‘Are you listening to this?’ Jeremy Clarkson rages at BBC in fiery farmer protest clash.uk
Jeremy Clarkson took no prisoners at the farm inheritance tax protest in Westminster as when he began a fierce row with BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire.
Jeremy Clarkson has lashed out at the BBC in a heated debate as he attended the family farm tax protest in Westminster.
On Tuesday (November 19), the motoring journalist joined thousands of farmers who gathered in the capital to lobby against the proposed Inheritance Tax changes put forward by Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The Clarkson’s Farm star was swarmed by journalists who was happy to share his thoughts on the devastating effects these changes will have on the farming industry.
But things took an unexpected turn when he spoke to Victoria Derbyshire from the BBC about the impact his farm has had on the industry.
He began: “I’m here to support farmers but it’s difficult to be angry on someone else’s behalf.” The journalist then asked him: “So, it’s not about you, it’s not about your farm and the fact that you bought a farm to avoid the inheritance tax?”
Jeremy Clarkson attended the family farm tax protest at Westminster (Image: BBC)
It was at this point that the 64-year-old launched into a heated debate with the broadcaster. He argued: “This is classic BBC, this is he fact that I bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax, the fact?”
She insisted: “You told the Sunday Times in 2021 that that’s why you bought it.” Jeremy couldn’t help but shake his head as he mumbled: “You people, you BBC” before he set the record straight about why he purchased the Oxfordshire farm.
He went on: “Okay, let’s start from the beginning. I wanted a shoot – that’s even worse to the BBC – I wanted a shoot which comes with the benefit of not having to pay the inheritance tax, now I do.
“But people like me will simply put it in a trust, and so long as I live for seven years that’s fine. And as my daughter said, ‘You will live for seven years. You might be in a deep freeze by the end of it, but you will live for seven years’.
“But it’s incredibly time consuming to have to do that, and why should all these people have to do that? Why should they?”
The motoring journalist claimed ‘96% of farmers will pay inheritance tax’ (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Victoria continued: “So one of the reasons Rachel Reeves said she brought this in is to stop wealthy people using it as a way of avoiding tax” to which Jeremy argued: “No, that is the only reason she did it.”
The Newsnight host added: “No, the other reason was to raise money for public services.” After listening to her response, Jeremy turned to the crowd and asked with a chuckle: “Are you listening to this?”
The broadcaster quizzed him: “Have you tried to get a GP appointment lately?” which the dad-of-three replied: “Yes, I just had a heart attack”. The BBC presenter countered: “Okay, so you know it’s tough? Where do you think they should get the money from?”
Disappointed with her reasoning, Jeremy told the crowd: “Do you hear that everyone? The BBC thinks you should be paying for everything.”
He went on: “Four per cent [of Brits] pay inheritance tax, 96 per cent of the population of the UK does not pay inheritance tax. After this becomes law, 96 per cent of farmers will.”
The star argued with Victoria Derbyshire at the protest (Image: BBC)
When he was quizzed about where he got that figure from, the motoring journalist confessed: “The same place where Rachel Reeves does, the middle of her head, from the sixth form debating society that she was named as a member of, which formed her opinions and yours. ”
Victoria immediately shut down his claims, arguing: “I am not expressing opinons, I am literally asking you questions, you know that Mr. Clarkson. So, what is your message to this government?”
He simply replied: “Please back down, please.” When he was asked again where the government should find the money in its place, he suggested: “Walk into any of the offices around here. If you don’t understand what somebody’s job is, fire them. The civil service is too tough, you know that. I must get on.”
The BBC later shared the controversial clip on their official BBC Newsnight X account, which was soon flooded with comments from disgruntled viewers online.
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One user penned: “Well done, Jeremy. You speak on behalf of an awful lot of people being peed on from a great height by this awful government and those who support them.”
Another agreed: “The obvious answer is that his change to inheritance tax will raise a paltry £520m per year, approximately, which is peanuts, but will be very damaging for family farms. Don’t destroy farming for such a small sum of money.”
Meanwhile, a third pointed out: “When he can’t answer a question he makes pathetic attempts to whip up crowd support” as a fourth echoed: “Typical populist – gets confronted with the plain truth and the very words that he said previously so deflects.”
