Jeremy Clarkson was criticized for saying he bought his own farm as an inheritance tax dodge more than a decade ago, but the petrol head-turned-TV farming champion is now changing the story.
In 2009, Clarkson, whose farm Diddly Squat is the location and subject of Main Video global hit show Clarkson’s farmwrote in a newspaper column, “Land is a better investment than any bank can offer. The government doesn’t get my money when I die.
After a week in which Clarkson marched with other farmers in protest at the government’s proposed plan to hit farmers with inheritance tax, he now says it wasn’t the real reason for his purchase. .
In an interview with The Times of London, the presenter shared: “I never admitted why I actually bought it… I wanted to have a shoot – I was naive. I just thought it would be better to PR story when I say I bought it to avoid paying tax.
Clarkson has proved a passionate advocate for his new mountain farming community, saying government figures do not understand the burden on farmers across the UK. However, he rejected the idea, raised by many, that he should go into politics to represent his adopted group: “I am a terrible political leader, hopeless. I am a journalist at heart, more I’d rather throw stones at people than have them throw stones at me.