Jeremy Clarkson, 65, rips into Keir Starmer over welfare bill U-turn as he slams 'job-saving' controversy: 'He's a Marxist!'

It is understood the welfare changes could have saved £5 billion a year by 2030. However, critics have argued the U-turn could end up being costly.

Clarkson, 65, didn't hold back as he wrote about the controversy, stating: "If he'd roared at his backbenchers and pushed the original bill through, it would have been good for the country.

"But if he squeakily abandoned it, it would save his job. So he did that. Because all the animals are equal etc."

The Grand Tour star fumed: "What annoys me about this whole sorry saga, though, is how this government is so blind to nuance and political nous.

"We saw it first of all with the family farm tax. They could have used a sniper’s rifle to take out the rich bastards they were after. But being thick, potato-faced communists, they used a blunderbuss and hit absolutely everyone.

"And then they did it again with the welfare reform bill." Writing in his column for The Times, the Clarkson's Farm star went on to add: "You and I both know that there are many people in this country with genuine disabilities and very real mental health issues.

"And you and I also know that in a civilised society, these people must be looked after to the very best of our ability.

"But we also know that there are literally millions of people who pretend to have disabilities and mental health issues so they can sit at home all day, using our money to pay for their vulgarsonic television sets.

"So what do you do about that? Well you or I would task a government department to develop a system that would work out who’s for real and who’s scrounging.

"But that’s where the problems start because where, in this day and age, do you find a government employee who thinks like that?"

Taking aim at Starmer himself, Clarkson labelled the Prime Minister "a Marxist".

"Yes, Sir Starmer put on a smart suit and said reasonable things about how the state needed to balance the books," he pointed out.

"Even Tony Blair was taken in. But in order to get any of these sensible policies across the line, he needs the support of the Marxists on his back benches.

"And he doesn’t have that. And deep down, he doesn’t really mind because, let’s not forget, he’s a Marxist too."

Clarkson's comments on the PM follow several of his previous columns, which have taken aim at the government.

Last month, he mocked Starmer's plan to bolster the UK's military capabilities in response to global threats, particularly from Russia.

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In a piece for The Sun, Clarkson shared: "According to Starmer, we'd go from a country that can't even stop a rubber dinghy reaching the shores of Kent to a country that would shake fear into the entire Russian naval machine."

His remarks came in the wake of the government's Strategic Defence Review, which outlined plans to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with aspirations to reach three per cent in the next parliamentary term.