Labour needs to bring down food prices by backing farmers – and stop focusing on benefits, says Clarkson

Labour needs to bring down food prices by backing farmers – and stop focusing on benefits, says Clarkson

JEREMY Clarkson says Labour can bring down food prices by backing farmers – rather than focusing on benefits for “scratchcard enthusiasts”.

The Clarkson’s Farm star, 66, slammed Rachel Reeves‘ suggestion of introducing price caps on everyday items such as eggs, bread and milk.

The ideas proposed by the Treasury would see supermarkets forced to put a cap on prices to curb rising costs caused by the Iran war.

But the proposals, which have reportedly been discussed with shop bosses, have been met with criticism from food suppliers.

And the ex-Top Gear host slammed the “thick and arrogant” government for forcing farmers to “sell everything at a loss”.

Speaking about his own farm, Clarkson said he would already stand to lose £70,000 if he planted crops across his 500 farmable acres.
And that is without the potential of price caps being introduced on everyday grocery items.

The Who Wants to be a Millionaire host suggested Labour could instead address the cost-of-living crisis by reducing the spiralling welfare bill.

He accused the party of pandering to “scratchcard enthusiasts”, as the number of Universal Credit claimants hits an all-time high of 8.3million.

Writing in The Times, he said: “The absolute fundamental fact is that there must be affordable food on the shelves.

“But apart from a small concession on the price of red diesel, they won’t use taxpayer cash to achieve this…

“That means spending the money on what they think is more important. Which is benefits for scratchcard enthusiasts.”

Nearly four million Brits, a record high, are now claiming Personal Independence Payment, or PIP.

Youngsters account for 430,052 of those claims – a figure that has doubled in the last seven years.

We recently laid bare Britain’s ticking welfare timebomb, with more than one million youngsters out of work.

Business leaders have blamed Labour’s tax rises for slamming the door shut on a generation.

The government’s work tsar Alan Milburn yesterday warned the UK faces an “economic catastrophe” over out-of-work youngsters.

He said hundreds of thousands of people not in education or working could lead to a whole generation being “written off”.

The Milburn Review, launched last December, looks into the rising number of youths classed as Neets – not in education, employment or training.

The Tony Blair Institute said without action, spending on working-age health and disability benefits will hit £73billion by the end of the decade.

Among measures the organisation suggests are automatically halting claims made for mild depression and anxiety.

Labour attempted to cut the benefits bill last July but were forced to abandon plans after a rebellion from mutinous MPs.

Polling from YouGov, commissioned by the think-tank, showed nearly half of people believe that too many conditions are listed as work-limiting.

In Scotland, retailers have condemned a similar policy of introducing price caps by the SNP as a “1970s-style” gimmick.

But the UK government’s policy differs as any proposed cap would be voluntary, it is understood.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “The Chancellor has been clear we want to do more to help keep costs down for families and will set out more detail in due course.”