Flat Earth Labour
The Times reports on a public spat between Jeremy Clarkson and Michael Dugher, but if you ask me the Labour MP lost the argument by saying that he had 'no time' for Clarkson before going on to admit that he has never watched the BBC presenter's successful Top Gear programme.
Now whatever you think of Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear, that's a dumb position to take - a bit like insisting the earth is flat or the behaviour of people who denounced Salman Rushdie for writing a book, The Satanic Verses, which they had never even read while calling for the author to be put to death for insulting Islam.
Clarkson ridicules Labour MP for wearing a pink tie
Jeremy Clarkson risked adding the House of Commons to the list of places he may not be welcome
By Gabriella Swerling - The Times, Photo - Alpha Press
He is fast becoming more famous for his sharp tongue’s ability to stir up controversy than for his love of cars.
Jeremy Clarkson risked adding the House of Commons to the list of places he may not be welcome after criticising the fashion sense of a Labour MP.
The Top Gear presenter traded online insults with Michael Dugher, the shadow transport secretary, ridiculing him for wearing pink ties after Mr Dugher had branded him an “idiot”.
The spat erupted on Thursday after Mr Dugher’s interview with the website Politics Home, in which he said that he had “no time” for Clarkson. “I mean, the guy is basically an idiot”, Mr Dugher said.
Although he admitted that he did not watch the BBC Two show, Mr Dugher dismissed Top Gear as “a bunch of old blokes wearing jeans and sports jackets”.
Never one to shy away from an argument, Clarkson, 54, posted a message to his 4.4 million Twitter followers, saying: “Labour’s transport spokesman says he doesn’t like Top Gear. Good. We don’t make it for people who wear pink ties. ”
Mr Dugher, 39, who has 15,700 followers, replied: “Obviously I wear red ties a lot. But what’s wrong with the occasional pink one!? What on earth might someone be implying . . . ?”
The row continued yesterday as the two traded barbs over the mansion tax, which the presenter strongly opposes.
“I’m sure you can afford to chip in an extra few quid,” Mr Dugher tweeted.
Andy Wilman, the executive producer of Top Gear, said of Mr Dugher: “He must be Mystic Meg if he knows what we do without watching the show. If he bothered to watch it, he would know that we take as much pleasure out of celebrating a £1,500 estate car battling its way across Africa as we do from a Bugatti Veyron running at top speed.”
This week Mr Clarkson also become embroiled in a spat with the Liverpool Echo after comments about the city. Last year the Top Gear crew had to flee Argentina after a row over the Falklands. Clarkson also caused controversy last year over claims that he used an offensive word while reciting a nursery rhyme during filming, which he denied.
