Jeremy Clarkson was uncharacteristically contrite yesterday after it was revealed that he'd used a racist word whilst making an episode of Top Gear. To be fair, this Blog has been unable to discern any offending racist word in the recording.

The BBC issued this statement:

Jeremy Clarkson has set out the background to this regrettable episode.
We have made it absolutely clear to him, the standards the BBC expects on air and off.
We have left him in no doubt about how seriously we view this.

According to his colleague and co-presenter, James May, Jeremy Clarkson is not a racist. Mr May added that he wouldn't work with one.

The Top Gear team has previously been accused of racism, and Clarkson has personally been accused of homophobia on more than one occasion. A few months ago he uploaded a picture which referred to him as a gay **** thereby suggesting that making fun of person's sexuality is an OK thing to do. Soon afterwards he deleted the picture and offered a half-hearted and sarcastic apology. The picture is still widely available on the internet, and the person just behind Clarkson looks suspiciously like James May - the very same man who says he wouldn't work with racists.

The yobbish culture at the heart of the BBC (2008)