Clarkson backs farm red tape campaign

CELEBRITY farmer Jeremy Clarkson has called on Prime Minister Liz Truss to slash the volume of red tape farmer’s face.

The host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and who has his own ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ programme signed a joint letter alongside thousands of farmers and rural dwellers which said: “For years the bureaucratic bulldozer has been trampling over the countryside, infuriating millions of us. It has cost jobs and created misery. Downing Street has to put it into reverse gear if it wants the support of rural voters.”

The letter, which was also signed by cricketers Ian Botham, David Gower and Allan Lamb, goes on to state they are happy with ‘big targets’ which aim to ensure ‘that the streams in our valleys are crystal clear and our uplands carpeted with heather’.

Highlighting the flexibility of farmers the letter states: “If you want more food in the shops, we will do it. More hedges – consider it done. More buzzards? Great – we will lean on anyone in our community who takes them out.

“But we are sick of the mountains of regulations which seek to micromanage every acre.”

The letter goes on to warn the government that the ‘political landscape is shifting’, with rural votes likely to be ‘vital’ in the next general election.

“We will no longer passively watch officials seeking to appease the insatiable demands of a few selfrighteous campaigners,” read the letter. “There are more of us and we are more determined.”

The letters concludes: “If anyone tries to ignore us, we will pursue them like hungry German Shepherds let off-leash during lambing season.”