Jeremy Clarkson backed by John Cleese over grooming gangs column

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 16:20 · Archive

Actor John Cleese has expressed support for Jeremy Clarkson's previous comments opposing a public inquiry into grooming gangs.

Jeremy Clarkson has received support from actor John Cleese after comments Clarkson made in a Sun column about grooming gangs were resurfaced on social media. Cleese, best known for Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, expressed his backing with the statement '100 per cent support from Cleese'.

Clarkson, aged 66 and a former Top Gear presenter who lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, had argued against a public inquiry into grooming gangs. He wrote that such inquiries are 'just rooms full of people who deploy mock incredulity' and stated 'we simply don't need a dusty old baroness to tell us what the problem is, because we already know'.

Clarkson contended that junior police officers fear reporting crimes to superiors due to concerns about accusations of racism. He called for removing 'the shackles of political correctness from the police' and stressed that investigating rapists is not racist. In March, the government selected the phrase 'anti-Muslim hostility' rather than Islamophobia when considering terminology on the issue.

How it is being reported

• Jeremy Clarkson backed by TV legend amid calls for public inquiryJeremy Clarkson has been backed by a TV legend amid calls for a public inquiry into the grooming gangs.Oxford Mail · 3 Nov, 16:00
• Jeremy Clarkson backed by TV legend amid calls for public inquiryJeremy Clarkson has been backed by a TV legend amid calls for a public inquiry into the grooming gangs.Oxfordshire Guardian · 3 Nov, 16:00

In this story: Jeremy Clarkson · John Cleese · Oxfordshire · Sadiq Khan

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