Elon Musk is already fairly busy with his America PAC ahead of the US presidential election - awarding daily cash prizes to Americans in exchange for signing a petition, which has raised questions over its legality - but he seemingly has time to attack Rachel Reeves and her first Budget over what it means for UK farmers.
Alongside increases in the national living wage, carer’s allowance and employers’ national insurance contributions, the chancellor of the Exchequer’s first Labour Budget included inheritance tax reforms which will see a 50 per cent relief – at an effective rate of 20 per cent – applied to assets over £1 million.
It’s already been dubbed a “tractor tax”, with Clarkson’s Farm host Jeremy Clarkson saying on X/Twitter that farmers have been “shafted” by the Budget, and TV property expert Kirstie Allsopp claiming Reeves has “f***ed all farmers”.
The Location, Location, Location star added: “She has destroyed their ability to pass farms on to their children, and broken the future of all our great estates, it is an appalling decision which shows the government has ZERO understanding of what matters to rural voters.”
Now Musk, who has already criticised Sir Keir Starmer over his approach to crime by claiming “civil war” in the UK was “inevitable”, has now voiced his frustration over the government’s new measures for farmers.
Responding to a post from Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek, in which she slammed the “communist regime” of Starmer, the X owner wrote: “We should leave the farmers alone.
“We farmers [sic] immense gratitude for making the food on our tables!”
Except many Brits are questioning why we should pay any attention to the opinions of an individual from an entirely different country:
Musk has long talked about the efficiency of government on both sides of the Atlantic, pitching himself as the head of a “department for government efficiency” (yes, ‘DOGE’) under a potential second Trump presidency.
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