Jeremy Clarkson is backing French farmers’ mass protest after they closed in on Paris with plans to put the city “under siege” yesterday. The Clarkson’s Farm star has taken to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to express his support.
This afternoon, the former Top Gear star tweeted out in French to his 7.9 million followers. The tweet read: “Agriculteurs français.
“Je parie que personne n’a jamais dit cela auparavant, mais bonne chance, venant d’Angleterre.” This roughly translates to: “French farmers.
“I bet no one has ever said this before, but good luck, coming from England.” The post comes as Paris continues to feel the impact of the blockade caused by farmers in the capital.
Yesterday, the farmers came out in force, blocking motorways with tractors and hay bales in what some demonstrators have described as the “Siege of Paris”. French police warned that approximately 1,000 farmers were barricading roads across France.
The protesters have been demanding better prices for their produce, as well as more government support.
They have asked for better protection of their country’s agricultural sector from foreign competition, rising costs and low pay.
While new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told parliament today that farming is France’s “strength and pride”, it seems the protests are likely to continue this week.
The political leader also vowed to extend an exemption on EU fallow land rules and promised Paris would set up an emergency fund for struggling wine producers.
Jeremy, who documents his work on Diddly Squat Farm in his Amazon Prime series, has become something of a voice for the farming community.
In 2021, the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host was presented with a prize at the British Farming Awards.
The star, who bought the Oxfordshire-based farmland in 2008, won the flying the flag for British agriculture award during the ceremony.
At the time, he praised his on-screen assistant Kaleb Cooper, saying: “Kaleb, I couldn’t have done this without you, you are the star of the show, apart from Gerald.
“But what was great, and I’m sure everyone in the room would say the same thing, every farm has a Gerald, every farm has a Charlie, every farm has a Kevin, every farm has an Ellen, every farm has a landowner and every farm has a Kaleb.”
The series was also praised by Environment Secretary George Eustice at the time, with the politician saying during a Conservative Party conference: “I think that Jeremy Clarkson’s programme has done a huge amount to raise the profile of agriculture and some of the challenges it faces.”