Jeremy Clarkson, 64, has taken aim at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the UK braces for Labour’s budget next month.
Clarkson is no stranger to publicly criticising Labour ever since Starmer emerged victorious at this year’s election and in recent weeks, the former Top Gear star and many others have been vocal in their opposition to more tax measures coming from Reeves’s desk.
Labour has already faced criticism over the slashing of the Winter Fuel Payment by restricting it to pensioners on pension credit, leaving several of the elderly hundreds of pounds worse off.
Then there’s Reeves’s potential tax raid on pensions which has also prompted savers everywhere to flock to the banks to withdraw their money.
Add to the mix the freebies scandal –which Clarkson has already dismantled – and the fact the UK has even been warned it could face a repeat of the mayhem from Liz Truss’ mini-budget, and it’s no wonder Labour’s critics have been vocal in their dismay.
And the problems only mounted for the government at Labour’s Party conference following hiccups and moments of confusion during some of its most prominent members’ speeches.
Rachel Reeves appeared the the Labour Party conference earlier this month
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Starmer was caught on camera pleading with Hamas to release “sausages” instead of “hostages” and Reeves could only smile and look on when protestors interrupted her address.
Referring to the mishaps in his latest Times column, Clarkson first took aim at Starmer as he ridiculed the “sausages” blunder that has hit headlines across the globe.
“The problem Starmer had of course is that he was using a teleprompter. It almost certainly said ‘hostages’… But when you are using autocue, you’re not really concentrating on what you’re saying,” Clarkson began.
Unable to resist the chance to mock the freebies saga, Clarkson mused: “So you’re standing there, in a suit you don’t own, using spectacles that aren’t yours to read a screen.
Jeremy Clarkson is no stranger to slamming Labour under Starmer
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“But what you’re thinking about is how much you’d like a hot dog. That’s what Starmer was doing and who can blame him? I imagine it’s what most vegetarians think about most of the time.”
Clarkson then continued to delve into why autocues and similar technology was never used when filming BBC’s Top Gear of Amazon Prime Video’s The Grand Tour, insisting he always worked best when rehearsing his lines and rolling with the punches when on-screen.
“Why should it be different for politicians?” he pondered before turning his attention to Reeves. “If you’re the chancellor of the exchequer, you must know what’s wrong with the economy and how you’re going to fix it. It’s your job.
“So why did Rachel Reeves need a prompter at the conference in Liverpool last week?
“I’ll tell you why. Because she’s been told to smile a lot, and you can’t concentrate on that and changes to capital gains tax at the same time.
“It’s one or the other. So we ended up with someone doing talking noises, while grinning so hard her mouth looked like a 1950s Corvette radiator grille.”
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be backing Reeves’s budget next month
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In the end, the Clarkson’s Farm star summarised: “It’s got to stop. Know what you want to say and then say it.
“I don’t care if you’re frowning, sitting down, perched on a bar stool or if you’re wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown.
“Speak from the heart. Use your words, and we will be able to tell — because audiences just can — whether you mean them or not.”
Clarkson’s latest attack on Starmer and the government comes just weeks after he fumed over “what century” the PM lived in after he implemented a new ban to everyday life.