“Obnoxious” Clarkson under pressure from Labour

Barnsley MP Michael Dugher said that the concept of Mr Clarkson working for a broadcaster like the BBC is “for the Stone Age”, and added that to describe him an “idiot” would be a “compliment”.

The shadow transport secretary went on to tell a Labourlist event in London: “I think for years there was an image of Labour that we demonised the motorist. This is a nonsense. This is how most people in most parts of the country choose to spend some of their time moving around.

“You’re not going to get rid of the car. We should have an offer for road users but we shouldn’t accept this stereotype that the motorist is this Jeremy Clarkson petrolhead macho.”

Mr Clarkson has previously rowed with the MP after Mr Dugher called the presenter an idiot.

Mr Dugher’s latest attack came as the BBC Trust ruled that Mr Clarkson was not being racist when he used the word “pikey” on Top Gear, in a decision which has sparked condemnation from the Traveller Movement.

The presenter, whose future is in doubt following a “fracas” with a producer on the hit series, put up a placard with the words Pikey’s Peak on the BBC2 series in February last year.

But the Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) concluded that the word had been used to mean “cheap”, rather than as a term of racist or ethnic abuse.

A spokesman for the Traveller Movement rejected the decision, saying: “We are horrified by the BBC’s green lighting of the use of the word ‘pikey’ by the Top Gear presenters.”