Jeremy Clarkson calls PM ‘a one-eyed idiot’

Already christened a "bigoted petrolhead" by the green community, and chastised by vegetarians and cyclists for his outspoken views, Jeremy Clarkson has now taken on the establishment and insulted Gordon Brown. In Australia to host Top Gear Live, a stage version of his BBC television show, Clarkson called the Prime Minister "a one-eyed Scottish idiot".

Clarkson was addressing journalists in Sydney when he made the remark, which refers to the PM's glass eye, the result of an accident as a teenager. He was criticising Brown for his failure to address the economic crisis, adding: "He keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us."

Angry Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray leapt to Brown's defence. "Such a comment is really a reflection on Jeremy Clarkson and speaks for itself," he said. "Most people here are proud that the prime minister is a Scot."

In November more than 1,800 people complained when the motormouth presenter made a joke about lorry drivers killing sex workers (in the aftermath of forklift truck driver Steve Wright being convicted for the murder of five prostitutes). Some 340 people also wrote to Ofcom, but they ruled that Clarkson had not breached broadcasting regulations.