Details of The Fracas are as yet sketchy. But Jeremy Clarkson had been warned along the lines of “three strikes and you’re out”. Three strikes? Clarkson himself believes that one strike is enough to warrant shooting a worker. Or at least that it’s humorous to make such an assertion.  The BBC has suspended the Top Gear presenter, after a producer found his behaviour unacceptable. The show will not be broadcast this weekend. The nation is agog. Or Twitter is, anyway.  Related: Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson suspended by BBC over 'fracas' with producer  What has Clarkson said or done to create such a kerfuffle? One dreads to think. His track record as a purveyor of racist and xenophobic remarks is well known. Has Clarkson stamped his little feet when advised that he couldn’t make some offensive joke? No one as yet knows. Whatever the problem is, it merits “investigation”.  Why does the BBC put up with Clarkson? Why does Clarkson put up with the BBC? Surely, whatever the details of The Fracas, it’s time for a parting of the ways. It’s long been clear that Clarkson is either unwilling or unable to accept the limitations placed upon him by mainstream professional broadcasting. He is a popular figure but he is also a liability.  Many public figures would understand that continually embarrassing your employer is an immature and pesky thing to do. Clarkson, however, seems to have no great love of the BBC. He does not seem to care about the damage that he does to it by continually courting controversy. His antics, on the contrary, suggest that he holds his employer in contempt and sees it as a bit of a mission, pushing the boundaries of what he sees as its political correctness.  It may turn out that the producer in question has been oversensitive. Nevertheless, Clarkson’s track record is such that it must be quite difficult to be relaxed about giving him freedom to say what he wishes to. It’s clear that he cannot be trusted to judge for himself what is worth saying and what is quite definitely not. Responsibility for protecting Clarkson falls to other people, because he won’t take that responsibility for himself.  If the relationship between the BBC and Clarkson doesn’t end this time, then it will end the next time. It should have ended long ago. It’s become tedious, this saga, like an unhappy marriage that limps on for obscure reasons. Clarkson should do the decent thing, and resign.
The latest ‘fracas’ is more evidence that the Top Gear presenter doesn’t seem to care what damage he does to the BBC. He should go