London - The BBC is facing further repercussions over the behaviour of Jeremy Clarkson after UK broadcasting industry regulator the Office of Communications announced an investigation into whether his use of the work "pikey" on Top Gear was racially offensive to gypsies and travellers.
In March the BBC Trust was accused of "legitimising the use of a racist word" by clearing Clarkson of any wrongdoing on an episode broadcast in February 2014. He was seen erecting a sign bearing the words "Pikey's Peak", continuing a long-running in-joke about co-presenter Richard Hammond.
Clarkson has since been axed by the BBC after an internal investigation found he had launched an "unprovoked physical and verbal attack" on Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon, which left his colleague bleeding and requiring hospital treatment.
But his actions may yet come back to haunt the corporation. Ofcom said on Tuesday it had launched its own independent probe into the "pikey" episode, which could result in the BBC being found guilty of breaching the Broadcasting Code.
‘ COMMON PARLANCE’
The regulator took action after receiving a complaint from the Traveller Movement charity, which is unhappy with the BBC Trust's decision and has also called into question Ofcom's own research into what constitutes racist language.
In its ruling in March, the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee acknowledged that the word "pikey" derives from "turnpike" and is therefore related to gypsies and travellers.
But it concluded there had been "no intended racist reference" by Top Gear, arguing that the word had "evolved into common parlance... to mean 'cheap'."
The Traveller Movement's complaint to Ofcom argues that this is a false distinction. A spokesman said: "We believe in freedom of speech, but with that freedom there must be responsibility.
"The BBC Trust abdicated that responsibility when legitimised the use of a racist word on one of their most popular and money-spinning programmes."
The Independent