A group of MPs have demanded The Sun take “action” against Jeremy Clarkson for his “hateful” article in which he targeted Meghan Markle.
In the piece, published by the newspaper on Friday, Clarkson wrote he had dreamed of Meghan being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed.
He describing how much he “hates” the Duchess of Sussex “on a cellular level”.
It was removed from The Sun’s website on Monday afternoon at Clarkson’s request following a wave of criticism.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) received more than 12,000 complaints about the column.
In a letter to The Sun’s editor published on Tuesday, 64 MPs from different parties said they were “horrified”.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the violent misogynistic language against The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle,” they said.
“This sort of language has no place in our country, and it is unacceptable that it was allowed to be published in a mainstream newspaper.”
The MPs added: “We welcome The Sun’s retraction of the article, we now demand action is taken against Mr Clarkson and an unreserved apology is issued to Ms Markle immediately.
“We further demand definitive action is taken to ensure no article like this is ever published again.”
The letter was released on Twitter by Tory MP Caroline Nokes, the chair of the Commons women and equalities committee.
MPs who signed it include former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, former Tory cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom and Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper.
The MPs added: “Ms Markle has faced multiple credible threats to her life, requiring the intervention of The Metropolitan Police.
“Hateful articles like the one written by Mr Clarkson do not exist in a vacuum, and directly contribute to this unacceptable climate of hatred and violence.
“We are deeply concerned about the role modelling being promoted to young men and boys, that they can verbally attack women without a consequence or that it is okay to use violent language to address a woman that you might disagree with.
“You will no doubt know how violence against women and girls has surged across Britain in recent years. We must do better.
“Enough is enough. We cannot allow this type of behaviour to go unchecked any longer.”
Clarkson has said he is now “horrified to have caused so much hurt” following the backlash and that he would “be more careful in future”.
The article followed the recent broadcast of Harry and Meghan’s explosive six-part Netflix documentary, in which the couple made allegations of mistreatment by the royal family.