The broadcaster laid into the PM in his column suggesting the Labour leader would be better suited to working on a local council.
Clarkson took aim at Burnham in his column for the Sun. (Image: Getty)
Jeremy Clarkson has laid into Andy Burnham, saying the Prime Minister is “out of his depth”, claiming he’d be better suited to working on a local council than in 10 Downing Street. Mr Clarkson mocked the PM in his column for the Sun saying that his “biggest worry” about Mr Burnham as it “while he seems to be nice” he is “not terribly prime ministerial”. “He’d be fine on a local council, organising bus timetables and sorting out neighbourhood leylandii issues, but I worry that he might be slightly out of his depth when faced with anything bigger and more important than that,” he wrote. Leylandiis are a type of fast-growing hedge that often cause disputes among homeowners.
He pointed to standout interventions from Mr Burnham in recent weeks including his announcement of a clampdown on private car parking charges and a campaign against nuisance behaviour on public transport, including people playing loud music on their phones. And while you might assume the parking measures would have been a welcome move for Mr Clarkson, who made his name as the long-time host of cars and motoring show Top Gear, he suggested Mr Burnham should be more focused on the array of larger-scale issues the country faces.
He pointed to the high cost of diesel, the small boats crisis, high national debt, and cyber attacks from Moscow. Clarkson also said Mr Burnham should be working out how Britain should deal with the purported risk that “far-Left riots” in France could “spread to the UK”.
Major museums in Paris closed and authorities deployed a sizable police force for an expected round of new protests on Saturday, hoping to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest that shocked the country. Scenes of looting, burned-out cars and attacks on public buildings left the impression that the government had lost control, as groups of masked vandals targeted businesses in Paris and other city centres.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said as many as 70,000 officers will be deployed nationwide, along with helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons. Another huge turn out is expected again after more than half a million took to the streets last week.
France has seen national unrest over various issues in recent years, including the raising of the country’s pension age from 62 to 64, which triggered major demonstrations and clashes with police. Mr Burnham, who became Prime Minister in July, has made some major policy announcements, most notably his plans to change the State Pension triple lock, moving to a system with uprating based on inflation or 2.5%, but not wage growth as is currently the case.
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He said the savings would help fund his plans for a national care system. Scrapping or altering the triple lock commitment has long been quitely considered across the political divide as an opportunity to free up money for the Treasury, but successive Governments have decided against it, fearing a backlash from older voters.