TV Presenter Faces Backlash

By Alexander Lawrie

DISABLED groups and politicians from across the country have hit back at English motormouth Jeremy Clarkson after he poked fun at Gordon Brown’s blindness.

The controversial Top Gear presenter hit the headlines this week when he called the Prime Minister “a one-eyed Scottish idiot” during a trip to Australia.

Brown lost the sight in his left eye when he was just 16 after he suffered a kick to the head during a school rugby game.

Clarkson’s onslaught against the PM came at the launch of a Top Gear Live stage tour in Sydney.

But politicians and disabled associations are outraged at the big-mouthed presenter’s latest gaffe, calling his comments as “unacceptable” and “insensitive”.

A spokesperson for the charity Visibility said: “It sounds as if Jeremy Clarkson was using the term ‘one eyed’ as an insult.  It is very unfortunate that Mr Clarkson has used his high media profile to present sight difficulties in such a negative way.

“I would challenge Jeremy Clarkson to come and spend a day with Visibility listening to and speaking with people who overcome significant difficulties caused by sight loss on a daily basis.

“If Mr Clarkson takes up our challenge, I would hope that next time he speaks about visual impairment, he does so from a more informed position and uses his media profile to highlight visual impairment in a more positive way.”

A spokesperson for the Highland Society for the Blind said: “We are in the business to change perceptions of blind and visually impaired people.

“What Clarkson might want to do is to come along and help on one of our driving days where blind individuals get to drive along an air strip and feel the thrill of the driving experience.

“He might then change his thoughts about being so insensitive.”

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) was also quick to condemn the “offensive” comments, saying: “Any suggestion that equates disability with incompetence is totally unacceptable.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: “Such a comment is really a reflection on Jeremy Clarkson and speaks for itself.

“Most people here are proud that the Prime Minister is a Scot and believe him to be the right person to get the UK through this global economic crisis.”

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP, said: “Jeremy Clarkson’s brain seems permanently stuck in neutral. He clearly loves his role as the populist face of climate change denial, but his shameless self-promotion regularly gets in the way of the truth.

“On this occasion, his petty insults are no substitute for sensible criticism of the Prime Minister.”

And Glenrothes MP Lindsay Roy urged the Beeb to “look very carefully at what action they wish to take”.

Number 10 would only say that Clarkson “is entitled to his own interpretation of the economic circumstances”.

The spokesperson declined to comment on the specific insult about Mr Brown.

The controversial presenter compared Mr Brown to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, shortly after Mr Rudd had addressed the country on the severity of the global financial crisis.

According to The Australian newspaper, Clarkson said: “He [Rudd] genuinely looked terrified. The poor man, he’s actually seen the books.

“[In the UK] we’ve got this one-eyed Scottish idiot. 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.”

Last November, more than 1,800 people complained to the BBC after Clarkson made a joke on Top Gear about lorry drivers killing sex workers.

The joke followed the conviction of forklift truck driver Steve Wright for the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich.

Some 340 people also complained to regulator Ofcom, but it later ruled the joke did not breach the broadcasting code.

Salmond’s Obama bandwagon crashes as Roy wins Glenrothes

By Michael MacLeod

LABOUR proved the doubters wrong by holding on to the Glenrothes seat last night in a surprise by-election victory.

Former school headteacher Lindsay Roy became the Fife town’s new MP, despite having never campaigned for political office before.

Alex Salmond’s tactic of jumping on the new US president Barack Obama’s “yes we can” bandwagon fell flat on its face, but Roy was never a dead-cert to win.

He looked shell-shocked arriving to cheers at the count in Glenrothes’ Fife Institute sports hall last night.

But it took just 90 minutes for rumours of a Labour win to sweep through the hall, as SNP activists quietly slipped out the back door.

Gordon Brown will be the most relieved man since Barack Obama, as Roy polled 19,946 votes compared to SNP rival Peter Grant’s 13,209.

Early polls predicted a close race, and the prime minister resorted to knocking on doors with his wife Sarah, in a bid to squeeze out every last possible vote.

Described pre-election by SNP leader Alex Salmond as “a party in crisis,” Labour had already lost two supposedly “safe” seats in by-elections this year.

But Salmond was proved wrong as the former mining town picked 59-year-old Roy, who makes the unheard-of leap from local school rector to Westminster.

 In his victory speech, Roy said: “I am now a former head teacher.

“I pledge my support to the leader of our country, who has fought hard on behalf of all of us.

 “With Gordon Brown, interest rates are at a record low, pensioners are getting a cheque through their door this winter to help with fuel bills and the union is stronger.”

Had Roy lost, political commentators speculated Brown’s leadership of the country would be challenged.

Roy’s selection as candidate was a massive risk for Labour, who assumed that his “non-politician” reputation would appeal to voters.

He’ll now quit his job as rector at Kirkcaldy High School, where the prime minister was a pupil in the 1960s.

Runner up Peter Grant desperately claimed the Nationalist’s 4,478 increase in votes was “a magnificent result.”

He said: “Thank you to everyone who voted.

“We carried out a very positive and upbeat campaign, and the number of votes we got is a magnificent result.”

With the Tories and Lib Dems struggling on 1,381 votes and 947 votes respectively, the campaign trail was a two-horse race.

The election was prompted by the death of Labour’s John MacDougall, and the SNP needed a swing of 14.2 per-cent to win the seat.

Third place finisher Maurice Golden was quick to plunge the knife into the SNP.

He said: “The main story of the night is that Alex Salmond’s bubble has truly burst.

 “This is a victory for the UK.

“Lindsay Roy has been a very genuine and honest guy; he’s been a maverick and I hope he continues in that vein.”

As widely expected before Thursday’s election, 36,219 voters turned out, a drop of 4 per-cent on 2005’s poll.

A hotly contested campaign ultimately saw local issues cast aside, as independence became the campaign’s main issue.

The big guns were rolled out, with Alex Salmond making eleven visits to Glenrothes, while Gordon Brown made only two.

Roy argued that the economic crisis justified the case for a united Britain, saying the government bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS would have been impossible without the union.

But SNP leader Alex Salmond accused Labour of “negative scaremongering” and adopted the “yes we can” slogan of new US president Barack Obama on the campaign trail to argue for independence.

In May Labour also lost a byelection in Crewe and Nantwich, where the late Gwyneth Dunwoody had been elected with a majority of more than 7,000 in 2005.

It was an embarrassing night for the Scottish Socialist Party (212 votes), who were beaten into fifth place by the local pensioners of the Scottish Senior Citizens’ Unity Party (296 votes).

The poll was propped up by UKIP on 117 votes and Solidarity on 87 votes.

Labour candidate takes message on to bridge 273

The Scottish Labour party candidate in the upcoming Glenrothes by-election unveiled a banner today over the Forth Road Bridge.

Lindsay Roy was joined by Labour MSPs Andy Kerr and John Park.

Mr Roy, a headteacher, said he was committed to a funding plan for the bridge.

UK Health Secretary joins election campaign 272

Health Secretary Alan Johnson travelled from Westminster to the Scottish town of Buckhaven to show his support for the Labour candidate in the Glenrothes by-election.

Mr Johnson was also joined by Cathy Jamieson MSP as they campaigned with election candidate Lindsay Roy outside Randolph Wemyss Hospital.