More than 60 MPs 'demand action' against Jeremy Clarkson following his column about Meghan Markle

Over the weekend, Jeremy Clarkson's scathing attack on Meghan Markle went viral and has gone on to receive an historic number of complaints. 

In his column for The Sun, the former Top Gear presenter wrote that he 'hates' the Duchess of Sussex 'on a cellular level', adding that he he fantasises about her 'parading naked through the streets' as people 'throw lumps of excrement at her'.

The article came just days after Meghan detailed being 'scared' by social media death threats as a result of the onslaught of negative press from the British tabloids in the Netflix series, Harry & Meghan. 

With over 17,500 complaints sent to press regulator Ipso by Tuesday, it has become their most complained about article, and a number of celebrities and political figures have spoken out against it. 

Clarkson's daughter Emily, who regularly posts about misogyny and bullying on her Instagram profile, also publicly condemned his column, and earlier this week he responded to to the backlash on Twitter, writing: "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."

Now, over 60 MPs have signed a letter to the editor of The Sun, Victoria Newton, to condemn the column 'in the strongest terms' and 'demand action' against Clarkson. 

Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum - from Stella Creasy to Dame Andrea Leadsom - have signed the letter to the publication, penned by Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Caroline Nokes.

In full, it reads: "We are horrified at the recent article by Jeremy Clarkson in your publication. As parliamentarians of every persuasion, we condemn in the strongest terms the violent misogynistic language against The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. This sort of language has no place in our country, and it is unacceptable that it was allowed to be published in a mainstream newspaper.

"Ms Markle has faced multiple credible threats to her life, requiring the intervention of the Metropolitan Police. Hateful articles like the one written by Mr Clarkson do not exist in a vacuum and directly contribute to this unacceptable climate of hatred and violence. 

"We are deeply concerned about the role modelling being promoted to young men and boys, that they can verbally attack women without a consequence or that it is okay to use violent language to address a woman that you might disagree with.

"You will no doubt know how violence against women and girls has surged across Britain in recent years. We must do better.

"Enough is enough. We cannot allow this type of behaviour to go unchecked any longer. We welcome The Sun's retraction of the article, we now demand action is taken against Mr Clarkson and an unreserved apology is issued to Ms Markle immediately. We further demand definitive action is taken to ensure no article like this is ever published again."