Top Gear presenter-turned-farmer Jeremy Clarkson has some strong words on the current political climate among UK farmers.
Here’s some background on how Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has tried to destroy his country’s farmers:
The Labour Party has always been keener on the city than the countryside.
Even so, Sir Keir Starmer’s multi-pronged assault on rural life since he won the general election last year has surpassed even the most pessimistic predictions.
From trail hunting to inheritance tax to animal-rearing regulations, the Government has repeatedly introduced legislation that strikes at the heart of life in the countryside. At the same time, they have failed to offer badly-needed support in the way of the improvements to roads, railways, broadband and other infrastructure that it so desperately needs. Between this and a drought-afflicted summer, many farmers are feeling despair.
On Monday, Labour followed up on a manifesto promise and announced plans to outlaw trail hunting, in which hounds “hunt” an animal-based scent trail rather than a real fox with horse riders and walkers following the pack.
Critics say trail hunting is a “smokescreen” for many cases in which a real animal is killed, and that the high burden of proof under existing legislation means convictions are vanishingly rare. But the hunts vehemently deny this and many people living outside of Britain’s cities say Labour’s move is an attack on their way of life.
Bit on fox hunting snipped.
“People who are working and earning a living off the land, farming in all weathers, feel entirely forgotten about,” says George Wade, a farmer from Shaftesbury and chairman of the Portman Hunt. “Hunting is the glue that keeps rural life together, in the darkest months, and our countryside is shaped by these activities that have gone on for centuries.
“On top of the urban/rural divide, there is a real disconnect between people who earn a living from the land and those who live in ‘the countryside’ and have no real relationship with what goes on with its management. The Government certainly has no idea and is just serving up the politics of spite and envy.”
As part of the animal welfare reforms, the Government also announced plans to outlaw hen cages and pig farrowing crates, which some farmers fear could lead to food shortages. Although “battery” farming was outlawed in 2012, an estimated 21 per cent of hens in the UK are still kept in larger “colony” cages of up to 90 birds. Farrowing crates, meanwhile, are designed to stop pigs rolling and crushing their young but mean the mothers cannot turn over or move around. Critics say these are both cruel practices; others argue they are vital for keeping food affordable.
“I think the hunting ban is wrong,” says Richard Morris, 62, who farms free-range hens for eggs outside Market Harborough. “But what’s more worrying is the ban on farrowing crates and colony cages. That seems quite concerning based on the availability of food. The supermarkets were [banning cages] anyhow, but they’d gone back on that because there is a certain proportion of the population that struggles to feed itself. And colony-produced eggs do satisfy that demand.”
Adding to the sense of injustice is that foreign producers (including those in Europe) are not being held to the same standards, meaning that British farmers could lose out to competitors from Poland, for instance, where large numbers of hens are raised in colony cages. Britain currently produces around 88 per cent of its own eggs. As with Australian beef, British farmers now fear being undercut in British supermarkets.
“It’s a Government of liars,” says Morris. “I think they’ve lost all credibility with the working public. You’ve got to point finger at the Conservatives for a lot of this. They lost their way and ended up with a record Labour win. But we’ve got five years of pain, and we’re halfway through it.”
The new measures come less than a month after the outpouring of rural fury on November 26, when thousands of farmers defied a last-minute police ban and drove their tractors to Westminster ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Budget, leading to several arrests.
Last year, Reeves used her first Budget to remove long-standing inheritance tax (IHT) exemptions for farm estates over £1m, starting from April 2026. Farmers, who might be asset-rich but often live right on the margins of profitability, reacted with bewilderment. Almost a third of British farms do not make money, with many unable to generate enough income to support a household, according to a recent Government-commissioned review headed by the former head of The National Farmers’ Union (NFU). The threat of inheritance tax also disincentivizes farmers from making large capital investments that could affect what their children have to pay.
“I detest this Government with every fibre of my being for what they’re doing to the farming community,” one farmer from Shropshire told The Telegraph at the protests.
“Before Keir Starmer was elected he lied and said farmers deserve better. Then [Labour] got into office and went back on their word. There was no inkling this was going to happen.”
Well, no inkling except that it was the Labour Party making these promises.
In December, Starmer even admitted he was aware that some farmers were considering suicide over the proposed changes. But to no avail. There is every sign that Labour is intending to push through with its reforms despite the obvious strength of opposition.
Just as with the rest of the world, the most salient feature of UK’s Labour Party is its obvious contempt for people who perform actual labor…