Jeremy Clarkson clashed with BBC journalist, Victoria Derbyshire, today at an angry rally in Westminster, which criticised the Government’s £1m inheritance tax on farms
Jeremy Clarkson snapped at Victoria Derbyshire today at the fraught farmers’ rally in Westminster.
The Clarkson’s Farm presenter, 64, descended on Parliament Square with his Amazon Prime co-star, Kaleb Cooper, 26, to protest against the Government’s £1m inheritance tax on farms.
Joined by a convoy of tractors and angry farmers, Jeremy stuck up for his agricultural allies, which have become part of his life since he started his smash hit show. However, when asked by BBC journalist, Victoria, if he was at the rally simply for “himself”, he fumed: “Typical BBC. You people!”
The argument began when Victoria asked the Top Gear star why he was protesting, clarifying: “So it’s not about you, your farm and to avoid inheritance attack?”
Jeremy Clarkson clashed with BBC journalist, Victoria Derbyshire (
Image:
BBCNewsnight)
Rolling his eyes at the seasoned star’s question, Jeremy quipped: “Classic BBC there. Classic.” Victoria shot back: “Is it?”, referring to an article in the Sunday Times where the dad-of-three wrote about the tax benefits of buying a farm.
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Jeremy then disputed the claim that it was a “fact” that he bought his Oxfordshire farm for tax purposes, insisting it was because he loved country sports such as shooting.
The now visibly angry presenter continued: “Typical BBC. You people”, and would later say to the crowd around them: “Are you listening to this?” when Victoria repeated Rachel Reeves’ claims that the inheritance tax raised would “raise money for public services”.
Jeremy defied doctors’ orders to attend the protest (
Image:
PA)
Continuing his rant, which was being recorded for BBC’s Newsnight he said: “Let’s start from the beginning I wanted to shoot, which comes with the benefit of not paying inheritance tax, now I do.
“People like me will simply put it in a trust, and so long as I live for seven years that’s fine. As my daughter says, you might be in a deep freeze at the end of it, but you will live for seven years. It is incredibly time consuming to have to do that, why should all these people have to do that, why should they?” Jeremy added that the “only reason'” Rachel Reeves bought in the inheritance tax on farmers was to “stop wealthy people using it”.
Earlier today, the Top Gear star admitted he was flouting his doctor’s orders by attending the rally after being warned not to put himself in ‘stressful’ situations. However, the outspoken petrolhead was determined to make his voice heard in Westminster, even though he was rushed in for an emergency heart operation only last month.
Farmers are staging protests calling for the Government to scrap its changes to agricultural inheritance tax. Protests already erupted outside the Welsh Labour conference over the new taxes for farms worth more than £1 million, which have been fulled by uncertainty about Treasury figures the Budget bombshell is based on.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is holding a mass lobby of MPs with 1,800 of its members – three times as many people as originally planned – to urge backbenchers to stand up to the Government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.
And thousands more are expected to join a separate rally in Whitehall as they protest against last month’s Budget, which also sped up the phase out of EU-era subsidies as funding is switched to nature-friendly farming schemes.
Farmers have reacted with anger to the inheritance tax changes for farming businesses, which limit the existing 100% relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.For anything above that, landowners will pay a 20% tax rate, rather than the standard 40% rate of inheritance tax (IHT) applied to other land and property.
