Jeremy Clarkson says government should 'back down' on farmers' inheritance tax as he joins protest

Jeremy Clarkson has told Sky News the government should "back down" and "be big enough" to acknowledge they "made a mistake" by introducing an inheritance tax on some farmers.

The former Top Gear presenter, who previously said one of the main reasons he decided to buy a farm in the Cotswolds was to avoid inheritance tax, joined thousands who gathered in Westminster to protest against the government's decision.

An estimated 13,000 farmers from across the UK braved the frosty weather in central London to call for the scrapping of plans to impose a 20% inheritance tax from April 2026 on farms worth more than £1m.

Since announcing the measure in last month's budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced a backlash from farmers who claim the tax, which is half the usual rate, will destroy family farms and threaten food supply.

In comments made to Sky News presenter Sarah-Jane Mee during Tuesday's protest, 64-year-old Clarkson addressed the government saying: "Back down, back down, you know, if you make a mistake, we all do, and they have, be big enough to say we made a mistake here, and then back down."

Clarkson, who fronts Prime Video's Clarkson's Farm which documents the trials of farming on his land in Oxfordshire, said it was uncertain what would happen if the government did not heed farmers' calls, adding: "The British aren't very good at protesting."

During the protest, crowds held placards which branded Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as 'the farmer harmer", while others read "no farmers, no food, no future".

As anger grows, there continues to be disagreement between the National Farmer's Union and the government over how many farms will actually be impacted by the change.

The Treasury says only the wealthiest estates, around 500 of them, will have to pay under the new rules - claiming 72% of farms will not be impacted.

Appearing before MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Environment Secretary Steve Reed was told there are "a lot more than 500 (farmers) here saying they're going to be affected" and asked whether they were wrong.

He replied: "Well, assuming these projections from HMRC, validated by the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] and IFS [Institute for Fiscal Studies], are correct then many of them, probably happily, are wrong because there are things that they can do to plan their tax affairs as most businesses or asset owners would do to limit their liability.

"The numbers I've heard bandied around are enormous and very, very frightening if people were to believe them."

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He said figures being used by critics were based on Defra data on the value of farms "and then people have drawn a straight line to an inheritance tax liability, but you can't do that, because ownership is much more complex than one person, one farm".

He added: "Of course we want family farming to continue, just as it always has done."

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Meanwhile in Brazil, the prime minister told Sky News's political editor Beth Rigby that his party is "absolutely not" engaged in "a class war" on wealthier people after the changes to inheritance tax and putting VAT on private school fees.

Speaking as he joined world leaders for a G20 meeting in the South American country, Mr Starmer said rather than a class war, his government is taking a "balanced approach" to "fill a black hole" in the public finances.

He said the changes to inheritance tax will only impact a "typical" case with estates worth more than £3m.

The PM then reiterated the rate is still only 20% and payable over 10 years.