Jeremy Clarkson has once again voiced deep concerns about the financial future of farms across the UK, including his own Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds. The former Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter has been openly critical of the Labour government’s policies, particularly those affecting farmers.
Clarkson, 65, played a key role in opposing Labour’s inheritance tax proposals targeting farms. Chancellor Rachel Reeves initially announced plans to extend inheritance tax to farms, sparking outrage among farming communities. Although the government recently reversed this plan by raising the tax threshold, Clarkson remains apprehensive about its long-term impact.
In his latest Sunday Times column, he explained the difficult cycle farmers face when transferring land between generations. He wrote, “One day, of course, his dad will die, and if the farm is medium-sized, thanks to the Labourites, he will have to pay inheritance tax. And the only way he’ll be able to afford to do that is sell a portion of the farm. Which would make it completely unviable.”
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Clarkson emphasized the precarious economics of farming, noting, “I have a thousand acres at Diddly Squat and even a farm that big does not make money. If I had to sell a third of it to pay Rachel Reeves, it would stop breaking even and make a loss.”
Beyond farming, Clarkson is equally concerned about his pub business, The Farmer’s Dog. Like many hospitality venues, it faces sharply rising business rates and increased wage costs due to national insurance hikes. He shared, “The rateable value would shoot up from £27,250 to £55,000 and when you factor in the national insurance rise, which has upped our wage bill by £42,000 a year, we’d be up a gum tree.”
These financial pressures led Clarkson to join a wave of pub landlords who banned Labour MPs from their premises in protest of the business rates hike. He posted on X, “To be clear, I have banned all Labour MPs from my pub, except one: Markus Campbell-Savours. He’s welcome any time. And not just because the Labour Party has now sacked him.”
Whether this ban remains in effect is currently unclear, but Clarkson’s message is clear: without changes, farms and hospitality venues face an increasingly uncertain and challenging future.