A cabal of left-wing MPs have, predictably, smelt blood and are going after Jeremy Clarkson. For anyone waking up from a four-day coma, Clarkson is under siege for writing a Sun column railing against Meghan Markle. One paragraph parodied a Game of Thrones scene:

“At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.”

Given Markle is the least popular member of the royal family bar Prince Andrew, Guido guesses many Brits may have been inclined to broadly agree with the sentiment of the piece. Instead the London-centric Twitter-sphere is apoplectic; getting the column taken down and forcing Clarkson into a sorry-not-sorry climbdown.

Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) December 19, 2022

For some reason, lefty MPs feel that this important issue is today’s national priority. Rather than the strikes, the economy, war on our continent, or at the very least just logging off ahead of Christmas…

Tory-in-name-only MP Caroline Nokes has spearheaded a letter on behalf of those “hurt” by Jezza’s “#NotAnApology”, demanding he instead issue “an unreserved apology… to Ms Markle immediately”. 

“We further demand definitive action is taken to ensure no article like this is ever published again.”

The letter is signed by 64 MPs, mainly Labour and SNP. Guido notes that whichever of Nokes’s staff formatted the letter isn’t particularly savvy, given the top name of the second column is Clive Lewis. An MP whose primary contribution to feminism thus far was telling a woman to “get on your knees bitch”.

Guido’s no stranger to defending Clarkson in times of career trouble. The BBC, despite dismissing him for a fracas in 2015, often stood by him during rows about things he’d said or written.

Guido’s not so confident that the likes of Amazon – American distributors of his brilliant farming show – will have the same backbone this time around…

UPDATE: Meanwhile, the official letter from MPs accusing the Sun of editorial sloppiness includes signatories spelt as follows:

• Mary Kelly Fox [sic]
• Claudia Webb [sic]
• Hanna [sic] Bardell
• Andy Macdonald [sic]
• Alan [sic] Doran [sic]

Chapeau…

Jeremy Clarkson tells the Radio Times…

“I think the politicians should sometimes tell those communists at Sage to get back in their box. Let’s just all go through life with our fingers crossed and a smile on our face. I can see Boris doesn’t want to open it up and shut us back down again. But if it’s going to be four years … and who knows, it could be 40 years.”

Comments made by Jeremy Clarkson to the Radio Times have caused a usual bout of left-wing fury, after he called scientific advisors on SAGE “Communists” and complained about the over-cautiousness of some, saying “if you die, you die”. He’s speaking from experience, given he suffered badly from Covid in December…

“I think the politicians should sometimes tell those communists at Sage to get back in their box. Let’s just all go through life with our fingers crossed and a smile on our face. I can see Boris doesn’t want to open it up and shut us back down again. But if it’s going to be four years … and who knows, it could be 40 years.”

Naturally the Guardian and Independent are furious. One left-wing Twitter doctor asked why anyone would be interested in what Clarkson would have to say about Covid, though no doubt would be delighted had a major celebrity come down on their side of the hand-wringing, bed-wetting argument.  Guido can’t see anything objectionable about his usual no-nonsense, factual, appraisal…