4 days Ago By Alex Evans
Jeremy Clarkson has issued a dire warning after joining a farmers' protest outside Westminster this morning to lobby against proposed Inheritance Tax changes put forward by Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The former Top Gear motoring journalist turned Clarkson's Farm star has arrived in London where thousands of farmers have gathered to protest against the tax changes which they say will have a devastating effect on the industry. Speaking to Sky News, Jeremy was asked what his message is to the government.
He issued a plea over the changes as he said: "Please, back down. "It's the end", he said, after being asked how bad this change could be for farmers. Jeremy, whose farming show for Amazon Prime Video , Clarkson's Farm, has been a smash success, was also holding a sign which read: "With our farmers.
" Currently, farmers are exempt from the 40 percent Inheritance Tax on farm estates thanks to a series of 'reliefs' which apply, with up to 100 percent ta relief on farm land being passed to children. From 2026, those reliefs will be scrapped, meaning farmers will owe up to 40 percent of the value of the estate to the taxman in a move which the government says will raise £520m of revenue but farmers argue will cripple the industry. Labour's Environment Secretary Steve Reed responded to Clarkson's presence at the protest with a message of his own.
He said: “The only ones that will be affected – it will be around 500 – will be the very wealthiest or the biggest farms. “They can plan their tax affairs just like any other business plans their tax affairs as well. “The vast majority of farms will not be affected by these changes to inheritance tax, but it’s only right that we ask the very wealthiest to pay their fair share, otherwise we can’t fix services like the National Health Service that farmers rely on and people living in rural communities, just like everybody else.
” Asked what his message to celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson was, Mr Reed said: “It’s very important that we listen to farmers, but I would say to farmers, this Government is backing farming in the UK.".
