Aimee Walker
Jeremy Clarkson has fumed that he’d ‘rather have Covid than leave the EU,’ following a ‘Brexit disaster’ on his Diddly Squat Farm.
The 61-year-old wants to diversify his farm’s crops but blames border problems on stopping it from happening.
In his latest column for The Sunday Times, the former Top Gear presenter revealed it was a ‘major downside’ to leaving the EU.
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He wrote: “I have come face to face with a major downside of leaving the EU and on balance, I’d rather have Covid.”
Clarkson said as the UK’s vaccination programme is coming along smoothly, he’d much rather face the consequences of getting coronavirus than face the ongoing Brexit problems.
The Grand Tour host then explained that he’s trying to grow Durum wheat. This is used in many popular food products, including flatbread and pasta.
But he’s found that he can only order the seeds from Rhône Valley in France. So when they were travelling past a post, they were stopped by Brexit red tape.
Discussing his agriculture plans, he said: “I was feeling very smug.
“I had a new crop that could cope with hot dry weather, and it would make flour that’s jolly popular with those who enjoy a doner kebab after a pint. That’s a double top.
“As you can’t easily buy durum seed in Britain, I placed my order, through a complicated chain of middlemen, with a French seed breeder in the Rhône Valley. And very soon, three tonnes of the stuff arrived in Calais, where it got stuck in a jungle of red tape.
“The French customs said it would not be released until they were given the consignment’s EORI number, and no one on this side of the channel had the first clue what that was.
“And there was no point asking the French for clarification because all you get is the Gallic shrug, a universally recognised symbol of complete uninterest. Tinged with a hint of ‘Well, you shouldn’t have left the EU, should you’.”
Clarkson has previously stated that he has had admissions over leaving the EU. Despite this, he backed Remain at the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.
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