Jeremy Clarkson ‘defies doctors’ orders’ to join thousands of protesting farmers

Jeremy Clarkson says he has defied doctors’ orders by joining thousands of farmers in London to protest against agricultural inheritance tax changes.

The 64-year-old TV presenter, who fronts Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm which documents the trials of farming on his land in Oxfordshire, previously revealed he had been told to cut back on working after a heart operation.

Before the march on Tuesday, Clarkson told The Sun he would continue to support his fellow farmers despite his health issues as he felt it was a “hugely important issue”.

The former Top Gear host told the newspaper: “I will be there, despite having letters from doctors telling me not to go on the march and saying I must avoid stress.

“We have got two coaches of farmers from around here who are leaving from Diddly Squat. It is a hugely important issue.”

Thousands have taken to the streets to protest over the changes in the recent Budget to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.

Addressing a crowd at the march in central London, Clarkson said: “I’m off my tits on codeine and paracetamol up here.”

Last month, the presenter revealed he had undergone a heart procedure after experiencing a “sudden deterioration” in his health which brought on symptoms of being “clammy”, a “tightness” in his chest and “pins and needles” in his left arm.

He said in his Sunday Times column that after being taken to hospital by an ambulance, he had an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests and X-rays among other checks.

Clarkson said one of his arteries was “completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way” and doctors said he was perhaps “days away” from becoming very ill.

He was fitted with stents hours later, which improve blood flow to the heart.

Clarkson later revealed in The Sun he had been told by his doctor that “a lot” of his current work would have to stop, but instead he opted to change his diet.

“If I didn’t work, I’d just sit at home all day, rotting,” he wrote.

“The worst problem though is diet. To cut my alarmingly high levels of cholesterol, I need to cut out, completely, ­everything I like eating.”

He has previously revealed he had to quit smoking after contracting pneumonia on holiday in Spain.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed Clarkson’s Farm, which has attracted huge attention to his Diddly Squat farm shop, had been renewed for a fifth series.

He has opened more businesses including Hawkstone Brewery and a pub in Asthall, near Burford – called The Farmer’s Dog – since the show began in 2021.

Clarkson also presents Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on ITV, and his motoring show with Richard Hammond and James May, The Grand Tour, ended in September.