Jeremy Clarkson, 65, issues 5-word statement as he sets record straight on ‘editing error’ in Clarkson’s Farm finale
Jeremy Clarkson, 65, has finally addressed why an image of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, popped up in the closing moments of Clarkson’s Farm’s season four finale.
The split-second inclusion in the eighth episode of the latest series has sparked confusion with Amazon viewers across the globe, especially those not clued up on British politics.
As a result, the image has become one of the finale’s most talked-about moments, along with builder Alan Townsend’s health bombshell and Clarkson’s disastrous opening of his pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
Reddit posts, Facebook discussions, and X threads have all been dominated by Clarkson’s Farm fans asking for answers about who the woman was and why the former Top Gear star decided to include it, if it was, indeed, on purpose.
The image appeared as Clarkson reminisced over the “soul-destroying” results of another year in farming, thanks to tumultuous – and very wet – weather conditions.
“Tragically, we were not the only ones to be kicked in the teeth like this,” he began in episode eight’s closing moments. “Just about every farmer in the country was reeling because 2024 had been an absolute monster.
“As I’m always at pains to point out, I don’t rely on my farm for an income. But even so, it’s pretty soul-destroying to work so hard and simply, because of the weather, make a loss.”
Turning his attention to Simon, who operates the combine harvester at Diddly Squat farm, Clarkson continued: “However, I then remembered something Simon had said during one of our woeful harvesting days.”
Simon then said over his walkie-talkie: “The thing you have to learn about being a farmer, Jeremy, is that if you want to preserve a modicum of sanity, you don’t ask questions that you don’t want to know the answers to. Just concentrate on next year’s potential.”
Clarkson’s voiceover then returned over exasperated shots of him and farm manager Kaleb Cooper: “This mantra of stoic optimism is what keeps the farmers going, fighting the odds, rolling with the blows, doing what they do to make food,” he said.
“And it’s a mantra I’d realised I’d have to adopt. You keep going because you believe next year couldn’t possibly be any worse.”
At this point, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, an image of Reeves holding her famous red briefcase appeared, taken moments before she delivered her autumn Budget last October.
The series offered no further explanation as it then cut to Clarkson treating the Diddly Squat team to well-earned lunch following a disastrous opening weekend at his Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
However, Clarkson has now taken to X, formerly Twitter, to offer his own explanation as to why the image of Reeves was included – and he hasn’t held back.
“What kind of subliminal message is this?” one X user quizzed the former Grand Tour host, to which he explained: “She has f***ed the farmers.”
Clarkson was, of course, referring to the amendments to inheritance tax for farmers that Reeves unveiled last autumn following Sir Keir Starmer and Labour’s election victory.
The government unveiled plans to scrap the existing exemption for farmers when it came to inheritance tax, instead implementing a 20 percent hike on farms valued over £1 million.
The change means affected farmers’ children can no longer inherit land tax-free, a policy shift that has sparked protests and concerns about the future of British farming, not least from Clarkson himself.
Clarkson has since accused Reeves and Starmer of using a “machine gun” to hit “traditional farmers” with their policies, and even branded the chancellor as “useless”.
Writing in The Sun last year, Clarkson commented: “I’m becoming more and more convinced that Starmer and Reeves have a sinister plan. They want to carpet bomb our farmland with new towns for immigrants and net-zero windfarms.
“But before they can do that, they have to ethnically cleanse the countryside of farmers.”
He’s consistently urged Labour to U-turn on the measure and just last week, compared the plight of farmers to that of the “miners” under Margaret Thatcher.
His Clarkson’s Farm co-stars Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland backed Clarkson’s criticism, joining him in Westminster last November to protest the plans.
With filming for the fourth season wrapping up at the end of August 2024, the cameras stopped rolling before Reeves’s Budget.
However, filming has continued on the fifth season of the Amazon hit show, which means fans will be able to see the fallout from the government’s decision in the next series.
Clarkson has confirmed the fifth series of Clarkson’s Farm will be the final one, at least for now. The 65-year-old revealed he and the team would be “taking a break” from the show indefinitely once season five has wrapped up.
However, he has left the door open for a possible sixth season, insisting he and the crew would film more episodes if there was a topic worthy of a new batch of episodes.