Jeremy Clarkson reignites feud with Green Party leader in blistering tax attack: ‘Snaggletoothed vegan!’

The former Top Gear host claimed that Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Jeremy Corbyn and “that snaggletoothed vegan from the Green Party” all share a worldview that treats taxpayers as a bottomless source of cash for those who refuse to work.

Mr Clarkson argued young people are being encouraged to abandon hard work altogether, saying social media is now “full of pink-haired activists chanting ‘tax the rich’”, with many believing that confiscating the wealth of celebrities could somehow fund luxury lifestyles for welfare claimants.

Reflecting on his own early career under Margaret Thatcher, Mr Clarkson said entrepreneurial ambition was once encouraged rather than squeezed.

He recalled receiving a £2,800 council grant to launch his motoring journalism career, something he claims would now only be handed out “if you promised never to do a day’s work in your life".

According to Mr Clarkson, Labour’s tax policies would leave modern young people wondering why they should bother setting up a business if success only leads to punitive taxes.

He went on to accuse Ms Reeves of wanting to “put entrepreneurs in a vice and squeeze them so hard they burst".

The column then shifted to Mr Clarkson’s recent trip to Costa Rica, where he found himself surrounded by an idyllic community of young surfers living minimalist, eco-friendly lives.

While initially sceptical, Mr Clarkson admitted he grew increasingly drawn to their slow-paced lifestyle of growing vegetables, tending dogs and surfing until sunset.

His children, Mr Clarkson said, even considered staying there permanently, a decision he suggested was understandable given what he sees as Britain’s increasingly anti-growth environment.

Mr Clarkson revisited the Mr Polanski feud later in the piece, mocking the Green politician’s advocacy for “living small”.

After describing Costa Rica’s relaxed, ultra-minimalist routines of watching whales, surfing and picking up litter on the beach, he wrote: “I bet that if that weird Polanski man is reading this, he’ll be experiencing some activity in his trousers.”

But the columnist ultimately rejected the eco-minimalist fantasy, arguing even the most anti-capitalist paradise still relies on people working extremely hard elsewhere.

Surfboards, quad bikes, iPhones, tattoo ink and flights all require industry, energy and labour, and none of that, Mr Clarkson noted, comes from “growing a few cucumbers".

“The only reason anyone can enjoy a couple of weeks in this paradise,” he concluded, “is by working bloody hard all year so they can afford the air fare".

This is not the first time Mr Clarkson and Mr Polanski have clashed.

In October, Mr Polanski was the subject of another column by Mr Clarkson in The Sunday Times, in which Mr Clarkson made a series of personal jibes about his appearance.

“I’m greatly amused by Zack Polanski, who is the newly elected leader of the Green Party,” the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host wrote.

“He is constantly banging on about how he’s going to sort out the country, and I just sit there thinking, ‘Mate, you can’t even sort out your own teeth.’ Honestly, it looks like he takes a picture of Shane MacGowan to the dentist.”

Mr Clarkson went on to criticise Polanski’s proposed policy to impose a higher tax rate on billionaires, repeatedly referring to the Greens’ leader as “Captain Teeth”.

The 42-year-old Green Party chief, who has overseen an 80% surge in membership since taking charge last month, later took to Instagram to respond directly.

“I’ve got lots of things to say about Jeremy Clarkson. Really not worth it,” he wrote. “He knows his game is over and so is resorting to personal attacks.”

Instead of engaging further, Mr Polanski urged supporters to “p**s him off instead” by signing up to the Greens.