Jeremy Clarkson lays into Keir Starmer and says how he’d fix economy | Politics | News
Jeremy Clarkson has branded Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “thick” in a scathing rant during which he also took a swipe at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. And he also set out his blueprint for fixing Britain’s economy by stripping back red tape and keeping taxes low to encourage businesses to thrive.
The former Top Gear host did not hold back in a column penned for The Sun in the wake of the Conservative Party conference, lamenting what he saw as the unnecessary obsession with one issue: immigration. He explained: “On one side, you have the Labourites, who wave their Palestinian flags around and want to throw our borders open to everyone. Starmer has no clue what to do about the economy because heโs thick… thatโs why heโs broken it.” Of the Reform UK leader he added: “Farage rarely talks about the economy and when he does, his numbers donโt add up. He says he wants to cut taxes and increase spending by ยฃ150billion. Huh?”
But before anyone has the chance to question his logic, he scuttles back to his safe space and starts raging about small boats. Starmer, meanwhile, has no clue what to do about the economy because heโs thick. Thatโs why heโs broken it.
The increasingly combative tone of the debate was reflected on social media, which Mr Clarkson suggested “has become a seething cauldron of venomous hate” and “a worry, if Iโm honest”.
Turning his attention to the Tories’ annual gathering in Manchester, Mr Clarkson continued: “I was expecting the speakers to bang on about immigration because that is all anyoneโs talking about these days.
“But no. A man called Mel Stride (me neither) boinged on to the dais and started banging on about drive, ambition and decency.”
The Shadow Chancellor impressed Mr Clarkson by focusing on the need to jump-start business, the importance of wealth creration, and with his pledge to cover the cost of abolishing business rates for shops and pubs on the high street by slashing ยฃ47billion of spending.
Mr Clarkson acknowledged: “I was so amazed by the common sense, I had to be brought round with smelling salts.
“The fact is that nothing in this country will work if the economy isnโt booming, and it wonโt boom if we have a government that stifles it with rules and taxes.”
Mr Clarkson continued: “Britain needs to be the easiest and the cheapest country in the world to start a business.
“And anyone who tries should be encouraged and nurtured.
“Because if they make it a success, they create jobs and people get paid and they spend their wages on things, and the sun comes out and everyoneโs happy.
“For maybe ten years, no political party has understood this.
“But now, thereโs a glimmer of hope that one of them has finally got the message.”
