Sid the apology - sack him

I think what he said was absolutely appalling but would point out that public school educated people don't have a monopoly on being rude, sexist or whatever nor are they all like that.

I hope the beeb sack him!

Kitty - I know that's true but the worst offenders on the BBC happen to be!

Agreed that not all public school boys are unthinking idiots, but I doubt if he will be sacked because he may be part of the old boys network.

And look at how Etonian educated Cameron has covered himself in glory at PMQ with sexist comments!

'calm down dear' - a fitting epitaph maybe?

Inverdale is a disgrace, and the BBC should do something about him.

But bluebell oikery is not confined to public school products, even, I suspect in the BBC. Methinks you do protest too much, and have a dark secret to hide (perhaps that is why your name is in black, not blue); did you have a rotten time at Roedean?

I've never said it is confined - just that Clarkson and Inverdale are public school boys and sexist twerps. Happy to take examples of sexist state school boys at BBC - oh wait a minute - that would be like looking for high court judges and top civil servants who are stater educated....plus, it's the lauding of public school education that gets my goat when I look at some of its products. As for why I'm black and not blue, it's because of my work!

Times headline today - Murray ends 77 year wait for Britain.

Wither Virginia Wade? Oh yes , and guess what type of school
the editor of the Times went to?

I think all the sexist remarks Clarkson makes are made not because he is a sexist twerp but because he isn't. He does it deliberately to outrage, to make people think about why they're outraged.

I suspect this Inverdale chappie is just stupid.

Murray has ended a 77 year wait for a British male Wimbledon champion. Yesterday everyone was talking about the men's championship, not the women's or mixed doubles.

Not that it matters what nationality the Wimbledon champs, male or female, are.

Bags - dont agree about Clarkson - that would mean he had some subtlety and I'm afraid there are too many examples of crassness in his behaviour to lead to that conclusion. I think he's deeply unpleasant - racist as well.

John Huggan (@johnhuggan) tweeted at 6:57am - 8 Jul 13:

Still best line from yesterday... In 2014 it will be 78 years since an Englishman won Wimbledon

Re Clarkson, I don't know him well enough to judge whether he's actually sexist or racist, but I think his on screen persona is an act, as are the May and Hammond acts. You may be right, bluebell, and it's the real him; I just don't think so.

I know he's one of the Chipping Norton set. Socialises with Cameron et al on a very regular basis.

Bags - I just think your interpretation is incredibly generous. And it begs the question as to whether it would be ok to upset people with sexist and racist comments to make them think. Sounds like a get out of jail card to me! MicElf - I 'd forgotten that - says it all !

bags Clarkson may be a "shock jock" deliberately appealing to rather unpleasant laddish tastes in order to make money. (sexist jokes and drive too fast... lovely)
I am sure that he knows just what market he is in. But if he has this level of awareness - he has a choice and what choice does he make? Nasty, cynical piece of work I reckon.

I am afraid I can't buy the possibility that Clarkson is so subtle he is just trying to get people to think. He is pandering to the sexist, racist petrol-heads. I remember that many people thought Alf Garnett had the right idea about immigrants - irony is lost on some people.
Bags - I know you don't have TV, so perhaps your view of Clarkson is generous because you haven't seen his sneer!

Well, I knew quite a few Chipping Norton type tories in Oxfordshire (though not in CN itself). Their politics were pretty far to the right but they weren't racist or sexist. I guess I'm extrapolating from experience.

I suppose I view Clarkson as a comedian. Other comedians make edgy racist and sexist jokes, and they do it deliberately to raise consciousness. The extreme remarks Clarkson has made have been so over the top that it was obvious to me that he didn't 'mean' what he said. He was playing the game that Top Gear is. A very lucrative one too.

JC has said several times something to the effect of "of course I don't mean the stupid things I say on Top Gear."

I'm not saying I like the man, but I just take him at face value – at which level he is constantly taking the piss about political correctness. I have some sympathy with that. There's way too much of it.

bluebell, not only Virgina Wade but also Angela Mortimer 1961 and Ann Haydon-Jones 1969. We're about due for another woman champion and I hope the pressure of expectations doesn't weigh too heavily on Laura Robson and Heather Watson.

I detest Clarkson. He is a nasty snide bully and full of racist and sexist remarks. The prat thinks he is being funny. No doubt he will says his remarks are just meant be a bit of fun.

Like the reactions of Russel Brand and Jonathan Ross. when their nasty phone call ws made. Over paid with an over inflated sense of their own importance.

I haven't been reading this thread because of the title! I thought it was something frivolous. It's not - it's important!

More care when starting threads perhaps?

What a relief that Andy Murray didn't go to a public school!

The trouble is, bags, that there are plenty of people with sexist and racist views who see them as being reinforced when 'celebrities' like Clarkson endorse them. I am not sure what you mean by saying there is too much Political Correctness - can you expand? I am sure you don't mean that sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour or statements should not be challenged.
Can you tell us what views the people you knew in Chipping Norton held which made you class them as very right wing? I have, unfortunately, also known some people with very right wing views and they were mostly sexist and racist, as well as snobbish.

And there's another prejudice that needs some irreverent jokester to take the piss – publicshoolism.

No, I didn't go to a private 'public' school, and neither did my kids or my parents or my grandparents. My greatparents may not have gone to school at all.

My point is, it's hardly the kids' fault which school they were sent to. And not all private school educated people are pillocks.

"I am not sure what you mean by saying there is too much Political Correctness - can you expand? I am sure you don't mean that sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour or statements should not be challenged."

Of course they should be challenged. They can't be challenged if they are suppressed (not allowed to be spoken) though.

Free speech means free speech for everyone, even pillocks and nasties. You can't have a 'sort of' free speech. People must be allowed to say offensive things, and of course people must be allowed to vociferously object to utterances they find offensive.