JEREMY PULLS THE TRIGGER

JEREMY CLARKSON’S OFFENSIVE  rant on the BBC’s One Show has caused a great deal offence; not least among the Unison leadership, who are consulting their lawyers, on behalf of their over sensitive members – I hope they will be kept informed of the financial cost such a course of action will have. For you can bet that the union’s general secretary, Dave Prentice is not personally forking out for Sue, Grabbit, and Run’s advice. The thousands of pounds it will probably cost will of course come from his members subscriptions… so the legal profession will once more be left rubbing their hands in anticipation of another sumptuous gratuity.

                When asked by one of his interviewers what he would like to do to the strikers, Clarkson replied ‘I would shoot the lot of them’, adding ‘I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families’.

                His remarks were meant to antagonise, because he likes to typify the Right Wing reactionary circa 1926. His remarks made me laugh, not because I took them seriously or agreed with their sentiments. But Clarkson is the perfect antidote to those really offensive comics considered Left Wing who target the disabled.

                Those ‘edgy’ Left Wing comedians believe that when it comes to comedy and humour, nothing should be exempted, or, as they would say censored…even bad taste. Perhaps a few of them will now come to Clarkson’s aid and condemn Mr Prentice for seeking his revenge through the courts, and, more importantly, demanding Clarkson’s dismissal from the BBC.

                Despite their principles, however, I notice these modern jesters who were once described as ‘alternative’ comedians, are not so principled or ‘edgy’ when it comes to self-censorship. They profess comedic enlightenment but fall short when it comes to satirising Islam, for instance. Despite their occupancy of the moral high ground when it comes to free speech, they set their own boundaries.  The lunacy that is modern Islam is ripe for humour; political correctness is ripe for humour; over sensitive minorities are ripe for humour. The country itself is ripe and waiting for another Jonathan Swift to satirise all of these issues.

                Jeremy Clarkson may cause offense but he does not self-censor. If anything he exemplifies the principles set down by those alternative types who perform before an audience of Guardianistas every night up and down the country. Clarkson will not be tongue-tied by political correctness. He will continue to speak his mind. He may not be a performing comedian by profession, but he has wit, and does not censor it for anyone.

               

DAVE PRENTICE, on the other hand, is just playing to the gallery. He is doing what he thinks his members expect him to do. His outrage is as synthetic as a politician’s promise.

                I do not think the BBC would dare take Prentice’s demand that Clarkson be sacked seriously. He appeals to those in the country who object to having to pay a tax in order to watch a television screen. If they were to sack him, such people would find nothing left to keep them interested and would, one hopes, refuse payment of the licence fee.

                Working at the BBC, Jeremy Clarkson for many people, is like a small oasis of fertile ground in a large desert.  The BBC is an institution that is not impartial. Indeed, it is proud of its centre-left, liberal ethos. It professes impartiality, but it propagandises on behalf of Multiculturalism and European Federalism.

                If Clarkson went, then, for many people, the last reason for paying the licence fee will have gone. As for myself, I secretly hope that Prentice succeeds in his bid to remove Clarkson from the BBC. I believe that, as an institution, it has a systemic liberal bias. This in itself would not be a problem if the BBC were not harvesting its income from the general public backed by law, like all forms of taxation. Not all people in this country consider themselves Left-Wing at any level, including those within the Tory Party. But they are still forced by law to pay a tax to a state controlled company that evangelises liberalism.

                To date the BBC has had 21000 complaints probably from those in the public sector. We now know Clarkson was invited on the One Show to say something controversial about the strike. Well, if so, the BBC cannot be too disappointed at what was said. As for 21000 who rang, texted or e-mailed their disgust to the programmes’ producer; they should accept the fact that bas taste is not a crime.