Jeremy Clarkson is damaging farmers

[Pippyls67]

He should butt out of the inheritance tax debacle. As Victoria Derbyshire reminded him during the London protests, he admitted in news print, when he bought his farm it was to dodge inheritance tax. Now he’s jumping in the back of farmers who probably won’t in actual fact pay very much ( smaller farms than his) for his own mercenary agenda. Farmers need to distance themselves from him and ban him from public events. He’s muddying their message and making them look bad by association. Ps I understand farmers need their farms intact to pass on but tbh we all need to pass on our wealth. I run a business and it’ll be screwed by inheritance tax to some extent. I don’t like it but you have to get on with it. That’s just the way of things isn’t it. Gotta pay for the NHS, schools and essential services from somewhere. Farms will need to sell assets I get it. Yes the largest farms will shrink in size but you just have to diversify to make up the difference if you want the same level of income. That’s what we do in business. Also it will make (potentially) land available for incomers to the industry. Lack of new blood and chances to enter farming have been an issue for many years. This is partly a consequence of even the largest farms being ‘handed down’ intact.

This.

Plus the whole tone of the op shows that you have very little understanding of the situation or the potential ramifications.

Farmers voted in line with the rest of the population re. brexit.

The fact any voted for Brexit given what they stood to lose, is sad.

One weird thing, throw them off the scent, about the interview was JC was forced to resign from the BBC in 2016 for punching a junior producer and calling him a lazy, Irish cunt. By 2021 when he justified his farm purchase for inheritance tax he was long gone from the BBC and Grand Tour was already recommissioned by Amazon. He could easily have said Shooting or bear baiting or pole dancing without being under contract or connected to the BBC.
I suspect what he wanted to say was 'thats such a girl question' and swerved it at the last moment.

Attacking the question, as Clarkson did when Victoria Derbyshire asked him about having purchased his farm to avoid inheritance tax, is a classic technique for not answering. You attack the very premise of the question, therefore suggesting it is an unworthy / invalid / null question and the end result is that you don't answer it. My ex-husband did it all the time. The point or line of questioning is lost altogether because you are now justifying your actual question and the person you wanted the answer from has sent you off chasing flying monkeys.

It is reported that Amazon paid Clarkson £200 million for the 3 series deal he agreed to for Clarkson's Farm TV show. He didn't do it as a public service.

Why on earth would he do it as a public service?

Something like a third of all pensioners (about 4m) come into the "fuel poverty" bracket. The majority are not eligible for pension credit.

The common problem is for those who have tried to save a bit and put money into small top up pensions which bring in a few pounds a week which conveniently puts them over the threshold for pension credit so they continue to live in fuel poverty. For them the WFA removal means real hardship. MN loves to bash pensioners but only a small minority actually fit the stereotype of "rich boomer/greatests".

@derxa he wouldn't. However, some posters seem to think that his programme was a campaign on behalf of farmers in some way. I'm making it clear that it was an exceedingly well-remunerated money making venture.

What’s that got to do with the point I made about WW2 veterans?
Don't change the subject and pretend it invalidates my point.
As it happens, I think the cut off should be a lot higher - where tax starts to be paid on income for eg. Suggesting Starmer is attacking WW2 veterans is stupid and designed to discredit the government.

Ive never once read posts that assert Clarkson made programs on behalf of farmers. Anyone who knows anything about him would know he is self serving. But he could never have predicted the reaction his programs would get. DH (not a farmer and not a fan of jc) and I (a farmer and not a great fan of jc) watched the first series and really enjoyed it. It was very entertaining and showed some of the absurdities in farming. Farming has never had so much publicity and that’s partly due to him.

"People don't see him as a farmer, but frankly I think he's doing best as he can. " from a poster early on @derxa

There are a number of posters who refer to him raising awareness as a purpose, rather than a byproduct of his hugely profitable tv venture.

I'm not saying that the programme hasn't raised some issues faced by farmers, or with local authority planning and so on, but these are a happy coincidence. Anyhow, we are basically agreeing that he is a self serving populist, so that's fine by me .

I hope they see sense, and thank you @notanothernamechange24 for all your helpful posts.

I’m not responsible for others views. Like it or not he’s one of us now. I know many farmers and am one now. They are all as different as people in the general population. I didn’t know there was a requirement to be a saint. One quality he does have is the ability to converse and work with many different types of people.

I'm addressing your point here:

they’ll likely be on pension credit if they have no other income than the pension (it’s linked to pension changes)

Its simply not true that pensioners of any age will likely be on pension credit in this situation. Its misleading and feeds into the line that actually poor pensioners will keep the WFA which is not true.

I disagree with the 'One quality he does have is the ability to converse and work with many different types of people.'
If you watch closely he talks at people or stands aside letting them dig their own hole. All exchanges are quite tightly scripted, resolved to push the narrative on.
He absolutely doesn't work in a loose reality way.
His production company and the crew on shows is drawn from a very small demographic.

Give his sacking for hitting a member of staff and being racially abusive, I wouldn’t say he was an example of being able to get on with all backgrounds!

That stands for every Brexit voter though.
Some fell for the lies more than others.

I believe he was drunk and he was quite rightly sacked.

Likewise.

I know rich farmers and poor farmers. Regardless it is a grindingly hard profession.

I think the Government thought the IH on farms would be the crowd pleaser like VAT on school fees.

I’ve said I think the cut off is too low. But if you are on the old pension and have no other income you will be on pension credit.

Not really. It's reminiscent of the Welsh who voted for Brexit when they benefited greatly from EU funding and programmes.

Im well aware it’s scripted reality. So what. I enjoyed his shows. You cannot fake the friendship he has with Kaleb.

I agree. And I have farmers in my family. For those with smaller farms it is a lifestyle choice. They could sell up and buy a more profitable business.

You are not racially abusive when drunk unless you already think racist thoughts.

I don’t condone racism either. Did you think I did? Anyway I’m not having a to and fro about it.