Clarkson apology does not go far enough

Published on Friday 6 February 2009 19:41

TELEVISION presenter Jeremy Clarkson has made a career out of voicing the prejudices, exasperations and – we will admit – bloke-ish humour of archetypal Essex Man. But Clarkson's "white van man" persona belies the fact he attended two public schools. He has a devoted audience not only in the UK but around the world, thanks to the endless repetition of his Top Gear show.

In Australia, where he is launching a live version of Top Gear, 82,000 tickets have been sold: proof, if it were needed, that Mr Clarkson's "act" has been honed to a fine point.

Usually, Jeremy Clarkson knows where to draw the line in playing his suburban caveman character. Typically, his barbs are exaggerated just enough to suggest he is being satirical, as in blaming this week's snowfalls on "too many green people" not "buying enough Range Rovers". But on occasion, Mr Clarkson crosses the line between satire and offence, as he did when referring to the Prime Minister as a "one-eyed, Scottish idiot" who "we know is lying".

It is just about possible to dismiss the references to lying and stupidity as political hyperbole, though Mr Clarkson seems singularly devoid of qualifications to pontificate on the subject. The Prime Minister has a PhD. However, Clarkson's reference to Gordon Brown's visual disability was cheap and merely serves to underline the Premier's substantial career achievement.

But it is the deliberate mention of the Prime Minister's Scottishness that takes us into dangerous territory. Why refer to the obvious unless you wanted to make a point? For instance, that Gordon Brown is a threat to Essex Man because of his origins rather than simply his character? Substitute any other identity you like in the sentence – Irish, black or even English – and you will get the point. Doubtless Mr Clarkson will tell us some of his best friends are Scottish – the writer AA Gill, for instance. But that is no defence for casual racism.

Whether aware of it or not, Mr Clarkson was playing to a minority in England that sees Scotland as a burden on the English taxpayer. By so doing, he gives legitimacy to a minority view north of the Border that blames Scottish ills on England. Neither side should be given any credence, and those who pander to such prejudice – even in jest – are part of the problem. It is significant that in making a rather weak apology for his remarks, Clarkson did not retract the "Scottish" epithet. But he must – if only to draw the poison that such remarks cause.

The accomplice in this sorry episode is the BBC. Having excoriated Carol Thatcher for using the word "golliwog" in a private conversation, one would think Jeremy Clarkson would face similar censure. But while BBC One controller Jay Hunt took to the airwaves to denounce Ms Thatcher in hectoring, shrill terms, the Corporation has played down the Clarkson outburst. What would Ms Hunt have said if Carol Thatcher had called the Prime Minister a liar and a "one-eyed, Scottish idiot" on camera? Double standards still flourish at the BBC.

RBS directors must be for the people

YESTERDAY saw the long-overdue resignations of those Royal Bank of Scotland board members on whose watch RBS crashed and burned. Seven non-executive directors resigned yesterday – a clear indication that the new chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, has taken charge. Yet even now, none of the outgoing directors has seen fit to explain how they managed to preside over such a calamitous chain of events, far less apologise to shareholders and staff. They should note that RBS shares rose sharply on news of their resignations.

It is now important that Sir Philip turns his attention to appointing new blood to the board. UKFI, the government body which owns 70 per cent of RBS, is to nominate three new members. They must not be clones of the previous non-executive directors. Of course, they must have a wide range of business experience in order to provide advice for the new chief executive, Stephen Hester. But there is also a crying need for publicly-known individuals who can restore trust in the RBS name and who will make ordinary depositors and shareholders feel the bank is operating in their interests – "people's directors", if you will.

They must not be ciphers of the Treasury – a state-controlled bank will operate in no-one's interest but the civil service. Nevertheless, the new directors must represent the public interest in a very visible fashion. And they must be appointed soon.

Squirrels: nature's great survivors

BY THE end of the 18th century, the red squirrel was virtually extinct in Scotland as a result of woodland clearance and severe winters caused by global cooling. But in 1844, Lady Lovat of Beaufort Castle, near Beauly, re-established the red squirrel into the Highlands. The reds soon multiplied exponentially. Angered at the damage done by the newcomers, a Highland Squirrel Club was set up. Its mission was to eradicate the unpopular rodents. The club exterminated 100,000 red squirrels and paid locals who brought in squirrel tails.

This curious piece of history is worth remembering in the light of a new plan to wipe out every grey squirrel in the north of Scotland, in an attempt to protect the "native" red squirrel from being supplanted. The campaign will cost 1.3 million and is being organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

If the Highland Squirrel Club could not get rid of the red squirrel, modern quangos are unlikely to get rid of the greys, except temporarily. Meanwhile, in Californian, environmental groups are desperately trying to eradicate invading fox squirrels which are displacing native… grey squirrels. The squirrel is one of the oldest mammals in existence – a testimony to its evolutionary tenacity. It has been around for 50 million years – 100 times longer than Homo sapiens. When we are all dead, there will still be squirrels.