Rightwing controversy-seeking television presenter Jeremy Clarkson was sacked by the BBC this week after an internal report undertaken by the corporation found that the self-styled warrior against political correctness physically and verbally assaulted a TV producer.

Goodbye, Mr Chips

The Guardian reported that ‘Clarkson was said to have been unhappy after being offered a cold platter of food after filming rather than steak and chips, but other reports suggested it was a consequence of problems during the day’s shoot.’

Before the BBC report appeared and the nature of the allegations against Clarkson were no more than allegations, celebrity bandwagon jumper-cum-prime minister David Cameron leapt to the aid of Clarkson, only to somehow disappear from protecting his Chipping Norton pal in public once he was dismissed by the BBC.

Maybe Cameron was too busy hatching an abusive, petulant, cowardly bullying strategy of his own in the shape of a plot to unseat speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

Cameron has an unfortunate fixation with the speaker and has repeatedly fanned the flames of dissent against him. Other prime ministers would hide their disdain; not Cameron. Like a child who has never heard the word ‘no’, interventions from the speaker to encourage the prime minister to adhere to parliamentary protocol at the dispatch box are met with exasperation, facial contortions and audible frustration.

Ugly

Any other member of parliament, any other prime minister, would buckle down, learn the rules and adapt appropriately. Cameron’s instinct is to destroy the rules and change them to his liking: an ugly hallmark of those most detached from the society they are part of, insulated by the gilded lifestyle that unearned privilege provides.

I Like Mike

So it was that the parliamentary Conservative party was bounced into supporting a motion to change the rules to elect the speaker of which they knew little. Tricked into staying at Westminster on the day parliament prorogued, enough Tory backbenchers, distasteful of the plot they were assumed to automatically support, rebelled against the prime minister and the motion was defeated. Not the first time, the prime minister’s conceit has damaged his leadership and called his authority into question. Spare a thought, though, for Michael Gove. Has any chief whip in modern times been so hapless, wanted the job less and been so bad in the role?

Poltroon

It was a spectacular own goal on three fronts. For parliament to yet again demonstrate an obsession with itself and its arcane workings on the eve of a general election is yet further proof that this great institution remains committed to a conspiracy against itself. For Cameron to weaken his leadership and standing in an environment where he is going to need every last drop of his colleagues’ loyalty is inexplicably stupid. And for William Hague, on his final day in the House of Commons and final time at the dispatch box, to allow himself to become a willing dupe at the hands of poltroon prime minister was precisely the tawdry kind of send-off his remarkable parliamentary career did not deserve.

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Jamie Reed is member of parliament for Copeland. He writes The Last Word column on Progress and tweets @jreedmp

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Photos: Tony Harrison, BBC Parliament