He's Damo on a bigger stage. You have to wonder how, after all this time, he still gets such a massive rise out of people.

There was actually a union rep on Breakfast this morning who said there had been shootings of workers in Guatamala in front of people all because they belonged to a Trade Union. So it seems Clarkson really wasn't joking, it really could happen. The Union guy asked for Clarkson to dig into his pocket and donate some money to the Guatamlan victims to help their families who are now struggling ......... lets see.

IMO it was a joke but it was just another crass comment that I heard about my husband because he chose to excersise his right to strike.

The distinction between being an apologist on the one hand, and complaining about people either deliberately or through being dumb failing to comprehend something which was very clear, on the other, is pretty obvious and I don't believe you fail to understand it.

It makes no difference to me at all that it was Clarkson, and as an individual he gets on my nerves as much or more than he amuses (though I enjoy Top Gear when I watch it, which is not avidly).

My post is entirely about dumbed-down Britain, and I am in no way, not even 1%, being "an apologist" for Clarkson. Clarkson is almost irrelevant to my point. (What relevance his identity has to the point is only that those who know what he's like have even less excuse for pretending he was actually expressing personal views.) But my point would be true whoever had said it. I would be surprised if you don't get that.

I have no need to comment on the other random remark you bizarrely quote, gross though it was, as it has nothing at all to do with my point. But it is clearly a typical Clarkson attempt at humour by parody as opposed to "this is my actual opinion". It is to me more gross than amusing, but then I didn't say I found his "shoot them" parody funny either. The most amusing part of those remarks was its taking the pis.s out of the BBC's laughable claims to always be even-handed at all times on all subjects.

If only there were more people with the balls to speak their mind.

He spoke his mind?, I was under the impression it was a joke. Or did it just get classified as a joke after the fuss kicked off.

For someone who claims to be so anti PC and "says what everyone else is thinking" etc etc you'd think he'd have the courage to stick to his convictions rather than back down at the 1st sign of people disagreeing with him. Ah well, all mouth and no trousers, unsuprising really.

He hasn't backed down either.

That's unfair on Damo

The fury has been hilarious. This is Jeremy Clarkson - EVERYONE knows he says controversial things simply to get a reaction, and he's got it.

If the BBC didn't want this kind of controversy, why invite Clarkson on the One Show on the day of the strikes anyway? You know what you're going to get with him, so in my view, the BBC asked for it.

Clarkson for Prime Minister.

According to the BBC site he's apologised.