Clarkson tells Tory conference farmers are 'attacked' from every angle
The broadcaster used a conference appearance alongside the shadow environment secretary to warn that taxes, energy costs and international conflict were making farming 'very, very difficult'.
Jeremy Clarkson has told the Conservative Party conference that British farmers are being "attacked" from every angle by rising costs, describing a "terrible" year on his Cotswolds farm.
Appearing at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on Monday alongside Charlie Ireland, his co-star on Clarkson's Farm, in a session hosted by the shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins, the broadcaster said the hot summer had made it a terrible year for farming.
He said: "It's terrible, is the only way of describing it. We worked really hard all year and we ended up with, I think I'm right in saying, three ounces of hen food. It was an absolute disaster on the farming side but, I mean, luckily we've got other projects going on now. But the farming is very, very difficult, very, very difficult at the moment."
We worked really hard all year and we ended up with, I think I'm right in saying, three ounces of hen food.Jeremy Clarkson
"I'm very fortunate that I do have other income streams and newspaper columns, but if you're an ordinary farmer, it's not just the weather," he added. He listed international conflict, taxes and energy costs among the pressures bearing down on farmers, calling them relentless.
Mr Clarkson also said he was looking "quite hard" at opening a second pub after the Farmer's Dog near his farm, but had ruled out doing so in Britain. "It's not going to be in the UK," he said. "Why would anybody set up a business in this country right now?"
The former Top Gear presenter has been a vocal opponent of Labour's changes to inheritance tax on agricultural land and joined farmer protests over what he called the family farms tax. He said he remained optimistic about farming's future, adding: "If you just left us alone, I'm pretty sure the countryside would be a lot better than it is now."
None to date. The Journal corrects errors promptly and transparently. Read our corrections policy.
