Jeremy Clarkson’s pal urges Andy Burnham to scrap family farm tax as he blasts ‘clueless’ Whitehall officials
ANDY Burnham has been urged to reverse the family farms tax and ignore out-of-touch civil servants who are “clueless” about rural life.
A top farmer and Jeremy Clarkson pal has slammed urban Whitehall pen-pushers for unleashing an inheritance raid that will backfire into higher food costs
Andy Burnham has been urged to scrap the family farm tax and stop listening to ‘clueless’ civil servants who know little about rural life
Jeremy Clarkson’s farmer pal, Olly Harrison, has slammed urban Whitehall pen-pushers for unleashing an inheritance tax raid that will backfire into higher food costs
Olly Harrison told The Sun: “They’ve gone to university, they’ve studied Politics, and now they work in London, and they’ve never stepped foot on a farm or have an understanding of where the food comes from or what motivates an industry.”
Mr Harrison is also a high-profile social media personality, who promotes the countryside on his Olly Blogs YouTube channel which has 150,000 subscribers British farms were exempt from inheritance tax until ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves said they would be subject to a 20 per cent levy on land and assets worth £1million.
But a major backlash from rural Britain led to the threshold being raised to £2.5million in December 2025 or £5million for married couples.
The 45-year-old, from Merseyside added: “At the moment, I think a lot of it’s to do with the civil servants.
“It doesn’t matter who it is that is the frontman of the band doing the singing.
“It’s the people in the back that write their words, isn’t it? That seems to be the problem.
He added: “They don’t understand that it can be a 12-to-24-month process to produce food on our own shores.”
The PM is under increasing pressure to scrap the family farm tax altogether to rebuild relations with the countryside.
Close-ally of Burnham David Blunkett also called the tax raid “a mistake” and urged the Prime Minister to use his position and listen to rural people more.
