Jeremy Clarkson has finally addressed the comments he made about Meghan Markle that led to him being slammed for ‘inciting humiliation and violence’.
The presenter wrote that he hates the Duchess of Sussex ‘on a cellular level’ in a horrific rant in his column in The Sun.
He added that he hoped Meghan would be made to ‘parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her’.
Clarkson faced the wrath of dozens of other celebrities who have labelled his comments ‘utterly vile and disgusting’.
And he has finally addressed the things that he wrote about Meghan.
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He said today: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people.
“I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”
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Even his own daughter, author Emily Clarkson, had spoken out against her dad.
Emily, who presents the Should I Delete That podcast, wrote on Instagram: “My views are and have always been clear when it comes to misogyny, bullying and the treatment of women by the media.
Clarkson made the vile comments about Meghan Markle in his column. Credit: Netflix
“I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.”
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Clarkson’s column about Meghan also claimed that ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same’ – a claim that’s been heartily rebutted by presenter Carol Vorderman.
She wrote: “NO Jeremy Clarkson. Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it ok to write this stuff about any woman & absolutely NO to ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same. No no no. We absolutely do NOT think the same. Listen to the noise Jeremy. The crowds are chanting ‘shame on YOU’.”
NO Jeremy Clarkson. Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it ok to write this stuff about any woman & absolutely NO to "everyone who's my age thinks the same" No no no. We absolutely do NOT think the same. Listen to the noise Jeremy. The crowds are chanting "shame on YOU" pic.twitter.com/OzCt9lHG16
Comedian John Bishop said: “WTF is this ?? I don’t care who you are or who you work for you simply can not write things like this. It is a blatant appeal to incite humiliation and violence on a woman. Some have excused it as dark humour. There is mo joke here @JeremyClarkson and no excuse.”
TV doctor Dr Ranj Singh tweeted: “The worst part of what #JeremyClarkson wrote, isn’t what he actually said… It’s the fact that he exists in a space where he feels it’s permissible to say those vile things – and someone thought it was OK to publish it. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.”
Comedian Dom Joly said: “Literally gobsmacked at the utterly vile and disgusting comments written about Meghan Markle by Jeremy Clarkson in the Sun. What an utter piece of trash he is…what is it with these type of men that triggers them so?”
Pregnant Then Screwed author Joeli Brearley wrote: “This is sexualised violence. Despising a woman you have never met & being kept awake by an urge to humiliate & attack her in a deeply sexualised manner is deranged. @JeremyClarkson should be arrested. @TheSun should be ashamed. I’ve complained to IPSO & so should you.”
The Queen Consort Camilla is now facing criticism too for her silence, after it emerged that she had hosted a star-studded dinner last week, with guests including Meghan’s most vocal critics, Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan.
Musician V V Brown wrote: “Queen consort Camilla just hosted a dinner for dosmetic abuse charities and then has dinner with a man who says the below @JeremyClarkson…As a person who has suffered sexual violence I am traumatised and feel sick by this. What the flying fuck!”
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
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Government aims to ‘turn the tide’ on homelessness with £1 billion funding boost
Emily Sergeant
Nearly £1 billion of funding is being pumped into Council budgets to help “break the cycle of spiralling homelessness” in 2025.
As part of the Government‘s wider ‘Plan For Change’, and in a bid to help tackle, reduce, and prevent homelessness next year, it’s been announced that more resources will be be made available for workers on the frontline who provide essential services to get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing.
This significant investment means Councils will now be “better equipped” to step in early and stop households from becoming homeless in the first place.
According to the Government’s plans, these funded measures will include mediation with landlords or families to prevent evictions, helping homeless people find new homes, and providing deposits to access private renting.
This government is determined to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness.
— Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Gov (@mhclg) December 18, 2024
The funding will also be used to address the growing use of B&Bs and nightly-let accommodation, and the streamlining of funding structures to make it easier for Councils to spend their cash.
Areas across the UK can also choose to channel resources into services such as Housing First.
Housing First has been massively successful in Greater Manchester, and has helped house hundreds of our region’s rough sleepers since it was first piloted, being described as “life-changing” along the way.
More than £633 million of the funding will be allocated for the Homelessness Prevention Grant – which is a £192 million increase from this year – while £185.6 million will go to the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, more than £37 million to the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, and £5 million will be for the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots.
This new £1 billion funding boost comes after it was announced back in September that Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will be abolished in England next year as part of the landmark Renters’ Rights Bill.
It will also look to support the Government’s ambition to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation – with an extra £500 million ploughed into the Affordable Homes Programme to build tens of thousands of affordable homes across the country.
Featured Image – Gary Knight (via Flickr)
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Avanti West Coast staff set to strike on major days over festive period
Emily Sergeant
Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike on some major days over the festive period, it has been announced.
Train managers who are members of the RMT Union will stage industrial action on New Year’s Eve and 2 January 2025 after “overwhelmingly rejecting” the train company’s “inadequate proposals” on rest day working arrangements.
On top of this, strikes will also go ahead on Sundays between 12 January and 25 May too.
According to the union, up to 400 members are involved in the dispute with Avanti, and 83% of those voted against a suggested deal.
Strikes were previously planned for 22, 23, and 29 December as well, but they were suspended last week after a suggested agreement was put to a referendum of RMT members.
Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike on several major days over the festive period / Credit: Avanti West Coast
“Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums,” explained an RMT spokesperson. “Sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”
In case you weren’t familiar, Avanti’s West Coast Main Line operates six routes along the west of the UK, including from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, as well as services from London to other major cities such as to Blackpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Holyhead, Wrexham, and Liverpool.
Avanti has warned its customers that the strikes will likely cause “significant disruption” on the West Coast Main Line.
The train operator took to X to assure that its plans will be confirmed “as soon as possible”.
The RMT union has announced strike action affecting Avanti West Coast on 31 December and 2 January, along with all Sundays from 12 January to 25 May 2025. We’re looking at how this industrial action will impact our services and we’ll confirm our plans as soon as possible.
“The RMT union has announced strike action affecting Avanti West Coast on 31 December and 2 January, along with all Sundays from 12 January to 25 May 2025,” the statement reads on X.
“We’re looking at how this industrial action will impact our services and we’ll confirm our plans as soon as possible.”
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson also added in response to the industrial action being called yesterday: “We’re disappointed our train managers who are RMT members have voted to decline the very reasonable, revised offer made to them to resolve the rest day working dispute and avoid inconveniencing our customers.
Daisy Jackson -
19th December 2022 
