Following fifteen days of speculation, over a million signatures on an e-petition and a couple of idiots in a tank outside Number 10, the decision has made: Jeremy Clarkson has been sacked.

It’s a victory for common sense more than anything, but there is likely to be a groundswell of public protest now that Top Gear’s resident reigning curmudgeon has been dethroned. Political blogger Guido Fawkes chimed in on the news of Clarkson’s dismissal saying “The BBC ignores the will of the licence fee payer once again…”, presumably referring to the number of people who signed the petition to keep Clarkson on air, and negating the fact that well over that number of people actually pay the licence fee, and would be equally happy to see the back of Clarkson. I’m sitting firmly in the latter camp.

I’ll willingly admit to watching Top Gear and enjoying it (or the challenge and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car bits, anyway), and when I was younger I even liked Clarkson. He was a bit buffoonish, but there was something Laurel and Hardy-esque about the escapades of the Top Gear trio’s ringleader that spoke to a teenage me. Remember the special where they went across America in second hand cars and were attacked by homophobic gun-toting Southerners? Not just comedy gold but incredibly fun and watchable television. But that was 2007. I was a bit of a buffoon too back then, but I grew out of it. Turns out Clarkson didn’t.

He’s coasted by with warning after warning because he’s regarded as a national treasure

Clarkson’s never been afraid of a little controversy, and over the years he has made a habit of going out of his way to consistently offend just about everyone. He’s made remarks ranging from the ablest and xenophobic to outright racist, and usually offers an apology about as sincere as a surly child does when they’ve been told off. It’s difficult to tell how much he believes what he says and how much he says for effect, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s coasted by with warning after warning because of the fact he’s regarded as a national treasure.

Jonathon Ross was a national treasure once too. Host of the premier chat show on British television, a household name—then he made a very poor taste prank phone call with Russell Brand, and was regarded the length and breadth of the land as the worst person on the face of the planet, at least for a while. When he was sacked everyone nodded approvingly.  He apologised, admitted what he’d done was stupid, and it was right that he lose his job. So when Clarkson verbally and physically attacks a colleague, resulting in him needing hospital attention, why is it that the public immediately reacts with such contempt for the poor bloke who got lamped in the face by an angry middle-aged man?

Many have argued that this incident does not affect Clarkson’s ability to present Top Gear, seemingly forgetting being a television presenter isn’t just about appearing on a camera. You have to be capable of some degree of professionalism, and it doesn’t take a genius to realise that hitting someone is not an okay response to a lack of hot food at work. If anyone did it in an ordinary workplace their dismissal wouldn’t even be a question. In fact, if any other television personality had hit a colleague in the face because they were offered sandwiches, the British public would probably be relieved to know he or she had lost their job, because, and I hate to labour a point here, hitting someone in the workplace is not alright.

Being a television presenter isn’t just about appearing on a camera. You have to be capable of some degree of professionalism, and it doesn’t take a genius to realise that hitting someone is not an okay response to a lack of hot food at work.

Clarkson might be entertaining to watch on television, be some sort of modern crusader for freedom of speech or a working-class hero because he’s Northern (the fact he’s close friends with David Cameron seems to be forgotten), but this doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants. Even more importantly, a large part of the Top Gear audience are young children and teenagers, and whether Clarkson likes it or not, he is a role model for them. Were he to stay on Top Gear, it would hardly be an encouraging message to send to the youth of today.

The idea that Top Gear could not continue without Clarkson is naïve, particularly since we’re hardly short of suitable candidates to replace him, or even replace May and Hammond  if they too decide to bow out. My favourite suggestion has been Steve Coogan in Alan Partridge persona, which wouldn’t actually be that different from having Clarkson back when you think about it. Equally suitable would be Idris Elba, who’s already had one show about fast cars, and would probably have a lot more interesting things to say than Clarkson ever did. If people just can’t get used to the idea of someone else presenting, is it such a bad thing if the show goes altogether? It’s been twelve years since it first began and something new is exactly what the struggling BBC needs.

As a society we cannot continue to reward people who think violence is a suitable response to a problem, and we should make celebrities accountable for their actions, particularly when they’re repeat offenders.

The whole thing has been dismissed as a ‘fracas’, which implies the whole incident was a light-hearted scuffle after which they all had a jolly good laugh. What actually happened was that a middle-aged man lost his temper and hit someone because he didn’t get his own way. As a society we cannot continue to reward people who think violence is a suitable response to a problem, and we should make celebrities accountable for their actions, particularly when they’re repeat offenders.

I was in a room with BBC director of television Danny Cohen last summer when he said of Clarkson “No one man is bigger than the BBC”. This was long even before the Argentina incident, and it may have taken a great deal for the BBC to finally stand up to Clarkson’s might, but perhaps now those exorbitant wages they were paying him can go to something a bit more worthwhile.

I wouldn’t worry too much about Clarkson, either—he always lands on his feet, and it won’t be long before the offers come rolling in.

Hannah Woodhead