Jeremy Clarkson reveals the real reason he bought a farm: not to avoid inheritance tax | UK | News

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed his real motivation for buying a farm, saying he thought it would be “a better PR story if I said I bought it to avoid tax”.

The man behind Amazon Prime’s hit TV series Clarkson’s Farm defied doctors’ orders to protest against changes to farm inheritance tax introduced by the Labor government on Tuesday, joining thousands of fellow farmers on the streets of London .

Clarkson told the Times in 2021 that avoiding inheritance tax was “the crucial point” in his decision to buy land. He also wrote in a post on the Top Gear website in 2010: “I bought a farm. There are many sensible reasons for this: land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The government won’t get any of my money if I die. And the price of the food I grow can only increase.”

In a new interview with the Times, the former Top Gear presenter said of these comments: “I never admitted why I really bought it.

“I wanted to have a shoot, I was very naive. I just thought it would be a better PR story if I said I bought it to avoid taxes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that combined business and agricultural assets worth more than £1 million will be subject to a 50% inheritance tax credit from April 2025 at an effective rate of 20%.

It marked a departure from Agricultural Property Relief (APR), a policy intended to reduce the tax burden faced by farmers to reduce the likelihood of them selling income sources to cover costs. Assets worth less than £1 million still do not have to pay inheritance tax.

Despite vocally opposing the tax changes, Clarkson told the newspaper he does not want to be the public face of the movement. He said: “This must be led by farmers.”

He said he does not consider himself a farmer, but that his job is to “report on agriculture” and shine a light on rural poverty in the industry.

“One of the problems we have in the show is that we don’t show the poverty either, because there’s obviously no poverty in Diddly Squat,” he explained.

“But believe me, there is absolute poverty. I am surrounded by farmers. I’m not going out to dinner with James Dyson. They are people with 200 hectares, 400 hectares. Far beyond Rachel Reeves’ doorstep. They are f*****.”

Clarkson was also asked if he would consider entering politics, to which he replied: “I would be a terrible political leader, hopeless.

“I am a journalist through and through. I would rather throw stones at people than have them thrown at me.”

On Friday, sir Keir Starmer stressed that his government supported farmers and pensioners as he faced questions over tax reforms and the decision to limit winter fuel payments to only the poorest pensioners.

The Prime Minister told it BBC Bristol: “We are for working people who need to be better off and who have had a very difficult time in recent years.

“We are here for everyone who wants and needs to rely on the NHS, which is on its knees, and we need to pick it up and we will, and get rid of the waiting lists.

“We are there for the people who absolutely need a safe place to live that they can afford. That all has to be paid for.

“We are also there for farmers and retirees.”

He also reiterated his position that the vast majority of farms will remain “completely unaffected” by changes to agricultural inheritance tax.