Discontent has been growing about the budget among some of the wealthiest figures, both sides of the Pond.
Discontent has been growing about the budget among some of the wealthiest figures, both sides of the Pond.
Among the prominent voices from the business and entertainment worlds to express their outrage is James Dyson.
Speaking to the Times, Dyson, one of Britain’s biggest industrialists and Brexit cheerleaders, described Rachel Reeves’ raised taxes on school fees and multimillion-pound estates as “spiteful.”
Dyson owns 36,000 acres of farmland in Somerset and Lincolnshire. He criticised plans to cut agricultural property relief (APR) – a tax benefit designed to assist farmers in passing their land to future generations, but which has increasingly been utilised by the wealthy to sidestep inheritance tax. Labour’s moves to raise inheritance tax on farms and family businesses will be the “death of entrepreneurship” he told the Times.
Dyson isn’t the only ultra-rich figure to speak out about the budget. As the Express keenly reported, Elon Musk shared his thoughts on the budget and criticised Starmer for the changes made to the inheritance tax on UK family farms.
“Many farmers have vented their fury over changes that will impact them when they pass down their farms to future generations,” headlined the Express, citing Musk’s rant that read: “We should leave the farmers alone. We [owe] farmers immense gratitude for making the food on our tables!”
This isn’t the first time Musk has criticised Starmer. During the far-right riots in the summer, the SpaceX boss, called the prime minister “two-tier Keir” and claimed the government would rather punish right-wing groups than counter-protestors in the riots over the summer.
On the budget, Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear host and now a prominent voice in agricultural matters, has also weighed in. With an estimated fortune of £55 million, Clarkson insisted that British farmers have been “shafted” by the recent budget but urged them to remain hopeful.
Clarkson continued that the Labour government is “turning out to be hopeless,” adding, “I’d rather vote for my dog than Sir Starmer’s merry bunch of ideological nincompoops.”
Responding to the concerns, a Downing Street spokeswoman said the government was committed to supporting farmers, and that only a quarter of estates were expected to be affected by the changes.
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