JEREMY Clarkson has launched a furious attack on Labour’s inheritance tax stance, claiming he’ll “put his head in the sand” until the next election.
The former Top Gear star joked he’d “make like an ostrich” as he railed against what he called an “absurd tax on the dead”.
Writing in his column for The Times, Clarkson fumed: “That’s my clever plan: hang on till the Labourites have gone.”
The outspoken presenter said he was left grappling with the “unbelievably complicated” business of dying, including how to pass on his wealth.
Clarkson joked he had considered everything from setting up trusts to handing over his fortune early.
He pointed to the seven-year rule on gifts, which can make them tax-free if the giver lives long enough, as one of the hurdles.
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The TV farmer also took a tongue-in-cheek swipe at his closest pals while discussing his will.
He quipped: “You have to leave some people 20p so they don’t think you forgot about them.
“And I have James May to worry about. Obviously, I have to leave him something, but it needs to be something he’d find irritating. One of my cows, for example.
He then joked that Richard Hammond would get all his trousers.
Clarkson’s rant follows Sir Keir Starmer watering down his inheritance tax raid on farmers after months of angry protests.
The PM quietly announced in December last year that the threshold at which the levy applies will rise from £1m to £2.5m.
It will enable spouses to pass on £5m worth of agricultural assets between them before being hit by inheritance tax.
The partial U-turn follows 14 months of enraged protests, led by the Clarkson’s Farm star himself.
Clearly the minor reforms were not enough for Clarkson, who doubled down on his attack and warned the tax could have grim consequences for families across Britain.
He went on to paint a bleak picture of how the tax could even affect his final moments.
Clarkson said that he had a scenario in mind in which he might suffer some kind of medical issue and “become a cabbage.”
He warned that if his family followed his wishes and “pull the plug”, they could be slapped with a “whopping tax bill,” but dodging it might mean keeping him alive.
If they waited until Starmer and Reeves had gone, they would not face that situation, he added.
In a dark joke, he said he may need to rewrite his will to insist life support is kept on until “the Labourites are out of Downing Street”.
Taking a swipe at Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Clarkson said the policy could leave NHS hospitals “full of people on fantastically expensive life support machines” because families can’t afford to let them die.