Clarkson's Farm's Charlie Ireland fumes Labour tax raid is 'worst crisis seen in farming' as he makes worrying prediction

Another protest took place in the capital earlier this month as farmers from across the country urged Sir Keir Starmer and co to reverse the decision.

The measures mean that farmers with over £1 million worth of assets with face a 20 percent inheritance tax hike from April 2025 after previously being exempt.

The Treasury has insisted that very few farms will be affected by the measures, with a figure as little as 500 being touted by the government. However, that figure is widely disputed by prominent figures in the agricultural community.

Ireland happens to be one such vocal opponent to the government's plans, claiming that the tax raid poses the most "seismic" challenge farmers have faced in his lifetime.

He explained all in a new column for the Sunday Times where he revealed the farming consultancy he works at away from Clarkson's Diddly Squat predicts more than half of all farms will feel the impact of the levy.

Ireland has even claimed that as many as "a third of them could eventually go under" as he explained: "It’s the most seismic thing to hit British farming in the quarter century I’ve been in business — potentially worse than the war in Ukraine or foot-and-mouth or avian flu or Covid.

"It’s not just landowners who will be hit. Every £1 spent by farmers is worth £7 to the rural economy because of the economic multiplier effect.

"So seed merchants, tractor mechanics, haulage companies, fertiliser suppliers — a whole raft of people — depend on small and medium-size farms."

Ireland is already seeing the impact Reeves' Budget is having on the agricultural community as some farmers seek to sell.

Recalling one incident he's witnessed himself, Ireland said a dairy farmer he knows is emigrating his entire family to New Zealand.

"They’ve been making stilton for generations," Ireland said of the farmer in question. "The Budget means they’d have to get rid of part of the herd to pay inheritance tax."

Ireland's column, which has been given the headline "Labour’s tax raid is the worst crisis I’ve seen in farming", also includes his strongly-worded assessment of Starmer's modern-day Labour Party.

"It’s farmers like this who’ll come off worst and it seems ironic as Labour is meant to look after the little guy," he surmised.

"The government talks of growth and investment and at the same time it’s making sure farmers have less to invest after tax. In fact, they may have less than nothing."

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Ireland's worrying prediction comes just weeks after Clarkson - who'd earlier been embroiled in a fiery war of words with the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire - took to the stage at November's farmers' protest to address those in attendance.

Clarkson urged Starmer to "back down" on the proposals when speaking to Sky News, saying: "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."

Elsewhere, co-star Cooper has been publicly voicing his similar stance, sending a clear message over the second farmers' protest that took place this month on social media.

All three men will return to screens in a fourth season of Clarkson's Farm next year in which the ongoing saga surrounding the inheritance tax raid will undoubtedly feature.