this country is losing it's sense of humour.

What is happening? We are going to loose all comedians as they leave to find a country that tolerates slightly extreme humour?

Some people just take things badly, ok so it may be near the knuckle but so what.

[Shaun Rolph]

No idea why this was sent to my inbox.

Dear Mr BBC,

I wish to write a strongly worded letter regarding your programme "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria". But lack of time and ability mean that this will have to do.

The village of Polstead lies not in my constutuency but close enough that I can claim this controversy and maybe get on the local news. There Maria Marten was shot by her lover William Corder.

The murder really quite close-by in 1827 was horrific and the community has spent a lot of time pulling together to respond constructively to such dreadful events. For Lord LLoyd-Webber to make light of murder in any circumstance must be a dismissible offence. (But not as bad as that soccer thing he did with Ben Elton, that was criminal).

To do so with complete disregard for the families of the murdered woman - irrespective of whether there are any around or they actually care - should make this a matter on which I would expect immediate action to be taken.

On a personal note, I'm disappointed that our National Broadcaster has decided to join the rest of the dumbed-down media in corrupting everything it touches.

kthxbai!!

Chris Mole MP (majority 13½).

[NOTE TO EDITORS]

Media bids to constituency office. Chris is unable to provide his own make-up artist. He prefers Evian but Volvic is acceptable.

[Wokstation]

Blood was tasted

When it was spilled from Brand and Ross. Now the media's going to expect to get anyone that says things they think the public should be shocked by, sacked.

Yay. :|

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah... He is going to be dismissed when Lucifer goes to work on a snowploigh

People tend to forget that he is a TV dynasty offspring:

And the Beeb has always followed its founding principles on the subject: http://www.despair.com/nepotism.html

So he will be dismissed... Right... When hell freezes over....

[Richard]

How do I write an "Uncomplaint"?

And does that decrease the number of complaints by one?

I listened to an interview with Chris Mole MP on PM last night on my way home, and here's a couple of choice quotes:

Eddie Mair: "Have any of the families complained to you about this?"

CM: "None, and I wouldn't expect them to"

...

CM: "I know what they would think"

For anyone interested, the interview is currently available on the BBC Radio 4 iPlayer for PM, starting at timecode 49min 25sec

(It'll disappear later today)

He doesn't half seem intent on being offended on other people's behalf.

Who actually were not offended anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris Mole should be sacked

I wrote to him re: Phorm and got, for a reply, a copy of a BT press statement - my points were not addressed.

He worked for BT.

His wife still works for BT.

BT have outsourced most of their work at Martlesham to Infosys and Tata - hence Ipswich has a large number of Indian immigrants - nothing wrong with Indians or indeed immigrants, it's good to see a Suffolk town become more cosmopolitan. However, it's had a dire effect on the local skilled population - to consult to BT you have to go through Hayes - and with the Indian companies charging £150/day there is scant work (many consultants commute to London). It'd be OK if they truly "outsourced" work to India but what they are doing is importing lower cost resources. I wish we could do that with MPs - or pay them £150/day.

As for Jezza - if he earns more than the Prime Minister then he should be sacked; he's big-headed and inseneitive enough though most people recognise he does it for effect (e.g. claiming all this identity theft news was rubbish - he saw the consequences of it). He could go to ITV and launch Reverse Gear.

[Aaron Harris]

Mr Angry from Surburton

So where do I write to commend Mr Clarkson, I here all the numbers banded around the amount of complaints, what about the hundreds of thousands of normal people that thought it was a funny throw away comment. Did Dads army and 'elo' 'elo' get this kind of negative press?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why don't MPs just go and screw themselves?

I'm fed up with these knobheads complaining that people make light of the society they've created.

They don't do anything for anyone except feather their own nests using tactics such as this, stoking up people's irritation with other people, and benefitting from the ruck.

Perhaps if Harriet Harman and her ilk, hadn't incubated serial killers by attempting to ban anything men like doing, then we wouldn't have scores of whores no more.

[Andy ORourke]

I would like to know

How many of the 500 complaints arrived during the screening of the show, I mean your average viewer (I count myself among these) would almost expect this kind of “outrage" at least twice during the average episode of Top Gear (In fact it wouldn’t be Top Gear without these kind of crude, insensitive comments!)

Now, thanks to the iPlayer, so many people can watch again to make sure just how outrageous the comments were so they can fuel their indignation prior to writing that letter to the BBC to demand the resignation of the presenter.

Do I recall or did several thousand people sign the petition to get Jezza to be Prime minister? If Clarkson goes over 500 complaints then surely this prime minister has had more than that many complaints so he should also step down?

Maybe if Labour MP Chris Mole has had more than 500 dissatisfied constituents he should consider resigning as well?

[adnim]

Such integrity should be lauded

Cracking a joke that 500 people out of a few million find offensive is most certainly grounds for dismissal. Especially when balanced against a lying government that misleads a nation of 50+ million into an illegal war which not only offended millions of people but resulted in the deaths of thousands.

[Scott]

Not going to get far

I don't expect this to get as out of hand as the stupid Ross/Brand thing as the editors of the daily moan and the bun are probably big fans of old Clarkson and he write a column for the Bun. If this MP is just trying to start a band wagon so he can look holyier than thou hes chosen the wrong tv presenter.

By the way did anyone see the grand daughter of Scahs on TV i missed it? was she properly disgusted with Ross/Brand while doing her satanic pole dance?

[Graham]

Strange thing

It seems that OFCOM happily collect complaints but there is no obvious way to do the reverse and register support of an 'issue'. It would give a better view of public feeling.

[Kent Brockman]

yet again....

Here we go again, yet more complaints from people who probably didn't even watch the show.

We are now in the situation where Daily Wail readers are scanning the BBC's programming, desperate to send an email to the hotly bookmarked complaints dept at anything offensive.

If people want to complain, then how about complaining about all the news channels recently being a 48hr Russell Brand/ Jonanthon Ross show whilst people were actually dying in the world.

[Anonymous Coward]

Polotical correctness gone mad!

Would it have been the same reaction if it had been said by a stand up comic such as Jimmy Carr, on a different show? I doubt it. People are politically correct numpties... *slaps forehead*

In addition, once again, more people complained who never saw the show, than actually did on the night...!

[Liam]

something to consider...

all this is pre-recorded right? then surely someone looks over it and says 'yes, this can go out' - so, isnt it the responsibility of the producer rather than the presenter? we see them make swearing bloopers that never get shown so why not edit that 1 line out - in this OVERLY PC time.

i still say fuck em - jezza is a legend!

lets all get mps sacked if we dont like what they say - we are paying THEIR wages too!

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris mole aka sad tw@ with no sense of humour

Seriously, how the hell has this made news everywhere, it was and still is a bloody joke ffs,

how long is it gonna be before the "PC Brigade" tards get all jokes totally banned on tv,

i myself have long been a fan of clarkson and co and top gear obviously, and im convinced there must be sad bastards out there that watch the show purely looking for something to complain about, then they make a complaint or ring the daily mail, so sick of the spineless BBC, if they get alot of viewers, it tends to indicate more people like top gear than dislike, and those that dislkike shouldnt be bloody watching.

Ban the bloody pc brigade before this country isnt allowed a sense of humour.

[Anonymous Coward]

Strongly worded letter...

"Ipswich Labour MP Chris Mole has written a "strongly-worded" letter to the BBC's director ..."

What a waste of time - Mr Mole, here's a strongly worded sentence:

<rant>

MP's - stop wasting your time on things like this and sort out the economy/pensionsNHS/public transport/roads out.

Daily-mail reading twunts...

</rant>

[Nev]

Backlash

You can leave comments of support on the BBC's complaints website.

Get cracking everyone. I'm sure we can muster >500 pro messages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaints_stage1.shtml

[MarkJ]

110 Comments

So there have allegedly been 500 complaints about Clarkson and on one site there have been 110 comments on an article about a slightly misguided bandwagon jumper?

The conclusion we should draw is that if this person is allowed on TV to defend their views, THEN WE SHOULD ALL COMPLAIN TO OFCOM!

Quite clearly he's offending the entire population by implying that because 500 people are thick enough to complain about Jezza's limited sense of humour, we're all that thick.

[Ash]

@Sarah Bee

If they fire you over that, i'll be writing a strongly worded letter to my MP...

The one with... No, sorry, too many repeated jokes in this post.

[Vic]

If your local Member of Parly...

...has enough time to be not only having the TV on but actually watching it enough to catch a dumbass throwaway line, they're NOT WORKING ENOUGH. Bejaysus, I don't have the time to even reach-behind-the-unit-to-the-socket-because-it's-off-to-save-electricity-from-being-on-standby and switch the effing thing on and I don't get paid even half as much as this muppet's expenses. Even half! Eh, who am I jesting? A lot less than that.

And I have an interest in this as it's the other half's muppet MP...MUPPETS!!! Can we have a muppet icon please for dumbass parly dude stories that don't relate to black helos? Although actually this could be a black helo story. They're really driving that self-censorship thing to extremes.

[Les Matthew]

Calls for his head

Why would anyone want ten pounds of ugly fat?

[Random Noise]

Gates

I am getting extremely tired of people putting the word 'gate' after anything which is slightly controversial or scandalous.

I'm not sure why it inspires so much ire in me, but it does.

FFS Watergate was Watergate because that was the name of the bloody building.

The entomology of gate is from the word for road or street. It has nothing to do with the fact it's a scandal. STOP USING GATE IN THIS WAY!

First person to refer to my comment as gate-gate gets a twatting!

[Anonymous Coward]

Did he even mention...

the term "Trucker", "Truck Driver" or "Lorry Driver"?

I seem to recall that he used the term "Lorryist" throughout.

So, since I've never heard anyone describe themselves as a Lorryist, how can anyone be offended.

[Paul R]

Lorryists...

I spoke to an ex-trucker friend of mine about this. He found that particular slot on TG hilarious, as did I. Anyone who didn't probably doesn't appreciate any of JCs humour, so why are they watching TG? The BBC routinely transmit stuff that I dislike, but that doesn't mean that I for one second think I should call for it to be removed.

People need to get a life, and just ignore stuff they don't like.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Gates

It's fair enough, the 'gate' suffix - it's just become a shorthand that everyone immediately understands. It's nicely flippant and wry, I think - hyperbolic, usually. You've just described the etymology of it - that doesn't undermine it at all from where I stand.

What might undermine your own point slightly is that you explained it as the 'entomology', which I believe is the study of insects.

[Brian]

Chris Mole

He's just jealous of Toad (Clarkson), because of Toad's obsession with cars.

Next thing, Mole, Badger (the misanthropic Brown?) and Ratty (the Daily Heil's Paul Dacre) will be off to Jezza's place and put him under house arrest.

Jezza will duly escape, nick a lorry and be arrested for making jokes insensitive to the feelings of ordinary Heil readers, who confuse fork lifts with 38 tonners.

What an insignificant little jumped up twat Mole is - as in the book, he's obviously baffled by real life.

[jason]

BBC can do nothing..if they do then its curtains

Essentially Top gear is the biggest money spinner for the BBC since the Teletubbies. Its worth a fortune around the world and has in effect become a highly recognisable brand.

Try selling Celebrity arseholes on Ice to any other country..no? Not interested Finland?

If the BBC do anything about this then we know darker (or stupider) forces are at work and TV as we know it wont exist in 12 months time. Next Have I got News For You and Mock The Week will be gone. Anyone going against the PC line will be silenced.

However, I'm sure ITV, Sky or CH4 would snap them up in no time.

[Haku]

Julie Moult is an idiot.

If anyone googles "Julie Moult" you'll see a veritable ton of websites/blog entries about how stupid she is, and why she's been 'googlebombed'.

Can we do the same for this idiot of a politician?

Chris Mole is an idiot.

[Neil Greatorex]

@ Sarah Bee

Delightful put-down.

We're not worthy :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

As theyworkforyou says

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/chris_mole/ipswich

Voted for the Iraq war, ID cards, foundation hospitals, student fees, current anti-terror laws and for replacing Trident. Since he doesn't have any independent thoughs on the big issues, he's got plenty of time to come up with stupid irrelevances of his own.

[Random Noise]

Re: Sarah Bee

Touché. Thats what happens when you rely too much on the spell checker in Firefox ;)

I still hate the use of gate though.

[Simon B]

There are some problems with your comment: A title is required.

MP - Try doing your PROPER job not crap like this

Jezza - A serious telling off yes but sacking? FFS MP's like the above muppet do worse and get less!

[Chika]

Well, there you have it!

Reading through the 120 posts (so far), I think anyone with half a brain can get the idea. Chris Mole has gone about this in the wrong way, has made himself look like a total Mail-reader, and Jezza comes out of it with a lot more respect generally for exhibiting a sense of humour rather than covering everything up in political correctness, something which so many politicians do to avoid the drubbing they so fear.

Could this be the beginning of the long awaited backlash against political correctness? I really hope so.

[Ed Blackshaw]

Gordon Brown

Hurry up and call an election so the people of Ipswich can sack Chris Mole.

[Dave Fox]

No 10 Petition

We should start a No 10. petition to have Chris Moles sacked for wasting public time and money in his bid to gain cheap publicity? I'd do it myself, but I'm far too lazy and not really that bothered about the issue, but it would be interesting to see just how many signatures it ended up getting, especially if it went viral! Rather more than 500 I'd wager.

[Steve]

No place on the BBC

Forget dismissing him, he may crop up elsewhere, Clarkson is a cancer on society, he should be held at Belmarsh until dead.

[ShaggyDoggy]

BBC compaints table

Clarkson < 1000 .... no action

Ross/Brand < 50,000 .... slight action

Dr Who cancelled (late 80's) > 500,000 ..... no action

tells its own story, innit

[Andy ORourke]

@ Les Matthew

You sir owe me a keyboard & Monitor!

"Calls for his head

Why would anyone want ten pounds of ugly fat?"

[Liam]

hmmmm

watergate-gate

i have sent them a praise via their website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaints_stage1.shtml

praise jezza... lets start the 'grow some balls bbc' campaign right here, right now!

now, i just need to send an email to toad hall to this mole fella... this is going to be fun!

[Paul Buxton]

I followed a lorry this morning to work...

...on which someone had daubed in the grime on the back of the wagon:

"NO DEAD PROSTITUTES STORED IN THIS VEHICLE OVERNIGHT".

It amused me. :-)

[Iain Purdie]

I've taken to...

...writing to OFCOM in *support* of programs that are getting complaints. Think about it - Top gear has in excess of 2 million viewers. 500 appear to have complained. Do the maths - that's around 0.01% of the viewers. Assuming they were viewers and not bandwagon-jumping Mary Whitehouse wannabes that were "shocked and disgusted" by something they didn't actually see but read about in the Mail.

If the other 1,999,500 wrote in to *support* the program, I wonder what the OFCOM report would read?

[Aetyr]

They should be asking him to do it again...

It's a scientifically proven fact that Jeremy Clarkson is so sarcastic that nothing he says is ever believed as truth. In fact, the opposite is often true. Therefore, by saying all truckers kill hookers, Clarkson is in fact convincing most Top Gear viewers that truckers do not kill hookers.

Does anyone else remember his little safety video about level crossings? He managed to boil it down to "If you don't want a train to crash into your car, wear a reflective jacket", but knowing the average Top Gear watcher (myself included), they probably respected and got the real message from that video a hundred times more than the serious, patronising and boring safety campaigns you normally get. If the BBC fire him (as if!), it'll be a mistake.

Can anyone find out if the MP in question reads the Daily Wail?

[Mark]

Complaints

About one in ten people complain when they would LIKE to complain. A rough rule of thumb. So that 0.01% is probably about the 0.1% mark.

Lots of people are lazy and would rather let someone else complain.

This does have its problems: if there aren't many complaints, the "completely hatstand" segment have a bigger say. E.g. one of the complaints about "Mission Impossible" (the movie) was "it was too complicated".

???

About the only way that could be taken is that they didn't know who the baddie was until the movie was more than half over.

But they listened to the barnpot brigade and MI2 had the baddie reveal himself as the baddie before the opening credits.

[Neil D W Smith]

If a strongly worded letter does nothing....

...may I suggest a politely worded one to the MP in question?

"Dear Mr Mole,

As you appear to be a member of parliament yet also appear to be part of the Labour faction why is it that you appear to have no sense of humour? Surely you realise that your party is a joke? Admittedly, not a very funny one.

Kindest Regards etc, etc..."

I will happily continue to watch Jeremy Clarkson on TV, read his columns and buy the books because so much of what he says are things that I agree with or at least can see his point on. If it wasn't for the touchy-feely brigade then he'd be hailed as a national hero .Hang on a minute, he is! Who else can I rely on to give a true opinion without pretending to be "unbiased"?

[Anonymous Coward]

On Sunday

I can only expect that Mr Clarkson will say something about corrupt, money grabbing, publicity seeking, over paid twats who are MPs or should I say perhaps something about them being honest upright, hardworking people who are under paid.

I guess either would insult the publicity hungry twats like Mole.

Paris, 'cos she might have a well used one, but Mole is one.

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris Mole MP

Mostly Pathetic... This is a clear case of "tail wags dog". A useless sponge trying desperately to raise his profile above the parapet of a paper castle occupied entirely by more useless sponges by bowing down (or bending over) to knee-jerk pressure from a minority group who openly represent the employees within an illegal trade. Would he be so quick to represent the legalise cannibals alliance? He can prise Jeremy Clarkson from my cold dead remote.

[Richard]

Here's what I sent to Mole:

Comments regarding Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear

Mr Mole,

I watched the programme and to be honest, the comment completely passed me by. I think that your stance in trying to get Clarkson sacked is extremely childish and immature. The way that things are going, we will end up with "Watch with Mother" at Primetime (Or "Watched by Nu Labour" given the draconian plans of Jacqui Smith who knows about as much about IT as a dead Parrot)

Butt out, leave us alone and stop throwing your ministerial clout around in an attempt to raise your own public profile. All you are doing is to get the backs up of voters and helping to sink your party into the abyss of fail.

Your party tax us enough and give nothing back. Is there nothing that you don't want to interfere with and take the fun out of? Never mind...You lot wont be around for much longer.

And try http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/email/l/418.html to email him.

I also phoned the BBC complaints line and registered an "Anti-complaint"

[Dave]

hmm

I though the gag was one of his best, probably the only bit in the show that made me actually laugh out loud!