Clarkson hoist by own petard

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson found himself "unexpectedly donating to charity" after divulging his bank details in his newspaper column, the BBC reports.

In the wake of the HMRC fiasco, Clarkson published the details, claiming that no-one could take money from his account, merely put money in.

From the article:

"Clarkson admitted he was "wrong" after discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK.

"I opened my bank statement this morning to find out that someone has set up a direct debit which automatically takes £500 from my account," he said.

"The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again.

"I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake.""

It reminds me of a story about the death of Tchaikovsky from cholera. One version of the great composer's death has it that he was warned that cholera was water-borne, and nevertheless gulped down a glass of water anyway, to prove that it was all a fuss over nothing.

I wonder how Clarkson's views on global warming -- that it's all a fuss over nothing -- will stand the test of time.