Jeremy Clarkson. Pic © BBC Top Gear Live
Outspoken TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has become embroiled in a new controversy, this time over disparaging comments he has made about Liverpool.
The BBC’s self-styled motormouth recently visited the city on Valentine’s Day weekend with his colleagues from the hugely popular Top Gear programme, performing during its live spin-off show for two nights at the Echo Arena.
However, a negative review he wrote about his stay led to an instant backlash.
Responding to the criticism he received as a result of the Liverpool Echo website’s story about his column in yesterday’s Sunday Times, last night Clarkson tweeted to his 4.45m Twitter followers: “People of Liverpool. Read what I actually wrote. Including the bits the f•••tards on the local rag left out. Shocking journalism.”
The Liverpool Echo website’s original story about Jeremy Clarkson’s Sunday Times column. Pic © Echo / Trinity Mirror
In the spirit of Top Gear, JMU Journalism accepted the ever-controversial Clarkson’s challenge to Liverpudlians to absorb the whole review of his time on Merseyside before asking what they thought of his comments, good and bad.
The entire article, published under the headline: ‘Phrasebook, tick. Local currency, tick. Tracksuit, tick. I’m off to the North’, was duly read by a series of patient Scousers.
Finding people willing to take the time to digest the full 1,000-word piece was always likely to be difficult, but our reporters canvassed opinions in the city today for views on the 54-year-old Yorkshireman’s thoughts. We asked respondents to respectfully refrain from using the same sort of language tweeted by Clarkson.
His Sunday Times review begins: “Over the years my trips to Liverpool have always been extremely memorable. On one occasion I found that the door to my hotel room was blocked by a girl who was lying in the corridor, having apparently died.
Jeremy Clarkson blasts the Liverpool Echo’s story about his Sunday Times column. Pics © Jeremy Clarkson / JMU Journalism / Twitter
“On another the constant burglar alarms meant that I checked out of my hotel at 2am and drove back to London for a bit of peace and quiet. Oh, and I nearly forgot: there was the time a blood-soaked chap sprinted into the restaurant in which I was dining and ran amok with a knife.
“However, I went to Liverpool last weekend and it was all very agreeable. There was a lot of postmodern urban-chic architecture and many museums, hotels and waterfront cafes. It looked really good. I liked it.
“Yet behind the veneer of modern loft living there were one or two incidents that warrant a mention.”
He goes on to describe a series of culinary misfortunes, including the challenges of ordering kippers at his unnamed hotel, eating a salad “like a docker’s wet vest”, plus the difficulties of being able to source a particular brand of wine and Tabasco sauce for his oysters whilst dining in town.
JMU Journalism Radio talks to Liverpudlians about Jeremy Clarkson’s article
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Elsewhere, he explains his philosophy about the current state of the North-South divide in the country, but Clarkson admits his views about the thoughts of locals may not be accurate, writing: “I don’t know because I’m not Liverpudlian. But I am a northerner, and what I therefore know is this the north of England has never been more different from the south of England.
Jeremy Clarkson’s column about his visit to Liverpool © Sunday Times / News International
“People up there earn less, die more quickly, have fewer jobs and live in houses that are worth the square root of sod all.”
Scroll through the comments below to read responses by more than 30 Scousers to Clarkson’s article in JMU Journalism’s exclusive survey.
While some clearly took offence at his words, others were of the view that his opinions should not be taken too seriously as that is the nature of his over-the-top persona, with several people highlighting that attracting more publicity is in his interest.
Related story: Read Jeremy Clarkson’s full column in the Sunday Times (requires subscription) >>
Additional reporting by: Ruby Molyneux; Olivia Swayne Atherton; Matthew Judge; Emily Lewis; Josh Kelsall; Rebecca Cookson; Hannah Anderson; Laura Schumann; Megan Hill; Stevie Pickering & Kieran Etoria-King.
Jess Jones, 21, Anfield
“What a pig! I think it’s very ill-informed or he’s after some sort of attention or controversy, which says a lot about him. Is he trying to be like Rick Stein travelling the world? He’s trying to be local and acting like it’s so hard for him because he just cannot be catered for in Liverpool, or he’s trying so hard not to so he’s never associated with the city.”
Natalie Cork, 20, Walton
“Unnecessary snobby column by someone who hasn’t been in the news for a while.”
Diane Moorcroft, 42, West Derby
“It’s a typical stereotypical skit of Liverpool, as usual. Maybe he needs to come away from the centre of town and visit other areas of the city.”
Liz Brown, 54, West Derby
“Oh my God, just who does this man think he is? He makes us all sound thick! Nobody should pay to see him here in Liverpool again. I think he forgets just where he comes from.”
Hannah Farrell, 71, Kirkby
“I’m not surprised that the city is outraged by these comments. The man is known for speaking out of line and making disrespectful comments and here he is yet again. He has just used the stereotypical view of Scousers to make himself sound funny. People who come to Liverpool know that it’s not the way he described at all.”
Gemma Ridd, 28, Huyton
“I think these views are not only offensive but downright rude. It’s views like this and people like him that imagine some sort of North/South divide to feed their egotistical and arrogant personalities. His petty comments about Tabasco sauce don’t matter. I have no interest in his views or wouldn’t ever read his articles, as I now imagine people ‘up North’ won’t either.”
Ian Roberts, 49, Croxteth
“Why come to a place to just slag it off? I love my city with a passion and I wouldn’t dream of going to another city and slagging it off.”
Jack Muthill, City Centre
“It’s difficult really, I think it’s clear he doesn’t like Liverpool. I think he made too many stereotypes of the city.”
Ray Tony, 43, Halewood
“He’s just after a bit of publicity I think, you can’t take offence to it because people go on about Scousers anyway, don’t they? He’s living in the 70s or the 80s – he’s in a time warp but times have changed. It’s not the girl’s fault she didn’t know what a kipper was, I’ll still watch Top Gear though.”
Natalie Watson, 25, Seaforth
“That man chats the biggest load of crap! Wouldn’t you think he would have learned after what he said the other month? But he’s quick enough to take all the money Scousers paid for to see Top Gear.”
William Taylor, 49, Anfield
“I wasn’t surprised because it’s Clarkson, but I wasn’t really offended. The first part started out really positive but then he said about the two girls and the Tabasco sauce, but I suppose that can happen sometimes. I would have preferred him not to say anything about the young girls but it’s Clarkson, isn’t it? I wasn’t super-offended by it.”
Rose Schumann, 52, Huyton
“Isn’t he originally from up north? Sounds like the money has got to his head now making up this massive divide, the toff. I personally wouldn’t give the man any more publicity.”
Patricia Hawkins, 53, Huyton
“He’s stereotyped us all. He makes us sound stupid, just because one girl he met didn’t know what kippers were. He got the kippers and the sauce in the end anyway!”
Vicky Hawkins, 25, Huyton
“If all Jeremy Clarkson can take away from his trip to Liverpool are narrow-minded complaints regarding kippers and Tabasco sauce then we ought to feel sorry for him as he obviously has no idea how to enjoy himself in our beautiful city. It reflects more about his sad life than it does ours. Liverpool people are the nicest, most generous and genuine people you could wish to meet… obviously Clarkson does not belong here.”
James Gibbons, 45, Allerton
“I think he is making a fair point, isn’t he? He’s just pointing out cultural and financial differences between us, and he’s coming up here with what we call his poncey ways. It’s just Clarkson, isn’t it? He’ll go take the mick out of whatever he can and that’s it. I don’t think he was running his mouth particularly – he would do the same in whatever city he went to.”
Josh Napier, 20, Southport
“Clarkson is God and should be allowed to get away with anything!”
Jacob Jones, 23, Kirkdale
“I think people are slightly overreacting and by doing so giving Clarkson his desired result. He’s an attention-seeker. We’re meant to have a great sense of humour as Scousers and not cry every time someone makes fun of the stereotype. [Mayor] Joe Anderson should be focusing more on improving the city instead of wasting time arguing with a middle-class, middle-aged prima donna.”
Malcolm Hawkins 56, Huyton
“We give too much publicity to Jeremy Clarkson’s opinion – the man has made a living from insulting comments. When we yell our outrage at articles meant to offend, we fuel his ego and bank balance. Ignore him, don’t buy papers he writes in or watch programmes he appears in.”
Edwin Schumann 72, Swanside
“He’s got far too much to say. If he doesn’t like the city then good riddance to him. He might start to lose his money one day when people stop reading the rubbish he says, and he might have to move back up north with the commoners.”
Paul Schumann, 51, Huyton
“It’s disgraceful to brand all Scousers like that. Why does he come back to Liverpool time and time again if that’s his honest opinion of the city, to have bad experiences to write about?”
Rhona Reid, 48, Liverpool
“He’s making out that we’re not up with what he’s sort of used to. I do think it’s a bit of an attack on Liverpool and its people. I understood what he meant going into the restaurant and asking for stuff, I know what all that is but younger people probably won’t know what those things are, like kippers.”
George Bibbey, 58, Liverpool
“I just think it’s typical Clarkson – he’s trying to be funny and he’s not that funny, but he thinks he is. He just wants a bit of publicity for himself. It has got some valid points in it, but it’s just the way he does it. It’s controversial, he’s not making a point whether it’s valid or it’s true, it’s just for him to be like: ‘look at me, look what I can do’ and I’ve just got no time for it, to be honest with you.”
David Marsden, 52, Liverpool
“I haven’t watched or listened to anything Jeremy Clarkson’s done in about eight years, but it’s all for effect with him. He does something as it’s always good for publicity, whether what he says is bad it’s just done for effect. He’s not slagging us off to our faces, but he’s basically saying: ‘I’ve come up North and it’s full of inbreds and we get on with what we do.’ It’s just verbal bile off him.”
Sheila Eyre, 62, Liverpool
“Who does he think he is? I just think it’s the most biased piece of work I’ve ever, ever read. It sounds like it was written in the 80s, post-Hillsborough. I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted. It’s so out of date, I mean… get a grip. I was going to say I’m insulted, but I’m not, because it’s Clarkson but I expected better. It’s absolutely totally unfair, and I’d love to know where he went to eat. It just rewrites the stereotype all over again.”
Olivia Lavelee, 20, Liverpool
“He’s just a Tory, playing into Tory propaganda. I’m not insulted by it, but it is unfair.”
Lorraine Black, 50, Liverpool
“Bit of a snob isn’t he? Everyone knows what a kipper is. It is unfair what he’s saying about Liverpool, I’m not bothered but it’s not nice. Everyone to their own isn’t it? But it’s not at all a fair representation of the city.”
John Rimmer, 61, Waterloo
“Because I like Jeremy Clarkson, it’s what I expected, but obviously you’ll get a lot of adverse publicity. It is, in a funny sort of way, fair what he’s saying. It’s the same as when I go to London to see my lad in Ealing Common. You walk into the pub and two pints are £11.40, and you’re just like ‘You what? Have you made a mistake?’ but obviously to the lads down there, it’s just normal. The bit about the food can’t be true, he’s just having a bit of a laugh isn’t he? It’s just him, he makes jokes about other areas in the article too. If it was a serious article then it wouldn’t be Jeremy Clarkson.”
Mike Wallwork, 51, Wallasey
“He desperately seems to need to be controversial. He likes to be seen as funny and to the people who are not the butt of his humour they find him funny. Scousers are particularly easy to take the mickey out of, so here he is guilty of shooting an easy target. He works on majority humour a lot of the time – make fun of Scousers and the rest of the country laughs. He writes wittily and seems to appeal to ‘intelligent’ humour and therefore ‘intelligent’ people. People like to feel superior, for example south over north.”
Christine Richmand, 50, North Liverpool
“It seems like it’s just for publicity, he even says here he has a reputation for putting his foot in it. He hasn’t apologised because he never apologises. That’s just Clarkson, that’s just his personal opinion. It’s a publicity stunt.”
Rob Connor, 28, City Centre
“My initial reaction is it seems as though they’re just sending Clarkson to northern cities to create offence. It’s pushing the boundary a bit but I’m not that easily offended. I don’t mind Clarkson, I used to read a lot of his books, they were really good. This part I didn’t like: ‘The north of England has never been more different from the south of England. People up there earn less, die more quickly, have fewer jobs and live in houses that are worth the square root of sod all’ – it’s a generalisation and it seems like he’s being offensive for the sake of being offensive. But this is Clarkson, you know what you’re going to get. It’s not worth writing a letter of complaint to The Times about.”
Darren Buckley, 42, Wirral
“Very typical Clarkson. It’s as though he’s gone to every stereotype about Liverpool and rehashed it as if it’s new. There are nice restaurants in Liverpool. I’ve eaten all around the country, and Liverpool is still up there for the best quality and service at a good price. Maybe try another restaurant? He’s making generalisations. Wherever you go there are going to be violent incidents – go to Birmingham or London and you can have the same thing. It’s ridiculous, there is no difference between the North and the South. The North isn’t better or worse than the South, they’re the same.”
Harry Boshell, 21, Fazakerley
“It doesn’t bother me because he’s an idiot anyway, but it’s the kind of thing people will take out of proportion because Liverpool can do no wrong in some people’s eyes. I don’t think he is making much of a point, I think it’s just Clarkson being Clarkson. Every city has problems like these, I’d like to see him go to certain places in London and see if they wouldn’t have a stronger response to him asking for kippers. Seriously, I’ve just seen the mayor questioning BBC chiefs over it. How embarrassing. Clarkson rips the back out of everyone outside of Doncaster, it’s nothing anyone needs to lose sleep over. Funnily enough, you only need to go on the Echo comments section and there are plenty saying the Echo and the mayor need to get a grip, and saying exactly what I am.”