The Metropolitan Police will not be launching an investigation into Jeremy Clarkson’s disgusting comments on Meghan Markle.
In his weekly column in the Sun on Friday – which has been removed at his request – the former Top Gear host, 62, spewed a hate-filled rant, saying that he despised Markle ‘on a cellular level’ and dreamed of people throwing ‘excrement’ at her.
He explicitly wrote that he ‘hated’ Markle, and that he liked her less than Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and even serial killer Rose West.
Clarkson’s comments have currently placed him at the centre of intense scrutiny with fellow celebrities calling for the Grand Tour frontman to be sacked by Amazon and ITV.
Met commissioner Mark Rowley declared that the police have ruled out a hate crime investigation and said it was not the job of officers to ‘police people’s ethics.’
‘The police should only get involved when speech becomes threatening or incites violence,’ he told LBC.
Asked if he thought Clarkson had committed a hate crime, he added: ‘There’s a line to be drawn.
‘It’s not for police to get involved in anything that’s about ‘is something ethical, is it moral. Is it proper, is it offensive.’
This comes after ITV’s network boss Kevin Lygo, said that Clarkson would keep his hosting position on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
‘I would say what he writes in a newspaper column… We have no control over what he says,’ Mr Lygo told audiences.
‘We hire him as a consummate broadcaster of the most famous quiz on television, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
‘So, it’s not quite in our wheelhouse but I don’t know what he was thinking when he wrote that. It was awful.’
Asked if ITV will keep Clarkson as host of the quiz show, a position he inherited from Chris Tarrant in 2018, Mr Lygo replied: ‘Yes, at the moment we are.’
Ipso announced on Tuesday afternoon it had received over 20,800 complaints about the column, making it the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most-complained about article ever.
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What is Ofcom and what does it cover?
Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day.
The watchdog makes sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.
Ofcom deals with most content on television, radio and video-on-demand services, including the BBC. However, if your complaint is about something you saw or heard in a BBC programme, you may need to complain to the BBC first.
Its rules for television and radio programmes are set out in the Broadcasting Code.
The rules in the Broadcasting Code also apply to the BBC iPlayer.
This Broadcasting Code is the rule book that broadcasters have to follow and it covers a number of areas, including; protecting the under-18s, protecting audiences from harmful and/or offensive material and ensuring that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.
Audiences can complain to Ofcom if they believe a breach of the Broadcasting Code has been made.
Every time Ofcom receives a complaint from a viewer or listener, they assess it to see if it needs further investigation.
If Ofcom decide to investigate, they will include the case in a list of new investigations, published in the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin.
An investigation is a formal process which can take some time depending on the complexity of the issues involved.
Ofcom can also launch investigations in the absence of a complaint from a viewer or listener.
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