Top Gear presenter should not be sacked over 'flippant remarks', says BBC director general Mark Thompson

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, and chairman Lord Patten have defended Jeremy Clarkson in the wake of his controversial comments on The One Show, describing Top Gear as one of the UK's leading cultural exports.

Clarkson's appearance on the BBC1 teatime show, in which he said that striking public sector workers should be "executed in front of their families", generated around 32,000 complaints to the BBC and media regulator Ofcom.

Labour MP Jim Sheridan told Thompson and Patten that the Top Gear presenter was a "luxury you can't afford".

But Thompson said he would not consider sacking Clarkson over a "couple of flippant remarks".

"I don't intend to sack him," Thompson told MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday.

"I believe it is absolutely clear to anyone who watches the clips, perhaps not who reads a section of the transcript, these remarks are said entirely in jest and not to be taken seriously. In my view Jeremy Clarkson's remarks were absolutely and clearly intended as a joke."

Patten said Top Gear was "probably one of the leading 'cultural' exports of this country" – he made a point of telling MPs that "cultural" should be in quotation marks – and said "a lot of people would be disappointed [if he was sacked]".

Thompson admitted that Clarkson was a polarising figure but said the public needed to balance that against his value to viewers of the top-rating show.

"There are many millions of people who very strongly support and enjoy Jeremy Clarkson," Thompson said.

"That has to be balanced against a couple of flippant remarks in one programme. Well over 20 million people watch Top Gear in a given season. It gets a very high rating from the public for quality. People watch that programme expecting often outspoken humour from Clarkson."

In 2009, Top Gear was BBC Worldwide's biggest selling TV show internationally. Alongside Doctor Who, BBC Earth and Lonely Planet, it helped earn more than £200m in revenue and £40m in profits.

Last year five BBC "power brands", including Top Gear, increased their total revenues to more than £300m.

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