‘I’m not your mate, I feel you are an fool’: Farmer blasts ‘woke liberal elite’ James O’Brien in livid phone-in row over inheritance tax
An angry farmer has blasted LBC host James O’Brien labelling him a ‘woke liberal elite’ and a ‘townie’ who knows ‘nothing about farming’.
The furious rant comes as thousands of farmers and their supporters descended on London today for a mass protest against Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ Budget plan to limit the existing 100 per cent inheritance tax relief on farms to only the first £1million.
She says it will only affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year but experts from the NFU say it will be up to 70,000 farms.
Among the protestors was Jeremy Clarkson who challenged the Government to ‘back down’ over its ‘cocked up’ inheritance tax (IHT) raid but Sir Keir Starmer insisted the ‘vast majority’ of farms will be unaffected.
The 64-year-old, who is recovering from a life-saving heart operation, attended the event alongside his Clarkson’s Farm co-stars Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland, theatre legend Andrew Lloyd-Webber and dozens of MPs including Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage.
Farmers also took to the airwaves to vent their frustration and one caller on LBC took aim at host Mr O’Brien.
The caller named Charlie questioned how farmers will be able to afford to pay inheritance tax when they ‘only make £30k a year’ with Mr O’Brien then asking him to ‘crunch the numbers’.
After breaking down the figures, Charlie launched into an verbal attack on Mr O’Brien calling him the ‘the rudest person on the radio’.
Farmers arriving at Westminster in their tractors for today’s protest against Labour’s inheritance tax grab
Attendees at the mass rally carried a banner reading ‘stop killing the people who feed you’
Farmers also took to the airwaves to vent their frustration and one caller on LBC took aim at host James O’Brien
Mr O’Brien told the farmer that one solution would be to sell assets such as land to help afford the tax.
However, Charlie furiously responded by saying: ‘Because we don’t want to concrete over the land, I know you’re townie. I know you are happy in your liberal elite world of London.
‘But for us, the countryside is the countryside. It is where our food comes from. You have seemed to forgotten that James!’
Trying to interject, Mr O’Brien said ‘okay mate’ which caused Charlie quickly hit back saying ‘I am not your mate. I hate you. I think you’re an idiot. I think you’re a lefty liberal woke idiot.’
‘Let’s tarmac the the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, let’s tarmac them. Yeah get some solar farms on there, why not James?,’ he continued.
‘Hey James, you like immigrants, you probably want to see some homes there as well, don’t you?
‘When was the last time you went to a farm?’
Mr O’Brie told him that he grew up in a working farm stating he ‘probably should have mentioned that sooner’.
Mr O’Brien was labelled ‘the rudest person on the radio’ by the caller named Charlie
Earlier, Mr Clarkson – who runs Diddly Squat farm in Chipping Norton – accused Rachel Reeves of using a ‘blunderbuss’ to hit the agricultural sector
Andrew Lloyd Webber speaking to an interview at today’s farmers’ protest
Vast crowds gather to watch Clarkson and other supporters give speeches
Farmers braved the grim weather to turn out in numbers
Charlie asked: ‘So what, your dad was a farmer?’
‘No I’ve explained several times. Do you listen to this programme?’, Mr O’Brien asked.
In response, Charlie said: ‘No I don’t. I can’t stand you. I think you’re an idiot’
Mr O’Brien then asked how can he have ‘such strong views’ about him without being a regular listener.
‘Because the few times I have listened to you, I heard how you speak to people. You talk over them and cut them off like you’ve done to me,’ Charlie replied.
Charlie finished his tirade saying: ‘You know nothing James, stick in your London liberal leftie wokeism. You know nothing about farming. Nothing.’
Farmers and their supporters from as far away as Northumberland made their way to the centre of the rainy capital this morning, with many arriving in large coaches wearing tweed jackets.
The Metropolitan Police estimated 13,000 people attended Tuesday’s protest in central London, which called on the Government to scrap those changes announced in the Chancellor’s Budget last month.
Vast crowds gathering in Whitehall to express their opposition to Labour’s policy
Farmers have vowed to continue the protests until Sir Keir agrees to ditch the policy
A man holding a sign saying: ‘Labour hate labourers #BackBritishFarmers’
Rachel Reeves was also referenced on signs, with one placard showing the Chancellor photoshopped as a grim reaper next to two cows in a field with the caption: ‘Rachel reaper killing feeders.’
The bulk of the protest was stationary, with people gathered on Whitehall listening to speeches – including one by Clarkson who last month underwent a heart procedure and told the crowd on Tuesday: ‘I’m off my t*** on codeine and paracetamol up here.’
Farmers faced costs, pressure from environmentalists and regulations, and ‘we have all these complications and costs, and there’s very little money in it as you know – and then we got the Budget’, he said, to boos from the crowd.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) held a mass lobby of MPs with 1,800 of its members – three times as many people as originally planned – to urge backbenchers to stand up to the Government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.
In an emotional speech, NFU president Tom Bradshaw accused ministers of a ‘stab in the back’.
Addressing NFU members at Church House in Westminster before a mass lobby with MPs he said: ‘We know the horrendous pressure it is putting on the older generation of farmers who have given everything to providing food for this country.
‘We know that any tax revenue will be taken from our children and raised from those that die in tragic circumstances, all within the next seven years.’
It follows an extraordinary intervention from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who last night accused Sir Keir administration of ‘going full Stalin’ against British farmers.
National Farmers’ Union (NFU) leader Tom Bradshaw delivered an emotional address
Today’s protest is the biggest yet against the new Labour government
Downing Street has refused to be drawn on Elon Musk’s comments on X that Britain is ‘going full Stalin’ in its approach to farmers
The Prime Minister has said that he understands changes to inheritance tax are ‘causing concern’ for farmers but insisted ‘the vast majority of farms’ will not be affected.
Speaking at the G20 summit in Brazil on Monday, he said: ‘On the question inheritance tax, look I do understand that it’s causing concern.
‘But if you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3 million before any inheritance tax is paid.’
‘And that’s why I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.’
The protests come after tax changes announced in the budget mean from April 2026 farmers will have pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1million – although this rises to £3million if farmers take advantage of additional tax relief measures.
In response to calls for Rachel Reeves to meet farmers, Downing Street insisted the Treasury had been in contact with them about the inheritance tax changes.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: ‘As I understand, the Treasury has had engagement with the NFU. Meetings are otherwise for the Chancellor and her team to set out.
‘For the PM’s part, he met with the NFU, I think, in Downing Street in his early weeks in office and regularly engages with all sectors.’
Today, Downing Street insisted changes to inheritance tax are ‘balanced and proportionate,’ as it urged ‘caution’ around ‘calculations that are done based on the value of assets alone’.
