Jeremy Clarkson at Tory conference: ‘Why would anybody set up a business in this country?’
Jeremy Clarkson hit out at the Labour government over its decision in 2024 to impose higher inheritance taxes on farming land two days before Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to call for a cut.
Clarkson said government officials failed to understand the impact of changes facing family farms as some owners had to sell land.
Speaking on stage at the Conservative Party conference, the Diddly Squat farm owner said a decision to cap the 100 per cent agricultural property relief for inheritance tax at land and business assets totalling £1m. A government U-turn in late 2025 then led Labour ministers to raise the threshold to £2.5m.
“I think they didn’t understand it when they introduced it,” Clarkson said. “With a farm it’s completely different because you’d have to sell a bit of it, making it even less profitable, or you’d sell the whole lot.”
“It makes perfect sense for the way the countryside looks and our food supply system for farmers to pass it on to the only people who know how to do it, which is your kids.”
Reflecting on the challenges facing the farming sector, the former Top Gear start said: “Not every farmer has a quiz show to host on ITV, I think that’s the essence of it. If you’re an ordinary farmer, this is not just the weather, the attacks come from everywhere.”
Clarkson also revealed his “dream” of opening another pub outside the UK. “Why would anybody set up a business in this country right now?” he asked on stage, adding: “I’ll see if I can do it abroad somewhere. I probably won’t, but I’m dreaming of it.”
His intervention comes ahead of the leader’s speech on Wednesday where Badenoch is expected to state her intention to cut inheritance taxes.
On the weekend, the Tory leader said inheritance taxes were “immoral”.
Badenoch’s possible tax announcement
The expected announcement, first reported in The Mail On Sunday and followed up elsewhere, could be a flagship announcement in Wednesday’s speech.
Inheritance tax of 40 per cent is levied on all estates with property worth more than £500,000. A couple can combine their allowances to pass on up to £1 million to their children.
The thresholds have been frozen for several years, dragging several more families into tax bands.
The Tories have so far announced spending cuts across welfare, aid and other areas worth more than £47bn. The party has allocated about half of the savings on tax cuts and the other half towards paying down the level of government debt.
Top shadow frontbenchers have insisted that the government would not make tax cuts until savings have been identified.
A party spokesman said rumours around an inheritance tax cut was “pure speculation”.
During his interview with the shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins, Clarkson also said regulations on farmers had cost businesses.
“I think if there were far fewer rules and regulations, yes there would be bad apples, there would be farmers I’m sure of it who would use DDT [a synthetic insecticide] or whatever, quietly do things which were reprehensible,” Clarkson said.
“But the vast majority, I don’t think they would. The farmers I know – they want to protect their farms because they want to hand them onto their children.”