Jeremy Clarkson clashes with BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire at farmers’ protest

Jeremy Clarkson clashes with BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire at UK farmers’ protest over the inheritance tax proposal. Photo / via BBC Newsnight

Jeremy Clarkson clashed with TV presenter Victoria Derbyshire over the BBC’s coverage of the British government’s inheritance tax raid on farms.

In an interview for BBC Two’s Newsnight programme at the farmers’ protest in Westminster on Tuesday, Derbyshire accused Clarkson of buying a farm to avoid inheritance tax and repeated the government’s line that the changes are needed to fund the NHS and other public services.

After Clarkson said he was attending the rally to support farmers, Derbyshire replied: “So it’s not about you, it’s not about your farm and the fact that you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax?”

Clarkson, who documents his Cotswolds life in the TV series Clarkson’s Farm, told Derbyshire that her line of questioning was “unbelievable” and claimed he had bought the land because he wanted to shoot.

Derbyshire was referring to a November 2021 interview in which Clarkson was asked why he bought the 400ha Diddly Squat farm and was quoted as saying that he did so mainly because there were no death duties on land, adding: “That’s the critical thing.”

“So it’s not about you, it’s not about your farm and the fact you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax?”@vicderbyshire speaks to Jeremy Clarkson at the farmers’ protest in Westminster where thousands of farmers are protesting the government’s inheritance tax plans. pic.twitter.com/9KwoiEbImz

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 19, 2024

Derbyshire told Clarkson that “one of the reasons Rachel Reeves said she brought this in is to stop wealthy people using it as a way of avoiding” inheritance tax.

“No, that was the only reason she did,” said Clarkson.

“No, the other reason is to raise money for public services,” said Derbyshire.

When Clarkson scoffed, Derbyshire asked him: “Have you tried to get a GP appointment lately?” to which he replied: “Yes, I just recently had a heart attack.”

Derbyshire said: “So you know it’s tough. So where should they get the money from if it’s not from farmers?”

Clarkson told her that the Chancellor’s ideas had been formed in “the sixth form debating society that she was no doubt a member of, which formed her opinions and yours”.

Derbyshire replied: “I am not expressing opinions. I am literally asking questions. You know that, Mr Clarkson.”

Clarkson later addressed a crowd of around 10,000 people who had gathered for the protest and referred to his interview with Derbyshire, including her suggestion that very few farms would be hit by the changes.

The former Top Gear presenter then asked farmers in the crowd to raise their hands and then drop them if they believed they would be unaffected, with very few arms falling.

Jeremy Clarkson's 400-hectare Diddly Squat farm features in the TV show Clarkson's Farm. Photo / Supplied

Clarkson said: “Since when was the BBC the mouthpiece of this infernal government?”

Clarkson’s relationship with the BBC ended in 2015 when he was sacked for punching a Top Gear producer. Clarkson was incensed that there was no hot food available at his hotel after a day on location. It was 10pm and the kitchen was closed.

He has since become an outspoken critic of his former employer, saying: “If I ran the BBC it would be better. I would make programmes for everybody, not just seven people in Islington.

“It’s become so up itself, suffocating the life out of everything in its nonsense need to be politically correct.”