Post by jacquelope on Dec 3, 2011 2:16:28 GMT -6
Betcha this guy would never summon the balls to try it.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/01/bloomberg_articlesLVJAMK1A74E9.DTL
Fire Clarkson Over 'Shoot Strikers' Comments, Union Demands
Thomas Penny, ©2011 Bloomberg News
Thursday, December 1, 2011
(Updates with report of apology in fifth paragraph.)
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Television presenter Jeremy Clarkson should be dismissed by the British Broadcasting Corp. for saying public-sector workers who went on strike yesterday deserved to be shot in front of their families, the Unison labor union said.
Clarkson, who is a personal friend of Prime Minister David Cameron and presents the "Top Gear" motoring show, attacked the strikers on the BBC's "One" program last night, saying: "I'd have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. How dare they go on strike?"
Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, Britain's biggest public-sector union, said today it's taking legal advice on whether it can sue Clarkson, who also has a column in News Corp.'s Sunday Times newspaper, and the BBC over the comments.
"An apology is not enough; we are calling on the BBC to sack Jeremy Clarkson immediately," Prentis said in an e-mailed statement. "Such disgusting statements have no place on our TV screens."
Clarkson later issued an apology for his remarks, the Press Association newswire reported.
Members of 30 public-sector unions walked out yesterday to protest plans to make government employees retire later and contribute more to their pensions. The Trades Union Congress, the umbrella labor movement, said as many as 2 million workers took part. The government said participation was much lower.
'Fast Cars'
"Jeremy Clarkson clearly needs a reminder of just who he is talking about," Prentis said. "Whilst he's driving round in fast cars for a living, public-sector workers are busy holding our society together -- they save others' lives on a daily basis, they care for the sick, the vulnerable, the elderly. They wipe bottoms, noses, they help children to learn, and empty bins. They deserve all our thanks, certainly not the unbelievable level of abuse he threw at them."
The presenters of the show, which is broadcast live at 7 p.m. on weekday evenings, apologized for Clarkson's comments.
"It was obviously a silly thing to say and I am sure he didn't mean that," Cameron said in an interview on ITV's "This Morning" show today.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/01/bloomberg_articlesLVJAMK1A74E9.DTL
Fire Clarkson Over 'Shoot Strikers' Comments, Union Demands
Thomas Penny, ©2011 Bloomberg News
Thursday, December 1, 2011
(Updates with report of apology in fifth paragraph.)
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Television presenter Jeremy Clarkson should be dismissed by the British Broadcasting Corp. for saying public-sector workers who went on strike yesterday deserved to be shot in front of their families, the Unison labor union said.
Clarkson, who is a personal friend of Prime Minister David Cameron and presents the "Top Gear" motoring show, attacked the strikers on the BBC's "One" program last night, saying: "I'd have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. How dare they go on strike?"
Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, Britain's biggest public-sector union, said today it's taking legal advice on whether it can sue Clarkson, who also has a column in News Corp.'s Sunday Times newspaper, and the BBC over the comments.
"An apology is not enough; we are calling on the BBC to sack Jeremy Clarkson immediately," Prentis said in an e-mailed statement. "Such disgusting statements have no place on our TV screens."
Clarkson later issued an apology for his remarks, the Press Association newswire reported.
Members of 30 public-sector unions walked out yesterday to protest plans to make government employees retire later and contribute more to their pensions. The Trades Union Congress, the umbrella labor movement, said as many as 2 million workers took part. The government said participation was much lower.
'Fast Cars'
"Jeremy Clarkson clearly needs a reminder of just who he is talking about," Prentis said. "Whilst he's driving round in fast cars for a living, public-sector workers are busy holding our society together -- they save others' lives on a daily basis, they care for the sick, the vulnerable, the elderly. They wipe bottoms, noses, they help children to learn, and empty bins. They deserve all our thanks, certainly not the unbelievable level of abuse he threw at them."
The presenters of the show, which is broadcast live at 7 p.m. on weekday evenings, apologized for Clarkson's comments.
"It was obviously a silly thing to say and I am sure he didn't mean that," Cameron said in an interview on ITV's "This Morning" show today.