Jeremy Clarkson's 'shoot strikers' rant did not breach broadcast rules, says Ofcom Clarkson was forced to apologise and the regulator launched an investigation after his remark, made on The One Show, sparked around 31,700 complaints and led to condemnation from union leaders and politicians, with Prime Minister David Cameron branding the TV star's statement "silly." Some viewers, less familiar with Clarkson's style, may have considered the comments offensive but the programme ended with an apology, Ofcom said. The comments "were not made seriously and were not at all likely to encourage members of the public...to act on them in any way," it added. Ofcom added that despite reports that Clarkson's comments were pre-approved by the BBC, he had in fact been advised by One Show producers not to air the sort of remark that he went on to make. Last year, the BBC apologised about an item on BBC2's Top Gear which led to the Mexican ambassador complaining about the "outrageous, vulgar and inexcusable insults" made about Mexicans by Clarkson and co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond. The BBC's editorial complaints unit upheld criticisms of the show and ruled that it reinforced stereotypes. In February 2009, Clarkson famously called then-prime minister Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" and in November the previous year, the BBC received almost 2,000 complaints when he joked about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes.