Yes, we hoped we had heard the last of this one for a while too but alas, Jeremy’s potty mouth is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Now this latest scandal is actually something Clarkson said in February of last year, although it is only now being investigated by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator. The investigation stems from Clarkson’s use of the word ‘pikey’ and whether it was racially offensive to Gypsies and Travellers. This from the Independent:

In March the BBC Trust was accused of “legitimising the use of a racist word” by clearing Clarkson of any wrongdoing on an episode broadcast in February last year. He was seen erecting a sign bearing the words “Pikey’s Peak”, continuing a long running in-joke about co-presenter Richard Hammond…

The regulator took action after receiving a complaint from the Traveller Movement charity, which is unhappy with the BBC Trust’s decision…

It is worth noting that under the UK’s Equality Act Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are recognised as ethnic minority groups. Here I was thinking they were just booze-guzzling street brawlers with unintelligible accents (think Brad Pitt’s character in ‘Snatch’).

I think the best course of action is to send Clarkson on a lone jaunt, preferably through an area frequented by the Gypsies and Travellers, with a car in dire need of some spare parts. Let the cameras roll.

[source:independent]