Jeremy Clarkson hits out at James May over support for ‘leftie’ speed limits

Councils will be encouraged to set speed limits locally under new guidance from the Department for Transport

Jeremy Clarkson has claimed that James May has been influenced by “lefties” as he criticised his The Grand Tour co-host’s support of 20mph speed limits.

Last week, May voiced his support for proposed plans to make 20mph the default speed on new or redesigned urban streets, as well as in residential areas.

Appearing on the Today programme on Radio 4, May said that he “hates to say I’m very right-on”, adding that he “would agree that a blanket 20mph would probably be a little bit knuckle-headed, but in a lot of urban places, city centre, towns and villages, actually 20mph makes perfect sense”.

Writing in his column in The Sun, Clarkson hit out at the comments from “m’colleague” May, suggesting that the former Top Gear host was now backing “leftie” plans.

“Of course, you’re thinking that James May would say that,” Clarkson wrote. “He’s known as Captain Slow and has never been faster than 20 in his whole life.

“But there’s something you don’t know about James. He virtually lives in the socialist cesspit that is Twitter, where he follows not just Sir [Keir] Starmer but also the deranged London Mayor, Sadiq Khan.”

He continued: “James, then, like all of the world’s Twitter enthusiasts, is not getting a balanced view on which to shape his opinions. He’s just listening to lefties competing with one another to see who can think of the most left-wing thing.”

The Independent has contacted May for comment.

May voiced his support for introducing more 20mph roads (Getty Images)

Under new guidance from the Department for Transport, councils will be encouraged to set speed limits locally, with 20mph the default speed in “urban environments” and on “residential streets”.

The new column comes one week after May spoke about Clarkson’s widely condemned comments about Megan Markle in the paper, in which he wrote that he hated the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”.

Clarkson’s (pictured) column about Meghan Markle was branded ‘creepy’ by his colleague (Getty Images)

Asked about the column on Today, May claimed that he hadn’t read it as he’d been away. After he was read Clarkson’s quotes, he responded: “[Clarkson] said something like, ‘All people my age think the same way.’ I’d like to go on the record and say I don’t – I’m only a couple of years younger than him.

“I think it sounds a little bit too creepy, but I’m also very much in favour of free speech and allowing the haters to hate so we can see what they have to say.”

In January, Clarkson said that he had apologised to Meghan and Prince Harry over the article.

However, Harry and Meghan issued a statement claiming that Clarkson had only apologised to Harry.