Drew Hendry signs cross-bench letter from MPs 'demanding' The Sun take action against Jeremy Clarkson his 'misogynistic' Meghan Markle column
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Highland MP Drew Hendry is one of over 60 cross-bench MPs who signed a letter demanding The Sun take action against Jeremy Clarkson over a column he wrote about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
The letter to the editor of The Sun Victoria Newton by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes was also signed by members of the SNP, LibDems, Greens, Labour and Tories as well as the MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.
It stated: “We condemn in the strongest terms the violent misogynistic language against the Duchess of Sussex.
"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.”
The letter went on to “demand action 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.”
The piece received widespread criticism and saw the independent press standards organisation Ipso get more than 6000 complaints after Mr Clarkson confessed he hated her “on a cellular level.”
He wrote: “At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her.”
That was an apparent reference to a scene in the Game of Thrones TV series as he went on to lash out at “younger people, especially girls” who he wrote “think she's pretty cool.”
Mr Clarkson had earlier issued his own apology on Twitter: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. 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.”
The SNP group that Mr Hendry belongs to also issued its own letter after Mr Clarkson, which was also penned by fellow Highland MP Ian Blackford.
The party's ire was sparked when he compared First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to serial killer Rose West, saying that he hated Ms Markle more than them.
This time MP Kirsten Oswald said: "Jeremy Clarkston’s column should never have seen the light of day. The widespread condemnation we’ve seen should be no surprise, and we need to see a recognition of this and a determination that misogyny like this is simply not acceptable."
